April 27, 2015 Dinner – Poached Corvina in Mousseline Cream Sauce with sautéed yellow squash with onions and chard.

April 27, 2015  Dinner – Poached Corvina in Mousseline Cream Sauce with sautéed yellow squash with onions and chard.

I bought a filet of fresh Corvina filet at Sprouts on Saturday ($7.99.lb.).  Here is the Wikipedia description for Corvina:

Cilus gilberti

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Cilus gilberti
Conservation status
Data Deficient (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Sciaenidae
Genus:	Cilus Delfin, 1900
Species:	C. gilberti
Binomial name
Cilus gilberti (C. C. Abbott, 1899)

Fried Corvina served with patacones

The corvina, also known as the corvina drum (Cilus gilberti), is a saltwater fish of the Sciaenidae family (commonly called croakers or drums). It inhabits mostly tropical to temperate coastal waters of the southeastern Pacific along Central and South America.^{[citation needed]} The corvina is highly prized in South America as a food fish.^[1]

Description[edit]

The corvina is similar in appearance to its relatives the weakfish and spotted seatrout. Its body is blue-grey on top, silvery overall with small scales, and is elongated and somewhat compressed in shape. It has a large mouth and a dorsal fin that is deeply notched between spiny and soft parts. It reaches 75 cm (30 in) in length.^{[citation needed]}

Range and habitat[edit]

The corvina is found along the South American Pacific coastline from Chile to Panama, and also in the Galapagos. It inhabits soft bottoms at a depth of 5 to 50 m (16 to 164 ft).^{[citation needed]}

Culinary Uses[edit]

The corvine has a texture that is white and flakey. It has a mild sweet taste. Cooking methods include grilled, baked, fried, sushi, and is a popular choice in ceviche.

It is often used in a seafood chowder called "chupe a la limeña" (Chupe in the style of Lima, Peru). The Chupe ingredients include fish, shrimp, potatoes, tomatoes, cheese, and eggs.

I decided to make a mousseline sauce, which is a béchamel sauce with shrimp or other seafood.

I went to the garden and picked fresh chard, thyme sage and oregano.  I then sliced two yellow crook neck squash into half round slices and then 2/3 of an onion and then de-stemmed and removed the stem from the leaves of chard.  Suzette sautéed the shrimp and then poached the corvina in a wine infused medium. When the corvina was poached, I heated 3 Tbsps. of butter and added 2 heaping Tbsp. of flour and cooked that for a couple of minutes to make a roux. Then I poured the poaching medium stock into the roux and Suzette stirred it until it was smooth and creamy. Then we stirred more and added some milk, about 1 tsp. of fresh thyme leaves and some Amontillado sherry and then increased the heat to drive off some of the liquid and thicken the sauce.  We then added the shrimp and heated them.

In a different skillet Suzette sautéed the onions and then the squash with some of her roasted garlic from last year’s crop and I added about 1 Tbsp. of fresh oregano leaves to the squash sauté and then she added the chard and covered the skillet so the vegetables would steam and soften.

I fetched a bottle of the newly acquired Mendoza Station Sauvignon Blanc ($4.49 at Total Wine after the 10% discount) and we chilled it.  After it was chilled the wine tasted great with a distinctly lemony, citrus flavor, which we like.  The wine went well with the delicately tender fish and cream sauce.  The only negative was that the shrimp were a little tough.  Perhaps they had been frozen too long.  

This was a delicious and pretty simple meal.

Bon Appétit