Fish is a very delicate ingredient that must be prepared and cooked with a lot of care. People sometimes shy away from cooking fish and can consider it to be too bland; although seasoned properly and accompanied with the right ingredients the outcome is amazing. Avocado is an incredibly healthy and versatile fruit that I love using in new dishes. It is grilled and pureed in this recipe with a sharp and tangy citrus dressing. You are sure to impress your guests with this original recipe.

Pan seared sea bass with avocado, pak choi & citrus dressing

Ingredients

  • 1.8 kg whole sea bass (or 1kg of filets)
  • 1 pak choy halved
  • 2 tbsp. water
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 avocado

For the avocado puree:

  • 2 ripe avocadoes
  • The juice half a lemon
  • 2 drops tabasco
  • ¼ a bunch coriander
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil

For the lemon dressing:

  • 3 peeled whole lemons
  • 1 tbsp. sugar
  • ½ cup lemon juice
  • 1 thinly sliced spring onion
  • ½ the zest of a lemon
  • 3 tbsp. olive oil
  • A handful of chopped coriander leaves
  • A pinch of ground chili
  • Salt and Pepper

Method:

To prepare the lemon dressing:

  1. In a small sauce pan add the lemon juice and sugar with the quartered peeled lemons (do not remove the pips).
  2. Leave to simmer on a low heat for approximately 40 minutes.
  3. Once the lemon chunks have dissolved and the juice has reduced by half; pass through a sieve and recuperate the liquid paste.
  4. In a small mixing bowl whisk together the olive oil and lemon paste.
  5. To complete the dressing incorporate the lemon zests, the sliced spring onion and chopped coriander before seasoning to taste.

To prepare the avocado puree:

  1. Peel and stone the ripe avocadoes before putting in a powerful blender with the lemon juice, tabasco, olive oil, coriander and a pinch of salt.
  2. Blend until the puree is silky smooth (you might need to add a little water if the avocadoes are not ripe enough).

Fish

  1. Make sure your filets of fish are clean and properly descaled before using.
  2. Season the filets with salt before pan searing skin side down with a table spoon of olive oil on a medium heat.
  3. Once the skin is crispy and lightly coloured (roughly 3 minutes) turn over the fish and cook for a further 1 minute (depending on the size of your filet).
  4. In the same pan, sear the pak choy for a couple of minutes and deglaze with water. Once the water has completely evaporated, the greens should be tender and cooked throughout.
  5. Peel, stone and segment the avocado. Pan sear each segment carefully in a lightly oiled pan. Once the avocado segments are coloured on each side remove from the pan.
  6. Delicately plate all the ingredients to obtain a beautiful plate of food.

For this fresh and healthy dish I suggest a young Sancerre “Domaine Vacheron” 2014. This is a precise and clean white wine from the Loire valley with subtle hints of tangerines; a perfect match for our citrus dressing.

For a more ‘grown up’ sort of wine, why not try a Chablis “Les Vieilles Vignes de Sainte Claire” 2006 from Jean-Marc Brocard. A great quality white wine, 100% Chardonnay with notes of ripe fruit and delightful minerality. Excellent value for money and a beautiful accompaniment for this fresh and tangy dish.

The 2004 Bollinger “La Grande Année, Brut” would really complement this modern dish. With a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay this opulent and full bodied Champagne really stands up to the powerful flavours of this recipe.

Wines to drink with pan seared sea bass with avocado, pak choi & citrus dressing by Michel Roux Jr.

Sancerre, Domaine Vacherone 2013: Floral and fragrant on the nose, this dry white has a slight zing with flavours stonefruit on the palate. Flint. Chalk and pebbles are used in the maturation process of this unoaked wine, which adds a toasty, slightly nutty overtone.

RRP: £16.99 from Majestic

Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis Village “Les Vieilles Vignes de Sainte Claire” 2006: A crisp, dry white with grapes grown in the breathtaking viyeards of Chablisien. An excellent year for Chablis, this is a very special bottle indeed.

RRP: £26.67 from Millesima

Bollinger La Grande Annee Brut 2004: This is an exceptional Bollinger vintage. Shimmering gold in colour, it is sweet with notes of rhubarb and candied fruits and balanced with a certain aromatic spiciness.

RRP: £59.95 from Cadmans

Michel Roux Jr
Michel Roux Jr
Columnist
Michel Roux Jr was born in 1960 in Pembury, Kent, where his father Albert Roux worked as a private chef for the Cazalet family. His earliest food memories are the smells of the Fairlawne kitchen – pastry, sugar caramelizing and stews – where he played under the table while his father and mother Monique prepared the meals. After deciding to follow in his father’s footsteps, he left school at 16 for the first of several challenging apprenticeships at Maître Patissier, Hellegouarche in Paris from 1976 to 1979. He was then Commis de Cuisine at Alain Chapel’s signature restaurant at Mionay near Lyon, Michel’s biggest influence. His military service was spent in the kitchens at the Elysée Palace at the time of Presidents Giscard d’Estaing and François Mitterrand. He also spent time at Boucherie Lamartine and Charcuterie Mothu in Paris, and the Gavers Restaurant in London. After a stint at the Mandarin Hotel in Hong Kong he returned to London and worked at La Tante Claire before joining the family business. He took over running Le Gavroche in 1991, gradually changing the style of cooking to his own – classic French with a lighter, modern twist. Michel opened Roux at Parliament Square in May 2010 with Restaurant Associates, part of the Compass Group UK and Ireland. And in November 2010, he opened Roux at The Landau at London’s prestigious luxury hotel, The Langham. Michel was a judge and presenter on the BBC’s popular prime time show, MasterChef: The Professionals, and presented all series of ‘Great British Food Revival.’  Michel fronted BBC2’s ‘Food and Drink,’ in 2014 and presented a documentary on Escoffier, whose revolutionary approach to fine cuisine has inspired Michel and many others. In the same year, Michel went on a journey to create the perfect chocolate for the Le Gavroche Kitchen.  Filmed by the BBC, in Paris he discovered chocolatiers, Cacao Barry and their Or Noir Lab. In 2013, Michel launched his most recent cookbook, ‘The French Kitchen’.  Focusing on traditional French home cooking, this is the fifth solo cookery book from Michel. He is involved with the Roux Experience courses at the ‘Cactus Kitchens’ cookery school, with the Executive producer of Saturday Kitchen, Amanda Ross. Cactus Kitchens offers people the opportunity to learn to cook within small intimate groups from some of the UK’s finest chefs, on site above the Saturday Kitchen studios. Michel has fronted a brand new four-part Channel 4 series, ‘The Diner’, exploring the hurdles faced by people with disabilities and mental health issues when finding employment. Michel also recently presented a new program on his first ever project with the Disney Channel.  ‘First Class Chefs’ which launched in June 2015, is a show where kids aged 9-11 compete to showcase their restaurant skills.