Thursday, April 07, 2005

Bar hollandaise

First off, this is a post about fish (bass, to be more specific), not about a bar. Just wanted to get that clear. Wednesdays are the day I have to go down to the 14e, right next to a giant, gorgeous fish store. So, even though the Boy had said he refused to have fish after eating it almost exclusively in China, I took him with me and he was so bowled over by the beautiful whole bass lying in wait on ice that he agreed it would be a suitable meal, provided I didn't cook it with soy sauce and ginger. Since I have neither of those two ingredients in the house, it was a very easy promise to make.

We picked out a bass and asked the fishmonger to cut it up into two big fillets for us, skin on, as the whole fish would have been too big for our oven! I decided to cook it similar to how I had the Mullet, but without a spicy sauce and this time I also used up some of my giant stalk of celery, greens and all. I made a simple Hollandaise sauce to go with it and we had a package of miniature cheese ravioli, covered in grated gruyere, a baguette and a dry white wine.

Bar

2 fillets Bass
2 stalks Celery, sliced
Celery greens
2 Onions, sliced
1 stalk Parsley
1 Clove
2 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
Salt and Pepper
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
Water

Pre-heat oven to 180 C (350 F). Spread Celery stalks, Greens, Parsley and Onions over the bottom of an oven-proof glass pan. Add Clove, 1 tablespoon Vinegar, Salt, Pepper and 1 tablespoon Olive oil. Place Fillets, skin side down, on top. Pour Vinegar and Olive Oil over each one. Pour Water on top, until fish is completely covered. Put it all in the oven for about 12 minutes, until fish flakes easily with a fork.

While it cooks, make the sauce:

Sauce Hollandaise

2 Egg Yolks
Salt
2 teaspoons Water + pot of Boiling water
150 grams Butter

Boil a pot of Water. Put Egg Yolks, Salt and 2 teaspoons water in a bowl and rest it in the pot of boiling water. Beat the mixture with a fork or wisk, being careful it does not fall into the pot. When the eggs begin to solidify, add the butter. Serve warm.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I made your recipe and it turned out quite well! (I did use my own standard hollandaise but that's because I add a pinch of cayenne to it.)

Lady Amalthea said...

Your hollandaise sounds wonderful! Would you be interested in sharing the recipe?