At the beginning of autumn, sea breams prepare to dive into deep waters for winter; they are at their meatiest. In the vegetable gardens, tomatoes that no longer have enough sun to ripen ask themselves if they will finish up in the compost heap. This is the time to pair them with a gleaming fish to create one of those convivial dishes that you place joyously in the centre of the table. The sight and smell of this dish are guaranteed to stir up hunger.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 sea bream, weighing 1.5 kg (about 3 lbs 4 oz). If it has been fished that day, chill it for 24 hours -
1 onion - 12 small shallots - 1 lemon - 2 dried bay leaves - Thyme sprigs - 1 tbsp fennel seeds -
2 peppercorns - 3 coriander seeds - 200 ml fish stock (6 oz) - 200 g mussels (8 oz) - Parsley stems - Wild fennel stalks - 100 g butter (4 oz) - Sugar - Salt.
Tomato jam : 500 g green tomatoes (1 lb 2 oz), 150 g sugar (6 oz), 1 tbsp lemon juice.
Fish stock : 2 leeks (whites only), 1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 small celery stalk, 1 garlic clove, thyme, parsley, bay leaf, 1 strip orange zest, 1 thin slice fresh ginger, 200 ml sweet wine (6 oz), 400 g sole bones (15 oz), 1 l water. Easy and quick. The tomato jam is made in advance.
Basic preparation
Ahead of time, prepare the green tomato jam: stem the tomatoes and cut them into big pieces. Sprinkle with sugar and lemon juice. Leave to macerate in a cool place for 24 hours, then cook for at least 3 hours over low heat, stirring often to prevent the jam from sticking. This jam will keep for a month in the refrigerator.
Fish stock : Rinse the bones under running water. Cut the carrot, onion and leeks into a mirepoix (small dice). Sweat the vegetables in butter. Wet with the sweet white wine. Give it a good boil for 1 minute. Add the bones, and the 1 l water to cover. Add the herbs, lemon zest and ginger. Bring slowly to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, without skimming, to obtain a natural clarification. At the end, strain carefully through a fine strainer. Set aside in the refrigerator. This stock keeps for 4 to 5 days but you can also freeze it in an ice cube tray to easily use it in cooking.
Realisation
Carefully scale the sea bream and gut it, making the smallest possible incision. Fill the fish with fennel stalks.
Peel the onion and shallots.
Peel the lemon and cut it into segments; set aside two strips of zest and blanch them in boiling water.
Scrape and clean the mussels under running water. Open them over high heat. For this dish, we are only interested in their cooking liquid. The mussels can be used in another dish, or offered on small skewers as a starter.
Last minute
In a saucepan, cook the whole shallots in 100 ml (4 oz) fish stock and enough water to cover. Add a generous knob of butter, salt, pepper and a good pinch of sugar. Cook, covered, for about 15 minutes. Only a syrupy liquid should remain.
Dice the onion. Heat the oven to its highest setting. Heat a baking dish in the oven and place the fish in the dish, along with the onion, pepper, coriander, 80 g (about 2 1/2 oz) butter cut into small pieces, fennel, lemon zest, thyme sprigs, 100 ml (4 oz) fish stock and the filtered mussel juice. Bake for 20 minutes. You should be able to pull a bone from the dorsal fin, but with a little resistance.
Heat the tomato jam and the shallots.
Place the fish on a cloth in a serving dish. This will allow you to cut the fish in front of the guests without it slipping on the plate, and it will absorb the juice that runs from the fish.
Strain the cooking liquid through a fine strainer, pressing it. Check the seasoning and the acidity. Serve the juice in a sauce boat, the shallots and jam decorated with a few raw lemon segments in a side dish.
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© Olivier Roellinger - Maisons de Bricourt. |
