Baked Fillet of Sea Bass
While tomato-based sauce is a popular accompaniment for fish, this dish packs a kick: hot peppers. The sea bass, a mild firm-fleshed fish, is basted with mustard and lightly coated with a breadcrumb blend. It is seared, then poached in wine and water in the oven. The quenelles of tropical puree, with sweet potatoes and fruit, gives the dish its special Caribbean touch.
Ingredients
- Tropical Puree
- Sweet potatoes - 2 pounds, peeled and cubed
- White Onion - 1 small, peeled
- Orange - 1 small
- Bay Leaf - 1
- Cinnamon Stick - 1
- Salt and freshly ground white pepper
- Unsalted Butter - 1/4 cup
- Sugar - 1/4 cup
- Apple - 1, peeled and cubed
- Banana - 1, small, peeled and cubed
- Pineapple - 1/2, peeled, cored, and cubed
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 3/4 cup
- Creole Sauce
- Tomatoes - 1 pound, peeled, seeded, and cut into large pieces
- Olive Oil - 3 tablespoons
- Cuban (Anaheim) peppers - 6, seeded, deribbed, and minced
- White Onion - 1, small, minced
- Celery - 1, bunch, deribbed and finely chopped
- Garlic Cloves - 2, minced
- Cilantro - 1/4 bunch, stemmed
- Dry white wine - 1/4 cup
- Bay Leaf - 1
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Breadcrumb Topping
- Breadcrumbs - 1 cup
- Cilantro - 1/2 cup, minced
- Garlic Cloves - 2, minced
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Dijon mustard - 2 tablespoons
- Sea Bass fillets - 4, (about 2 pounds)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Unsalted Butter - 4 tablespoons
- Garlic Cloves - 4, minced
- Dry white wine - 1 cup
- Water - 1/2 cup
Instructions
To make the tropical puree: Place the sweet potatoes and onion in a large pan and cover with water. Squeeze the orange and reserve the juice. Remove the rind from the orange, cut a piece about one-fourth of the whole rind, and add to the potatoes; the remaining rind pieces may be refrigerated for other use. Add half the cinnamon stick and the bay leaf to the sweet potato mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, until soft.
While the potatoes are cooking, n a small saute pan or skillet, melt the butter and sugar together over medium heat and let it cook until it forms a light caramel, slightly thickened and golden in color. Add the apple, banana, pineapple, remaining cinnamon stick piece, reserved orange juice, and heavy cream. Simmer 5 to 8 minutes, until the fruit softens.
Drain the potatoes and discard the orange peel, cinnamon, bay leaf, and onion. Remove the cinnamon from the caramelized fruit. In a food processor, puree the potatoes and fruit until smooth. Keep hot.
To make the Creole sauce: Dice one of the tomatoes. In a saute pan heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the peppers, onion, celery, and garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the cilantro and saute for 1 more minute, or until the vegetables are translucent and soft. Stir in the diced tomato and set the vegetables aside. Place the remaining tomatoes in a saucepan with the wine and bay leaf and bring to a boil over low heat. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and press through a fine-meshed sieve. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and lemon juice and puree the mixture in a blender. Place the warm tomato juice in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the vegetables.
To prepare the breadcrumb topping: Combine all ingredients in a large shallow dish.
To prepare the fish: Preheat the oven to 300 F. Season the fillets with salt and pepper and paint with a thin layer of mustard. Place the fillets in the breadcrumb mixture, top down. Place the butter and garlic in four positions on a large ovenproof saute pan and cover with the fish. Sear over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the wine and water and bake 3 to 4 minutes, until the fish are opaque throughout.
To serve: Spoon the sauce into four large plates, covering the bottom of each plate. Using two large spoons, scoop the tropical puree into oval quenelle shapes and place two on each plate. Top each plate with a fish fillet.
