Pan Fried Sea Bass with Petit Pois a la Francaise

by Andy Hunting, The Crabstock Boys

This is one of my favourite summer dishes to cook and to eat, sat outside on a summer evening with a nice cold glass of white wine.

It is also very easy to create and is one of my most popular demo dishes on my cookery demonstrations around the UK, people look very surprised when I mention that I am cooking lettuce and then they are also pleasantly surprised when they try the dish.

Now I have used Sea Bass for this particular dish, but please try with other types of fish, and this also works really well with Chicken or Lamb. 

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 150 g sliced onions 

• few fresh mint leaves finely chopped

• 1 bay leaf

• 150 ml chicken stock or vegetable stock

• 250 g peas (frozen)

• 250g broad beans (frozen)

• 2 fillets of Sea Bass

• 50 g butter

• 1 lettuce shredded

• seasoning

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in pan, add the onions, bay leaf and saute over a medium heat for 5 minutes. 
2. Add the stock, peas, broad beans and some salt and pepper. Simmer gently for 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender. 
3. Stir in the butter and finally, mix through the lettuce and mint, heat briefly until wilted. Check seasoning and cook warm while you cook the fish.
4. Trim each sea bass fillet so they are both the same shape, then score the skin, cutting into the flesh slightly, 5 or 6 times at about 1cm intervals
5. Season the fish with a little salt and pepper just before cooking. 
6. Heat the frying pan until hot, then add 2 tbsp oil. Lay the fish fillets in the pan, skin-side down. Press each fillet down with your fingers or a fish slice to stop it from curling up.
7. Reduce the heat to medium, then leave the fish to cook for 3-4 mins, undisturbed, until you can see that the flesh has cooked two-thirds of the way up and the skin is crisp and brown.
8. Flip the fillets over, then fry on the flesh side for about 2 mins until just done, basting the skin with the oil in the pan as it cooks. Leave to rest on a warm plate, skin-side up, and baste with the hot oil and juices from the pan.
9. Now dish the peas onto a nice plate and then lay the sea bass fillet on top and enjoy with a nice cold drink.