Seabass With Fennel Recipe (Gordon Ramsay)

note – the original video for this recipe (Michel Roux) is “no longer available”, so I found an alternate video (Gordon Ramsay) to take its place. Please note that ingredients and technique may vary slightly from the written version below.

Light, creamy and succulent, this sea bass recipe will surely impress your dinner guests at your next party. Filled with fennel, your entire kitchen will surely smell heavenly and attract all your family members towards it. Serve it with a chilled glass of white wine, and your dinner goes up to restaurant-quality in no time.

This recipe takes about 30 minutes to make. Serves 2.

Ingredients:

• 1 seabass

Seabass Stuffing:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 fennel, finely chopped
• Double cream
• Pastis
• Corn flour

Garnish:

• 1 fennel, chopped lengthwise with the core intact
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Onion, chopped
• Thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• White wine
• Butter

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 200C.

In a hot pan over Medium heat, sweat the fennel with the chopped onion.
Add slashes of double cream until it becomes a mayonnaise-like consistency.
Pour pastis into a small bowl of corn flour.
Slowly add this mixture into the pan. Mix well and then remove from the heat.

In a saucepan, add the chopped fennel, thyme, and bay leaves.
Pour a splash of white wine.
Add the tomatoes.
Cover the saucepan with foil.
Add a few slices of butter.
Remove from the heat.

To prepare the fish, remove the scales and cut off the fins and tail.
Scoop out the fish eyes and remove the gills.
Using a sharp knife, cut the fish on the backbone to open it up.
Detach the flesh from the backbone on both sides.
Use kitchen scissors to cut the backbone to separate from the head and pull the entire backbone out of the fish. Cut off the backbone at the tail.
Use tweezers to remove any bones left in the fish.
Add the stuffing in the fish.
Wrap the fish in parchment paper.
Bake the fish for 8 minutes and then turn it over for another 7 minutes.
Remove the fish from the oven and cut off the paper.
Peel off the skin of the fish.
Scoop the fish and place on a plate. Add the garnish on the side.

Ideas And Tips:

• Deboning the sea bass takes practice, so you can have your fish seller debone it for you if you don’t want to take the risk of messing up your fish. You can also request to have the scales, fins, and gills removed.

• Pastis is an anise-flavored spirit and apéritif from France. It can be consumed as a drink or added to dishes for added flavor.

images – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q69WUBpdBzo