Filets de daurade, ragoût de pommes de terre et oignons avec sauce vierge
FILLETS OF SEA BREAM WITH POTATO & SPRING ONION RAGOÛT & SAUCE VIERGE
I often cook sea bream for demos at food festivals and on TV because I think it is underrated and it isn’t a fish that people necessarily think of eating at home. This is a great pity because it has lovely white flesh, a firm texture similar to that of sea bass and is perfect for steaming, grilling, baking and frying – in fact, for most types of Mediterranean cooking. Sea bream is available most of the year, so why not give it a try? you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Preparation time 15 minutes, plus making the sauce
Cooking time 30 minutes
350g/12 oz small potatoes, such as Ratte, Charlotte, New and Jersey Royal
1 small fennel bulb
200g/7oz pancetta, cut into 5mm/¼in thin strips
4 sea bream fillets, 150g/5½oz each, pin-boned and skins on
1 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch of spring onions, peeled and finely sliced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 recipe quantity Sauce Vierge (see page 21), kept warm, to serve
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the potatoes and fennel over a medium-low heat for 15 minutes. The potatoes should still be firm as you will sauté them later. Drain, peel the potatoes and cut into thick slices. Discard the fennel.
Bring another saucepan of water to the boil and blanch the pancetta for 30 seconds to remove the excess salt. Refresh in cold water, then drain and set aside on kitchen towel.
Season the sea bream fillets with salt and pepper. Heat a heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat and cook the fillets, skin-side down, for 4 minutes or until the skins start to turn crispy. Transfer the fish to an oven tray, skin side down, then place in the preheated oven and cook for a further 6 minutes until the flesh is white and still moist.
Meanwhile, make the ragoût. Heat the olive oil in the frying pan over a medium heat, then carefully add the prepared potatoes and pancetta. Cook for about 5 minutes until the potatoes are starting to turn golden, then add the spring onions and sauté for a further 2 minutes. Be careful not to break up the potatoes. Gently warm the sauce vierge while making the ragoût.
Divide the potato and spring onion ragoût onto four plates, arrange the fish on top, drizzle with the sauce and serve.
Rouget petit bateau poêlé au thym
PAN-FRIED RED MULLET WITH THYME
If you are using large red mullet, you will need to ask your fishmonger to scale and gut them, but with the smaller ones gutting is not necessary because they have nothing inside except the liver. If you were a French fisherman, you would probably just scale them in the sea water and cook them on board with a camping stove. If you are at home, it is not so different – simply pan-fry with garlic, thyme and a squeeze of lemon. Lovely!
Preparation time 20 minutes, plus making the potatoes
Cooking time 15 minutes
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 tbsp olive oil
4 whole red mullet, about 175g/6oz each, scaled and gutted by your fishmonger, or 8 fillets, skins on
25g/1oz butter
1 handful of thyme sprigs
juice of ½ lemon
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 recipe quantity Warm Crushed Potatoes with Coriander & Lime (see page 163), to serve
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and blanch the garlic for 3–4 minutes. This will ensure that it cooks in the same time as the fish. Drain and pat dry with kitchen towel.
If using whole fish, heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat. Season the whole fish with salt and pepper, then add them and the garlic to the pan. Cook for 2 minutes or until the skin is a lovely golden colour. Turn the fish over, add the butter and thyme and cook for a further 2 minutes. Transfer to a baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 3–4 minutes or until the flesh starts to break up. Remove from the oven, drizzle the fish with the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
If using fillets, heat the olive oil in large, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat. Season the fish with salt and pepper, then add to the pan, skin side down, along with the garlic, thyme and butter. Cook for 2 minutes or until the skin is a lovely golden colour. Transfer to a baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 2 minutes or until the flesh starts to break up. Remove from the oven, drizzle the fish with the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
Serve 1 whole fish or 2 fillets per person with warm crushed potatoes.
