Recipe: Delicious Sea Bass on Fennel

Sea Bass on Fennel.

You can have Sea Bass on Fennel using 21 ingredients and 15 steps. Here is how you cook that.

Ingredients of Sea Bass on Fennel

1. It's of For the sea bass:.
2. You need 6 of fillets of sea bass, each 150 – 200 g, skinned.
3. You need 4 of large bulbs of fennel, trimmed.
4. It's 1 of banana shallot (or 1 small onion), peeled and finely sliced.
5. It's 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar.
6. It's 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt.
7. It's 1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds.
8. You need of Juice of ½ lemon.
9. It's 100 ml of dry white wine.
10. You need 50 g of butter, plus extra to top the fish when cooking.
11. It's 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
12. You need of For the beurre blanc:.
13. Prepare 1 of banana shallot, peeled and finely chopped.
14. It's of Juice of ½ lemon.
15. You need 100 ml of fish stock (or a stock cube).
16. It's 75 ml of white vermouth, e.g. Noilly Prat or Martini Bianco.
17. You need 75 ml of dry white wine.
18. Prepare 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
19. You need 100 g of butter, kept very cold and cut into 1.5cm cubes, plus another 20 g for frying the shallot.
20. You need 1/2 teaspoon of sugar.
21. It's to taste of Salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Sea Bass on Fennel instructions

1. Halve the fennel vertically, slice lengthways to a thickness of 4 – 5mm then blanch in a pan of boiling water with 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and the lemon juice, for 10 – 15 minutes or until tender. Strain well..
2. Fry the sliced shallot in 20g of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil until translucent. Add ½ teaspoon of sugar, ½ teaspoon of salt and the fennel seeds and fry gently for 2 minutes..
3. Add the blanched fennel to the shallot pan and mix..
4. Transfer to a shallow, ovenproof dish large enough to hold all of the fillets in one layer. Set to one side..
5. Next, prepare the beurre blanc. Gently fry the chopped shallot in 20g butter until translucent, add the vermouth and the wine. Simmer to boil off the alcohol..
6. Add the fish stock, lemon juice and sugar, then boil until it has reduced by about a third..
7. Remove from the heat and strain into a small saucepan. Set to one side..
8. About one hour before serving, heat your oven to 180°C / 350°F / gas mark 4..
9. Add 100ml of wine to the fennel, dot the top with small pieces of butter, then place in the oven for an hour. Make sure it doesn’t brown too much..
10. Take the dish out of the oven and lay the fish fillets on top of the fennel. Season the fish with salt and pepper and top each with a thin slice of butter..
11. Return to the oven for 10 – 12 minutes..
12. While the fish is cooking, heat up the beurre blanc base until it is beginning to boil..
13. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cold butter two pieces at a time, until an emulsion forms that coats the back of a spoon. Season..
14. Check the fish; it should be just set when cooked..
15. Using a spatula, carefully lift a fillet, and the fennel underneath it, and place on a plate. Spoon some beurre blanc over the fish and serve with new potatoes and perhaps a few fine green beans..