From the Garden Bistro - a taste of things to come

Seared Seabass with crab, new potatoes and sauce vierge

This recipe is brought to you by Tony Harkess, Head Chef at The Garden Bistro in Saughton Park, who were all set for a very fancy opening party which sadly had to be cancelled at the last minute.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 Sea Bass fillets

• 100gm white crab meat

• 300g new potatoes

• 12 cherry plum tomatoes

• 12 asparagus spears

• ½ crushed garlic clove

• 1 finely diced banana shallot

• 100 ml extra virgin olive oil

• 25 ml vegetable oil

• 25g butter

• Juice of 2 lemons

• 1 tsp chopped chives

• 1 tsp chopped basil

• 1 tsp chopped coriander

• Salt & Pepper

To garnish:

• Washed tender pea shoots

• Wedge of lemon

• Cracked black pepper and sea salt

METHOD:

To make the sauce vierge briefly blanche the tomatoe’s , peel, remove seeds and dice.

In a pan mix and heat slowly to approximately 65 degrees to infuse garlic, shallot, juice of one lemon and 50ml of olive oil along with the basil and coriander, add diced tomatoes, season and set aside

Wash, peel and boil the potatoes in salted water until they are 90% ready. Drain, return to pan, cover and set aside.

Pre-heat a non-stick pan until hot, then add 25ml of vegetable oil.

Season sea bass skin with salt and add to pan, skin side down. Press down lightly so skin is level in the pan.

Season fish side with salt and pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes until the skin is crispy. Turn fish over, remove from heat, add butter and baste with the browned butter.

Set aside to rest.

Can't wait for The Garden Bistro to open

Return the potatoes to the heat, add 50 ml of olive oil, juice of one lemon, salt and pepper.

Crush with the back of a fork then spoon in the chives and crab meat. Keep warm.

Chargrill the asparagus for 2-3 minutes until charred. Squeeze

the juice of one lemon over them and season with salt and pepper.

On a hot plate, place the crushed potatoes into a centrally placed metal ring (or shape into a circle).

Place 3 asparagus spears neatly on top.

Place the seabass fillet on the top.

Top with a generous serving of sauce vierge and garnish with pea shoots and a wedge of lemon.

www.thegardenbistro.co.uk