Black Cod in Black Rice Flour

Black Cod in Black Rice Flour - 19g Carbs, 2g Fiber
Feeds: 4

1/2 cup Italian venere black rice
4 fillets black cod, about 6 oz each, at least 1 inch thick, skin removed
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Preheating the oven: Turn the oven to 450 degrees F.

Grinding the rice into flour: Grind the black rice until it's a pearly
gray-purple flour. A spice grinder will work just fine and a strong
blender will work even better. Sift the black rice flour to remove
any bigger bits of rice.

Dredging and searing the fish: Season both sides of the cod fillets
with salt and pepper. Dredge each fillet in the black rice flour,
coating only the side that did not have skin. Shake off the excess.

Set a large oven-safe saute pan over medium-high heat, then add the
oil and butter to the pan. When the butter is foaming, but not yet
brown, add the fish to the pan, flour side down, and shake the pan
around a bit so the fish doesn't stick. Cook until the rice flour
forms a crust, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip over the fish and slide the pan
into the oven. Cook the fish until the internal temperature reaches
120 degrees F, 5 to 6 minutes.

Variations:
Halibut in season would be great in place of black cod, and scallops
in black rice flour always produce gasps. Generally, a thick white
fish is good for the contrast. However, ahi tuna is pretty spectacular in black rice flour as well.

Suggestions: This dish goes well with a bok choy risotto.

Feeds: 4
Nutrition per Serving:
342 Calories, 15g Total Fat, 5g Saturated Fat, 2g Polyunsaturated Fat, 7g Monounsaturated Fat, 91mg Cholesterol, 98mg Sodium, 19g Carbs, 2g Fiber, 34g Protein