Sea Bass with a Mushroom and Tarragon Sauce
Sea bass is a fish I know little about, let alone cook. I always imagined it would be very expensive and very small. Since finding a recipe in Sophie Dahl's 'Voluptuous Delights' for Sea Bass in a wild mushroom and tarragon sauce however, I was tempted to try.
I must have picked the right season, because on investigating in the supermarket, I found fillets of Bass abundant. Since that day, I have been investigating further and have now identified what the whole fish looks like, and would probably be tempted to cook that too!
Like Miss Dahl, I, too, am an avid tarragon fan at the moment, loving its aniseed-y taste, so the recipe was a good choice. I now have a new pot of tarragon in my garden, courtesy of Mum, along with full instructions on what to do with it come winter. Let's hope I can keep it going that long! I think my downfall is that I need to use it, so it disappears under a click-clack of scissors, and then takes so long to re-grow! Well, at least I use it.
Anyway, back to the recipe. As always I have to tweak Sophie's recipe to fit with what I have and can buy at the time. I use chestnut and porcini mushrooms, swap white wine for stock and leave out the Pernod, despite loving the taste (a 1980's revival is probably not going to take place in my house, so I have to decide when I am ever going to use a bottle of Pernod again... probably never...).
This is my version (serves 3):
Sea Bass with a Mushroom and Tarragon Sauce
3 Sea Bass fillets
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
75g mixed mushrooms, chopped.
A small glass of white wine
1 tbsp creme fraiche
1 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped very finely.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 C. Brush the fish with oil after placing in an ovenproof dish. Season and place in the oven for about 15 mins.
Meanwhile, fry your mushrooms in a little oil until soft and then add the wine. Simmer for about 5 mins, until the sauce has started to reduce.
Once the fish is ready, add the creme fraiche and tarragon to the mushrooms, before pouring over the fish when served. Accompany with something green and a few new potatoes. :-)
This won't be the last time I cook Sea Bass!
I must have picked the right season, because on investigating in the supermarket, I found fillets of Bass abundant. Since that day, I have been investigating further and have now identified what the whole fish looks like, and would probably be tempted to cook that too!
Like Miss Dahl, I, too, am an avid tarragon fan at the moment, loving its aniseed-y taste, so the recipe was a good choice. I now have a new pot of tarragon in my garden, courtesy of Mum, along with full instructions on what to do with it come winter. Let's hope I can keep it going that long! I think my downfall is that I need to use it, so it disappears under a click-clack of scissors, and then takes so long to re-grow! Well, at least I use it.
Anyway, back to the recipe. As always I have to tweak Sophie's recipe to fit with what I have and can buy at the time. I use chestnut and porcini mushrooms, swap white wine for stock and leave out the Pernod, despite loving the taste (a 1980's revival is probably not going to take place in my house, so I have to decide when I am ever going to use a bottle of Pernod again... probably never...).
This is my version (serves 3):
Sea Bass with a Mushroom and Tarragon Sauce
3 Sea Bass fillets
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
75g mixed mushrooms, chopped.
A small glass of white wine
1 tbsp creme fraiche
1 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped very finely.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 C. Brush the fish with oil after placing in an ovenproof dish. Season and place in the oven for about 15 mins.
Meanwhile, fry your mushrooms in a little oil until soft and then add the wine. Simmer for about 5 mins, until the sauce has started to reduce.
Once the fish is ready, add the creme fraiche and tarragon to the mushrooms, before pouring over the fish when served. Accompany with something green and a few new potatoes. :-)
This won't be the last time I cook Sea Bass!
Comments
Post a Comment