Chef Chris’s latest dish
Chris Steele, our Ayrshire Life chef runs The Stage Door Restaurant and Hollybush House restaurant.
Each week Chris will be sharing one of his favourite dishes from his collection for you to make at home.
This week he prepares Seared Stone Bass Fillet, buttered asparagus, vanilla, ginger squash puree, Béarnaise Sauce and King Scallop Tempura
Preparation for this is one hour and cooking time is 10 to 12 minutes, It serves four.
For the Tempura Batter: one bottle of Soda ( chilled); salt and pepper; five grams baking powder; four king scallops; equal quantities of self raising flour and cornflour.
For the Stone Bass: Four stone bass fillets, scaled. For the Béarnaise Sauce: 300g/ 10 ½ oz butter; four tbs white wine vinegar; four shallots, chopped; 25g chopped fresh tarragon; salt and freshly ground black pepper; four freerange egg yolks; one tsp lemon juice. For the Vanilla and Ginger
Squash Puree: Two butternut squash, peeled and sliced; a few small knobs of salted butter; salt and pepper for seasoning; 200ml vegetable stock; two tbs madras paste; one vanilla pod; 25g stem ginger.
For the Buttered Asparagus: Three bunch of asparagus; 50g butter; seasoning. To make: Pre Heat Oven to 180c and Deep Fat Fryer 170c For the stone bass: Pre heat a pan with olive oil, once hot place the stone bass into the pan skin side down. Leave for a few minutes until the skin is crispy then turn, if sticks place a knob of butter onto pan this will make it easier to turn. Put in oven for 6/ 8 mins until ready.
For the batter: Place the soda into a large mixing bowl and season the water with salt and pepper. Then add half cup of self raising flour and cornflour at the same time till the mixture thick and smooth enough just to coat your finger, rest and chill in fridge.
For the Béarnaise Sauce: Clarify the butter by melting it in a small, heavy- based saucepan over a low heat. When the butter is foaming, remove the pan from the heat and leave it to stand for a few minutes so that the white solids sink to the bottom of the pan. Sieve the butter through a fine sieve and discard the solids. Pour the vinegar into a non- reactive saucepan. Add the shallots, chopped tarragon and salt to taste. Heat gently over a medium heat until the volume of liquid has reduced by more than half. Strain and set aside until completely cooled. Lightly beat egg yolks with one teaspoon of water. Stir the egg yolk mixture into the cooled vinegar, then add the lemon juice. Pour the mixture into a bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water ( do not allow base of the bowl to touch the water). Whisk constantly until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon and has increased in volume. Remove the
bowl from the
heat and slowly pour in the clarified butter in a steady stream, whisking continuously, until the mixture is thick and smooth. Fold in the tarragon leaves and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. For the ginger and vanilla
squash puree: Place the squash into a pot of boiling water, when soft remove from heat and drain in a colander. Place back into pot and dry of any excess water with a gentle heat through. When done place into a food processor and blitz until smooth, add butter, ginger, vanilla and seasoning as required. For the buttered asparagus: Place asparagus into a simmering pot of salted water. Blanch for a minute or two and drain. Pre heat a frying pan and place the asparagus into pan and a large knob of butter, fry for a minute or two and season and serve.
To Serve: Place the king scallop into the batter and deep fry for a few minutes until ready, remove from fryer and season. Place some puree in centre of plate and place the butter asparagus over it. Place the stone bass on top of it and garnish with the tempura, finally drizzle with some béarnaise sauce.