Sea bass, béarnaise and beer-roasted chicory from a top chef
With this recipe from Arnaud Delvenne, Belgian finalist in Top Chef 2022, you can prepare a delicious festive dish: salt-crusted sea bass with braised chicon and an iodine-flavoured Béarnaise sauce.
Ingredients:
- 5 Columbus eggs
- 1 sea bass
- 500g mussels
- 500g chicory
- Coarse sea salt
- 1 beer (triple)
- Lemon
- Lime
- Butter
- Coriander seeds
- Fresh tarragon
- Chives
Preparation:
- Braised chicory with beer: Remove the heel and first few leaves. Melt the butter in a casserole dish. Bake the chicory goldbrown. Season with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Moisten the chicory to the brim with the beer and cover with aluminium foil. Place the casserole in the oven. Use the aluminium foil instead of the lid to avoid boiling the chicory. The baluminium foil will allow the chicory to evaporate without drying out.
- Separate the egg whites from the yolks. The whites will be used for the salt crust and the yolks for the béarnaise sauce. Zero waste!
- Citrus salt crust: In a frying pan, roast the coriander seeds. Then put them in a blender with the zest of one lime and one lemon and a generous handful of sea salt. Blend the mixture. In a bowl, mix the egg whites and salt with the citrus fruit. Add the sea salt in batches, mixing well. The mixture with the egg whites will allow the salt crust to solidify, which in turn will allow the fish to be cooked evenly.
- Sea bass in a crust: Spread the first part of the salt crust on a baking tray. Place the fish on the salt. There’s no need to scale the sea bass, as the scales will act as a protective layer between the fish and the salt and, in any case, the skin won’t be eaten. Cover the fish completely and press down the salt to make a nice even crust. Place in the oven with the chicory for 40 minutes.
- Béarnaise with mussels: Heat a pan of lightly salted water. Dip the mussels in the boiling water and remove them as soon as they open. Remove the flesh directly from the mussels and chop finely to season the béarnaise and enhance the dish’s iodine flavour. Prepare your béarnaise with the egg yolks and replace the citric with the balance of the beer and the reduced mussel cooking juices. Emulsify with clarified butter or melted butter. Season with pepper. At the end of the preparation, add the mussels and finely chopped tarragon.
- Sea bass in a crust: remove the fish from the oven and break the salt crust using a ladle. Remove the skin from the fish and remove the fillets.
- To serve: place the fillets on the plates and garnish with tarragon leaves, chopped chives and lemon zest. Add the chicory, covered in the cooking juices. Serve with the mussel Béarnaise sauce.
© RTL-Tvi, A la Sauce Belge 2022
Watch the full episode on RtlPlay
Arnaud Delvenne
Arnaud Delvenne
Arnaud Delvenne is the Belgian finalist of the 2022 season of Top Chef.
He recently opened his own restaurant in Liège under the name Nono.
In collaboration with Sophie Pendeville, he hosts the programme A la sauce belge in which he regularly puts Columbus eggs in the spotlight.
Arnaud’s vision of cooking is generous, sincere, but light.
