Sea bass fillet with fish velouté & crushed new potatoes
This low-effort but indulgent fish dish can work as either a starter or a main course.
Preparation time: None!
Cooking time: Around 35 minutes
I recently did this dish as a starter for a celebratory meal, but with some extra side dishes, it could just as easily work as a main course. It’s a bit of a “cheat” velouté (I did it without making a roux first), but it takes next to no effort, meaning that if you are doing it as part of a multi-course meal, you don’t have too many things to juggle at the same time.
Ingredients (serves 2):
Sea bass fillets – 2
White wine – 400ml
Fish stock – 400ml
Double cream – 300ml
New potatoes – around 300g, or more if doing as a main course
Method:
Start by bringing the white wine to the boil in a sauce pan, and simmer until it’s reduced by about half (probably in around 10 minutes). Then add the fish stock, and simmer until it’s reduced by about half again (probably in around another 10 minutes).
Depending on how you’re cooking the new potatoes, you may need to start cooking them about now (new potatoes only need to be boiled for around 10-15 minutes, depending on their size).
When the wine/stock mixture is reduced by about half, add the double cream and a little seasoning. Simmer gently until the sauce reaches the correct, creamy consistency. (If the sauce is ready before everything else, it can easily be kept warm on a low heat).
Heat a splash of oil in a frying pan until it’s hot. While it’s heating, season the sea bass fillets and then lightly score them on their skin side 2-3 times, around 1-2cm apart.
Once the oil is hot, fry the fillets skin side down for about 2-3 minutes (hopefully crisping up the skin), and then gently turn them over and cook for another minute.
While the fish is cooking, drain the new potatoes, and then gently crush them. (I used a potato masher, but only applied enough pressure to just break the skins of the new potatoes). Dish up the crushed new potatoes in the bottom of two bowls.
By now the fish should be cooked, and so you can lay the fillets carefully on top of the crushed new potatoes. Finally, carefully pour the velouté around the fish, so that it soaks in between the crushed new potatoes, but leaves the fillet itself with a clean presentation.
Sea bass fillet with fish velouté & crushed new potatoes
