Sea bass with vanilla butter


I have this book for home cooking, by Heston Blumenthal, so we started to cook the sea bass with vanilla butter, with some al dente chili broccoli. Amazing dish that we return to very often.
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Ingredients for 4 people serving
•2 x 500-600g Sea bass filleted, skin on, fried in 1 tsp. of groundnut or grape seed oil (~90 seconds skins side, ~60 seconds flesh side on a hot pan)
•400 g Broccoli (stirred in olive oil with a bit of salt and 1tsp. of chili flakes)
•Salt
•40 g Vanilla butter (made of 125g unsalted butter and 3 vanilla pods)
Preparing:
Season both sides of fish with salt and place skin-side down in the hot pan to crisp for 90 seconds. Flip the fish over for a further 60 seconds, on the non-skin side. Remove the fish from the pan and put it on an absorbing paper to extract the oil. Do not keep the fish in the pan after the cooking time!
Place 10g of vanilla butter on top of each fillet. As the butter melts, spoon it over the fillets to flavor.
For broccoli with chili, you need 1 tbsp of olive oil heated in a heavy frying pan, over a medium-high heat and, when hot, add the broccoli. Cover with the lid and cook for approx. 5 minutes, shaking the pan from time to time to ensure even cooking. Add the chili flakes and toss the broccoli again on heat. After taking the pan away, season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
For the vanilla butter you need 3 Vanilla pods and 125g unsalted butter, room temperature.
Scrape out the seeds from the vanilla pods and mix them with the butter. Roll it into a log and wrap in parchment paper or place in a bowl. Place it in the fridge.
Be careful! Do not add ground pepper while on heat, it makes food bitter!!
Pair the dish with a glass of Chardonnay, as Chassane- Montrachet, Puligny- Montrachet, from Burgundy or even Pouilly-Fumé, from Loire Valley or Côtes du Rhône, Côtes de Provence. You can also try the wine of California, Semillion from Sonoma County.

Enjoy!

(Source: Heston Blumenthal)

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