Thomas Kellers Mediterranean Bass With Squid Fennel And Tomatoes Recipes

THOMAS KELLER'S MEDITERRANEAN BASS WITH SQUID, FENNEL, AND TOMATOES

Steps:

• Place squid in a small bowl; add enough milk to cover. Let soak, refrigerated, for at least 2 hours or up to 1 day.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare an ice-water bath. Add fennel; cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to ice bath; drain, and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a small saucepan, bring shellfish broth to a simmer over medium heat; reduce by half.
• Meanwhile, drain squid on paper towels; season with salt and pepper. Heat 1/8 inch olive oil in a medium ovenproof skillet over medium heat; add fennel, garlic, and thyme. When oil begins to sizzle, transfer pan to oven. Add tomato confit after 2 minutes.
• Lightly coat a large skillet with canola oil; set over medium-high heat. Season both sides of the fish with salt; season the flesh side with pepper. Add fish to pan, skin-side down, reducing heat to medium-low; weight fillets briefly with another skillet to prevent curling. Remove skillet, and cook until skin is golden and crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Using a spatula, turn over fish and cook for 1 minute; drain on paper towels.
• Bring shellfish broth to a simmer; add squid, and simmer until bodies begin to curl, about 1 minute. Stir in parsley; remove from heat.
• Remove pan from oven; drain fennel and tomatoes on paper towels.
• Divide fish among 4 serving plates, centering them skin-side up; arrange fennel, tomatoes, and squid around fish. Pour one-quarter broth around each serving. Serve immediately.

PAN-SEARED SEA BASS IN TOMATO FENNEL BROTH

Steps:

• For the sauce: In a saucepan over medium-high heat, sweat the fennel, onions, and carrots in the olive oil. Cook until the vegetables are softened, 10 to 15 minutes. Next, deglaze with the white wine. Once the wine has reduced, add the stock and orange juice. Reduce the heat and allow the liquid to cook until it has reduced by half. Once reduced, add the tomatoes and garlic and allow the sauce to further simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and season. Remove saucepan from the heat, pour through a strainer, and return to the pan. Finish with the butter. Keep warm.
• For the fish: Season the skin side of the fish fillets with the ground fennel, salt, and pepper, and then season the flesh side with salt and pepper.
• In the oil in a nonstick saute pan over high heat until it reaches the smoking point. Reduce the heat and add the seasoned fish, skin side down, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip, reduce the heat, and continue to cook for 5 to 6 minutes, carefully spooning the hot oil over the fish to keep the skin crisp. Once the fillet is cooked, remove from the pan and serve with the sauce.

BRAISED SQUID WITH FENNEL & TOMATOES

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a flameproof casserole dish over a medium-high heat. Cook the fennel seeds, onion, fennel, chilli and preserved lemon with a pinch of salt for 5 mins until softened and fragrant, then add the garlic and cook for 1 min more.
• Add the chopped tomatoes and cook down for a few mins, then turn down the heat and add the squid. Cook gently for 3 mins, then add the wine and reduce by half. Add the stock and herbs, bring to a simmer, cover loosely with baking parchment and cook for 1½ hrs, until the squid is tender and meaty.
• To make the mayo, whisk the yolks, garlic, lemon juice and a pinch of salt until combined, then add the squid ink and whisk again. Slowly whisk in the oil until you have a thick, silky mayo. Serve the squid with rice and a spoon of mayo, with fronds of dill scattered over. Keep leftover mayo in the fridge (to use within one day).

SEA BASS IN TOMATO FENNEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Sauté the fennel, onion, and garlic in the olive oil in a large skillet for 5 minutes or until the fennel and onion are tender.
• Add the Pernod and mix well.
• Cook for about 3 minutes or until most of the liquid evaporates, stirring frequently.
• Add the tomatoes, tomato juice, wine, salt, and pepper and mix well.
• Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Process the tomato mixture in a blender or food processor until puréed.
• You may prepare up to this point 1 day in advance and store, covered, in the refrigerator.
• Bring the sauce to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
• Add the fillets and spoon some of the sauce over the top of each.
• Simmer, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes or until the fillets are opaque and flake easily.
• Remove the fillets to serving plates and spoon some sauce over each serving.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA BASS WITH FENNEL AND PERNOD

Steps:

• Season the sea bass filet with salt and pepper and rub it with extra virgin olive oil. Remove the stalks from the bulb of fennel. Rinse and split in half.
• Slice the fennel bulb thinly and place it in a baking dish. Add the star anise, sea bass filet, the garlic clove with the skin on and the Pernod®. Cover the top of the baking dish with aluminum foil, sealing the edge. Place the baking dish on the stove until the aluminum foil begins to pop from the internal steam. Bake at 450 degrees Farenheit for 7 minutes.
• Remove the aluminum foil and the olives and sprinkle with the freshly chopped dill. Serve the sea bass filet with the fennel garnish and the cooking liquid.

CARY NEFF'S CHILEAN SEA BASS IN TOMATO-FENNEL BROTH

Steps:

• Warm a pan large enough for the fish over medium heat. Spray with oil, add the minced fennel, onion and garlic and saute, stirring frequently, until barely softened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Add the Pernod. Return pan to high heat, which should ignite the Pernod. When the flame has died, or when the smell of alcohol is gone, add the wine. Add the tomatoes and tomato juice and simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper. Puree in a food processor or blender, strain through a fine-mesh strainer and return to pan.
• Add the saffron, turn heat to medium low and slide in the fish. Spoon some sauce over each fillet. Cover and simmer until cooked, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet. Serve garnished with the sauce and topped with the fennel fronds.

WHOLE STRIPED BASS WITH FENNEL AND TOMATOES IN A ROASTING BAG

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Scrape off any scales adhering to the fish and refrigerate.
• Cut the feathery green fronds off the fennel and reserve. Cut off the stalks at the top of the bulb and discard. Use a vegetable peeler to remove any rough, stringy fiber from the outside of the bulb and then cut the fennel into 3 wedges. Place in a non-aluminum pan with the wine, coriander seeds, olive oil and salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat, covered, until the wedges soften but still retain some crunch, about 20 minutes. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, rinse and dry the fish, season it with salt and pepper and slide it into a roasting bag. (If the fish is too large you can cut off its head, but avoid this if possible as a headless fish makes a much less dramatic presentation.)
• Put the fennel, its cooking liquid and the reserved fennel fronds in the bag with the fish. Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper and add them to the bag. Push down on the bag to squeeze out excess air and seal with string.
• Carefully place the bag in an oval baking dish or shallow pan (it's easiest to bake the fish in something you can take straight to the table) and bake for about 15 minutes per inch of thickness (about 30 minutes for a 2-inch-thick fish).
• To serve, cut the bag open with a knife or scissors and serve pieces of fish surrounded by fennel, chopped tomatoes and a spoonful of the cooking juices.