Poached Chilean Sea Bass Recipes

SEARED CHILEAN SEA BASS WITH CITRUS POACHED MUSSELS, CHAYOTE SQUASH, AVOCADO CILANTRO SALAD, AND BLUE CRAB ESSENCE

Steps:

• Mussels: Toast orange peels in a large, dry skillet or saucepan (with a lid that fits) until fragrant. Add olive oil and then onions, and saute over high heat for 30 seconds. Add mussels and stir them around a little. Add wine and cover with the lid; cook until mussels have opened, approximately 3 minutes. Strain and reserve liquid. Remove mussels from shells, reserve mussels, and discard shells.
• Citrus Emulsion: Combine orange juice and reserved mussel liquid in a small saucepan. Reduce liquid over medium-high heat until it takes on the consistency of a syrup. While still hot, add butter, 1 piece at a time, stirring constantly. Keep warm.
• Blue Crab Essence: Carefully drop crabs into a pot of rapidly boiling water for 4 minutes. Prepare an ice water bath. Drain crabs and immediately plunge them into the ice bath to halt the cooking. Pull all of the meat out of the claws and set aside. Crack crabs in half, discard anything that looks funky, rinse them, and reserve the shells.
• Bring fish fumet (or water) to a simmer in a saucepan. Add crab shells and simmer for 45 minutes. Strain liquid through a fine chinois into another saucepan, discarding crab shells. To the liquid, add cream and butter. Keep warm.
• Avocado Salad: Toss all ingredients together in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Bring to room temperature before serving.
• Chayote Squash: Heat butter in a skillet over high heat. Add squash and cilantro and saute until tender. Keep warm until ready to serve.
• Chilean Sea Bass: Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over high heat. When pan is very hot, add fish and sear on each side until fully cooked through in the middle. Cooking time will vary based on the thickness of your fillets, but it should not take more than a couple minutes on each side. You may have to sear the fish in 2 batches so as not to over-crowd the pan.
• While fish is cooking, reheat mussels in the Citrus Emulsion and reheat the crabmeat in butter.
• To serve, spoon the Citrus Emulsion onto the middle of the plate, in a circle and spoon chayote on top. Arrange fish on top of chayote, and top fish with the Avocado Salad. Garnish with 4 mussels tightly around the chayote. With an immersion blender, froth the Blue Crab Essence. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the essence around the plate, and place the crabmeat next to the froth.

SEA BASS POACHED IN A COURT BOUILLON WITH SAUTEED BATONNET OF CARROTS AND ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• Place a 12-inch saute pan on the stove, add the shallots, garlic and court bouillon to the pan. Set over a high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Season the sea bass fillets on both sides with the salt and white pepper. Place the fillets in the poaching liquid and cover with a lid, or a buttered round of parchment paper. Cook the fish for 5 to 6 minutes, or until cooked through.
• Remove the fillets from the poaching liquid using a slotted metal spatula and place on a warm plate loosely covered with aluminum foil. Put the plate in a warm place while you make the sauce. Raise the heat to high and reduce the court bouillon for about 10 minutes, or until reduced to 1/2 cup. Lower the heat, and add the butter to the pan a little at a time. Use a whisk to stir the cold butter into the sauce and season with salt and white pepper. Sprinkle the tarragon and chervil into the sauce and return the fish to the pan. Place the pan over a medium-low heat and warm the fish through, about 1 minute.
• In a 10-inch saute pan, set over a medium-heat, add the olive oil and 1 teaspoon of butter to the pan. Once the butter has melted, add the carrots to the pan and saute, stirring often for 1 1/2 minutes. Add the zucchini and 2 tablespoons of water to the pan and continue to cook for 2 minutes more. Season the vegetables with salt and white pepper and divide among 4 warmed entree plates. Place a sea bass fillet over the vegetables and divide the sauce among the 4 plates as well. Garnish with chervil.
• Combine all the ingredients into a 4-quart saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for 45 minutes. Strain the bouillon and use immediately, or cool and refrigerate for later use. The bouillon may also be frozen and kept for several months.