Fillet of sea bass with coriander and vanilla sauce

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A rich creamy sauce is the perfect vehicle to combine Marcello Tully's unusual flavour pairing of coriander and vanilla, creating a sweet and beautifully frangrant sauce for the delicate sea bass fillets, which are pan-fried, then steamed to ensure perfect, tender flesh. A crispy, golden vegetable julienne makes for stunning presentation and a wonderful addition of texture.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Sea bass fillets

Coriander and vanilla sauce

  • 350ml of fish stock
  • 65ml of white wine
  • 440ml of double cream
  • 1 tbsp of fresh coriander, chopped
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • salt

Leek rosti

Vegetable julienne

To plate

Equipment

  • Mandoline
  • Round pastry cutter
  • Deep-fryer
  • Large steamer

Method

1
To make the sauce, combine the fish stock and wine in a saucepan and bring to a rapid boil. Allow the liquid to reduce by two-thirds, so that it has the consistency of a glaze. Add the cream and salt to taste, then set aside
  • 350ml of fish stock
  • 65ml of white wine
  • 440ml of double cream
  • salt
2
To prepare the garnish, first make a tomato concasse by quartering the tomatoes and removing the pulp and seeds. Flatten each piece of tomato flesh and carefully remove the skin. Cut the flesh into small squares and set aside until just before serving
3
Peel the slices of butternut squash and celeriac, then cut them into 1cm cubes. Peel the carrots and cut them into 1cm cubes. Gently simmer the cubed vegetables in salted boiling water for 2 minutes then drain and keep warm
4
To make the rosti, preheat the oven to 160°C/Gas 2 1/2. Peel the potatoes and boil them in a saucepan of salted water for 4-5 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the leeks into strips, blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes then refresh in cold water
5
Drain the potatoes and, when cool enough to handle, grate them into a bowl. Add the leeks, then season with salt and pepper and stir in the oil
6
Using a round pastry cutter as a mould, shape the mixture into rosti and place on a greased baking tray. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown
  • 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
7
To make the vegetable julienne, peel the carrots and celeriac and cut away the green of the leek so that you only use the white part. Using a mandoline, finely slice the carrots, celeriac and courgettes, then use a large knife to cut them into very fine strips. Halve the leek and cut it into fine julienne strips too
8
Put all the vegetable strips in a bowl then pick the leaves from the coriander and add to the bowl with a pinch of salt. Mix gently by hand and set aside
9
Heat some oil in a deep-fat fryer to 180˚C, also preheating the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4
  • sunflower oil
10
Put one handful of vegetable julienne in the hot oil for 1-2 minutes until crisp, then drain and set aside on a tray lined with a cloth or kitchen paper. Repeat seven times to give eight portions of vegetable julienne
11
In a frying pan with a little oil, fry each fillet of sea bass skin-side down for 1 minute, then transfer all the fish to the oven on 100% steam setting and cook for 2 minutes. As an alternative, place the fish in a pan or wok steamer for the same cooking time above
12
Gently warm the sauce. Remove the seeds from the vanilla pod and add them to the sauce with the coriander
13
Put your rosti on serving plates and top with the sea bass. Put a nest of julienne vegetables on top of each fish fillet. Sprinkle the tomato concasse and the cubed vegetables around the plate then spoon over the sauce to finish
First published in 2015

When Brazilian-born chef Marcello Tully started his career at fourteen, he may not have anticipated working on the starkly beautiful island of Skye – but then he probably didn’t expect to be crafting some of the most exquisitely refined Scottish-influenced food on the planet, either.

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