Sea bass, smoked Espelette butter sauce, coco bean cassoulet
This sea bass recipe from Stu Deeley is served with a simply coco bean cassoulet, and a rich Espelette pepper sauce made with smoked butter. Espelette pepper is a bright red chilli powder made from chillies grown in the Basque region of France. In the restaurant, the fish is also seasoned on both sides with salt before cooking, with a 10 minutes pause before seasoning each side, but this extra salting step is optional.
Ingredients
Sea bass
- 6 sea bass fillets , 120g each
- salt
- water
- vegetable oil
- butter
- lemon juice
Coco bean cassoulet
- 562g of fresh Coco de Paimpol beans
- 54g of confit garlic
- 5g of salt
- 562g of water
Smoked Espelette butter sauce
- 1 shallot
- 2 garlic cloves
- 75g of rice wine vinegar
- 500ml of white wine
- 350ml of double cream
- 4g of dashi powder
- 8g of salt
- 400ml of water
- 125g of smoked butter , cubed
- 125g of butter , cubed
- 10g of smoked oil
- 6g of Espelette pepper , ground
Method
First prepare a 10% salt brine. The amount of brine you need will depend on the size of your container, but this means for each litre of water, add 100g of salt
- salt
- water
Add the sea bass to the 10% salt brine and leave for 10 minutes. Wash the sea bass in cold water, then leave on a tray overnight, covered with a cloth, to allow the fish to drain
- 6 sea bass fillets , 120g each
To make the cocoa bean cassoulet, add all the ingredients to a pan, and season with salt. Bring to 90°C
- 562g of fresh Coco de Paimpol beans
- 54g of confit garlic
- 5g of salt
- 562g of water
Transfer to the oven and cook at 90°C for 90 minutes, then set aside
While the beans cook, make the Espelette pepper sauce. Sweat the shallots and garlic down in a pan with a dash of oil. Add the white wine and rice vinegar, and then simmer until it’s reduced to a syrup
- 1 shallot
- 2 garlic cloves
- 500ml of white wine
- 75g of rice wine vinegar
Add the double cream, dashi granules, salt and water, then pass the sauce
- 350ml of double cream
- 4g of dashi powder
- 8g of salt
- 400ml of water
Use a stick blender to emulsify in the smoked butter, unsalted butter, smoked oil and ground Espelette pepper. Adjust the seasoning to taste, then set aside
- 125g of smoked butter , cubed
- 125g of butter , cubed
- 10g of smoked oil
- 6g of Espelette pepper , ground
Once ready to cook the sea bass, heat up a pan with some oil, then add the fish to the pan skin side down. Cook it until it is about 80% of the way done, then add a good amount of butter. Baste the fish briefly in the butter, then flip it and continue basting until it is cooked through
- vegetable oil
- butter
Add a dash of lemon juice to the pan, then remove from the heat
To serve, add a spoonful of beans to each plate, and top with the fish. Warm the sauce, then use a stick blender to it up slightly. Pour the foamed sauce around the beans
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Sea bass, smoked Espelette butter sauce, coco bean cassoulet
