Ben Griffiths, head chef of Maes-Yr-Haf Restaurant in Swansea, has brought us a delicious recipe for sea bass with a cockle toastie.
Ingredients
For the cockle toasties:
- 60 g2 oz sea bass trimmings
- 1 egg white
- 25 ml1 fl oz double cream
- 25 g1 oz picked cockle meat
- 20 g¾ oz mixed herbs, chopped
- Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
- 4 slices of white bread
- 50 ml1¾ fl oz rapeseed oil
For the potatoes:
- 400 g14 oz new potatoes, peeled
- 25 g1 oz unsalted butter, diced
- 10 g¼ oz chives, chopped
For the samphire:
- 200 g7 oz samphire
For the tomato concassé:
- 2 tomatoes
- 120 ml4¼ fl oz olive oil
- 25 ml1 fl oz lemon juice
- 10 g¼ oz basil, chopped
- 10 g¼ oz chives, chopped
- 10 g¼ oz tarragon, chopped
For the sea bass:
- 4x 150 g5¼ oz fillets of wild sea bass
- 50 ml1¾ fl oz rapeseed oil
Method: How to make Pan-fried sea bass
For the cockle toasties:
Put the sea bass trimmings in a food processor with the egg white and blend until smooth. Pass through a sieve into a small bowl. Fold in the double cream, cockle meat and herbs and season with salt and pepper. Cover and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Roll out the bread to a 3mm thickness and cut off the crusts. Brush along the edges with water, then place 1 teaspoon of the cockle mousse in the centre of each slice and fold over the bread to seal into a parcel, expelling any air. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
For the potatoes:
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the potatoes and cook for 20–25 minutes until tender. Drain, then crush with the butter and chives. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.
For the samphire:
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the samphire and cook for 3 minutes. Drain and keep warm.
For the tomato concassé:
With a paring knife, score the tomatoes with an X at the opposite end to where the stem was once attached. Immerse the tomatoes in boiling water for 10 seconds or until they start to blister, then plunge them into iced water immediately until cold. Peel off the skin and cut in half crossways. Hold the tomato halves cut-side down and squeeze to rid them of their seeds and any water. Finely dice.
Put the oil in a bowl with the lemon juice and stir together. Stir in the chopped herbs followed by the diced tomatoes.
For the fillets of sea bass:
Remove any bones from the fillets and score the skin with a sharp knife, then season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a pan and add the sea bass, skin-side down. Cook for 3 minutes and then turn the fillets over and cook for 1 minute more. Remove from the heat.
To finish the cockle toasties:
Heat the rapeseed oil in a pan over a medium heat and cook the toasties for 3 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper, then season with salt and pepper.
To serve:
Spoon the crushed potatoes into a ring mould on each warmed plate, carefully removing the mould each time. Lay the samphire next to the potato and place the sea bass on top of the crushed potatoes and the toastie on top of the samphire. Spoon around the tomato concassé.
