Sea bass with Swiss chard & beurre blanc
This is one of Gordon Ramsay's favourite dishes, so it's sure to be a winner at your dinner party
Difficulty and servings
Serves 4
Preparation and cooking times
Ready in 45 minutes
- First, make your spice mix for seasoning the fish. I like to use a pepper grinder for crushing this mix as it gives a nice 'rustic' grind, which gives a heavy spicing to the sea bass, or you could whizz it in a spice grinder if you like. Rub the fillets with a little olive oil, put on a plate and give them a good grinding of the spice mixture and leave them to infuse.
- You need to cook the chard stalks and leaves separately as the stalks take longer. Shred the leaves and cook them in boiling water for a minute. Remove, then follow with the stalks and give them a minute longer. Drain and cool. You'll cook this again in butter but unless you do this first bit the chard won't absorb the butter and it will just be greasy.
- Peel the salsify, cut it into lozenges (short lengths) and blanch it for a couple of minutes in boiling water with a splash of lemon juice (if you are using artichokes or potatoes, cook until just tender). Drain and cool. Blanch the baby fennel in the same way.
- The beurre blanc goes with the Swiss chard. Cook the shallots in a little of the butter over a low heat so it softens but doesn't brown. Add the wine vinegar and keep cooking until the liquid is syrupy, season with a grind or two of the fish spice mix, take off the heat and stir in 2 tbsp crème fraîche. Now add about 6 cubes of butter, one at a time, shaking the pan so each dissolves into the sauce. Keep to one side, it will sit for hours at room temperature.
- Put the fish stock in a pan and bring it to a simmer. Run the blunt edge of a knife along the vanilla pod in a pushing motion to rumble all the seeds inside, then split the pod and scrape the seeds into the stock. Add plenty of the spice seasoning and 2 tbsp crème fraîche and bring to a boil. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon to add a clean flavour. Add a knob of the butter and then blitz the sauce with a hand-held blender to create some foam.
- Now all you need to do is cook the fish and reheat the veg. Heat a pan and cook the fish in two batches for 3 minutes skin-side down, turn it over to seal the other side and then flip it back over to finish cooking for a minute or so. Turn off the heat. Meanwhile, fry the salsify and fennel in a knob of butter until nicely browned. Reheat the Swiss chard quickly in a knob of butter, you don't want it to brown, and then add 2-3 tbsp beurre blanc and give it a good mix. To plate, put a generous heap of Swiss chard in the middle of each plate, add 3 pieces of fennel and some salsify around the edge and then top with sea bass. Buzz the vanilla stock again with a knob of butter using the blender and then spoon some sauce and foam around the fish.
Salsify
Salsify is a root vegetable that looks like a slightly knobbly, long, brown stick. It's not very common, so if you can't get it, use artichoke hearts or potatoes.
653 kcalories, protein 33.9g, carbohydrate 9.9g, fat 53.4 g, saturated fat 30.1g, fibre 2.4g, salt 1.64 g
Recipe from olive magazine, November 2006.
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http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10322/
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Ingredients
- 4 seabass fillets, skin on
- 1 bunch Swiss chard
- 2 salsify (or use artichoke hearts or salad potatoes)
- ½ lemon
- 4 baby fennel , halved or quartered
- 1 banana shallot or ordinary, finely chopped
- 125g butter , cut into cubes
- 3 tbsp white wine vinegar or white balsamic vinegar
- 200g crème fraîche
- 300ml fish stock (from fishmongers and some supermarkets)
- 1 vanilla pod
SPICE MIX
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp mustard seeds
- 1 star anise
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Difficulty and servings
Serves 4
Preparation and cooking times
Ready in 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 seabass fillets, skin on
- 1 bunch Swiss chard
- 2 salsify (or use artichoke hearts or salad potatoes)
- ½ lemon
- 4 baby fennel , halved or quartered
- 1 banana shallot or ordinary, finely chopped
- 125g butter , cut into cubes
- 3 tbsp white wine vinegar or white balsamic vinegar
- 200g crème fraîche
- 300ml fish stock (from fishmongers and some supermarkets)
- 1 vanilla pod
SPICE MIX
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp mustard seeds
- 1 star anise
653 kcalories, protein 33.9g, carbohydrate 9.9g, fat 53.4 g, saturated fat 30.1g, fibre 2.4g, salt 1.64 g
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29 November 2012
Kevin Gormley commented on this recipe
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