I serve this simple dish in the fall when the water is ice-cold and the walleye tastes really fresh. It is just as good made with catfish or any firm, white-fleshed fish. But then I also like it with trout.

To serve two . . .

2 cleaned, fresh walleye fillets

2 tbsp. butter, plus a little more to grease the cookie sheet

2 tbsp. chopped fresh sage

1 tbsp. toasted and lightly chopped hazelnuts

Salt and pepper

Fresh lemon squeeze

Preheat the oven to 375F. If necessary, rinse the fish in ice-cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Lay the fish on the cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake the fish about 10-15 minutes or until the flesh is opaque and tender.

Meanwhile, melt the butter. Just before the fish is done baking, add the sage to the butter, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Spoon the butter and sage over the fish and sprinkle hazelnuts on top. Serve with wild rice and baked acorn squash.

Lucia Watson owns Lucia's, one of the Twin Cities' favorite restaurants, a cozy place in the Uptown section of Minneapolis (1432 West 31st Street, 612-825-1572). Taste Tempters photography is by one of North America's finest food photographers, Chuck Nelson, of Nelson-Mitchell Graphic Design, Brainerd, Minnesota.