Wild Striped Bass on Lobster-mashed Potatoes
Mashed potatoes lighted with butter, cream, and creme fraiche are laced with lobster and molded on the serving plates, then topped with striped bass which has been cooked from one side only. The dish is garnished with parmesan tuiles, a tomato-basil coulis, arugula, and a chive. Cooking the bass from the skin side only creates a lovely gradation of color, from the crusty golden brown of the skin through almost white.
Ingredients
- Tomato-Basil Coulis
- Olive Oil - 2 tablespoons
- Shallots - 3, halved, then sliced
- Garlic Cloves - 2, minced
- Tomatoes - 2, peeled, seeded, and chopped
- Chicken broth - 1 cup
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Fresh Basil Leaves - 4, chopped
- Unsalted Butter - 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons), cut into pieces
- Parmesan Tuiles
- Parmesan cheese - 8 ounces, freshly grated
- Water - for sprinkling
- Lobster-mashed Potatoes
- Lobster Tails - 1, cooked
- Potatoes - 1 pound, peeled and boiled until tender
- Unsalted Butter - 2 tablespoons
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1/4 cup
- Juice of 1/2 key lime or other lime
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Creme Fraiche - 2 tablespoons
- Scallions - 4, white parts with just a little of the green parts, finely chopped
- Olive Oil - 3 tablespoons
- Fillets striped bass - four, 8-ounce
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Garnish
- Arugula - 1 cup, stemmed
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon
- Tomato - 1, peeled, seeded, and diced (concasse)
- Chives - 4
Instructions
To make the coulis: Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat and saute the shallot and garlic until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the tomato, chicken broth, and seasonings and simmer 10 to 15 minutes, until the liquid is reduced by half. Remove from heat and stir in the basil. Set aside; keep warm.
To make the tuiles: Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone liner. Have several clean, smooth large tumblers, bottles, or similar smooth cylindrical objects available as molds for shaping the cooked tuiles. Moisten your hands with a little olive oil and very lightly oil the molds. Spread the grated cheese into four thin 5- to 6-inch circles on the silicone liner; let the circles be lacy, do not fill them in solid. Spray the cheese with a light mist of water. Bake 4 to 5 minutes, until the edges start to brown and the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven. Lay the tumblers, bottles, or other objects on their sides on a work surface. Lift each tuile and drape over one of the waiting molds to gently curve the tuile. Repeat with all tuiles while they are hot; as soon as they are cooled, remove them from the molds and store in a cool dry place.
To prepare the potatoes: Remove the lobster tail from the shell and cut in half lengthwise. Remove the back strip. Roughly chop the lobster meat. Run the potatoes through a food mill or ricer, or mash by hand. Stir in the butter, cream, and lime juice. Fold in the lobster meat, salt and pepper, creme fraiche, and scallions. Set aside; keep warm.
To prepare the bass: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick ovenproof saute pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Trim the bass into a rectangular piece and season with salt and pepper.When the oil is hot, put the bass in the pan, skin-side down. Do not let the pieces touch one another, crowding the pan. As the fish cooks and begins to curl, press gently on the top sides to keep them flat. Do not turn the fish over. When the skin side is golden-brown, put the pan in the oven without turning the fish and bake 5 to 6 minutes, until cooked through to your taste. Remove from oven.
To serve: Warm the coulis over medium-high heat and swirl in the butter. Toss the arugula in the olive oil and season with the salt and pepper. Place a 3-inch ring mold in the center of a warmed serving plate and fill with lobster-mashed potatoes. Lift the mold. Place a piece of bass, skin-side up, on top of the potatoes. Repeat with all plates. Drizzle tomato-basil coulis around the potatoes on the plates. Arrange several arugula leaves in front of each potato-bass tower; stand a parmesan tuile behind each tower, anchoring it in the potatoes. Sprinkle tomato concasse around each plate and lean one chive across the fish and against the tuile on each.
