Pan-fried sea bass, poached oysters, sage, capers and brown butter
Sea bass in brown butter and capers is classic French fish cookery. Matt Tebbutt adds a bit of luxury with gently poached oysters.
Ingredients
For the skate wing
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 x 200g/7oz skin-on sea bass fillets, boned
- 75²µ/2½´Ç³ú unsalted butter
- 6 fresh sage leaves
- 75²µ/2½´Ç³ú capers, drained
- 1 lemon, juice only
For the poached oysters
- 75g/2â…”oz unsalted butter
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- 1 garlic clove, sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 200ml/7fl oz white wine
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 6 oysters, shucked, juices reserved
To serve
Method
To cook the sea bass, heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the fish and fry on one side for 2 minutes, then turn over and add the butter. Cook until the butter turns brown, then finish with the sage, capers and lemon juice. This will take around 8–10 minutes depending on the thickness of the bass.
For the poached oysters, heat 25g/1oz of the butter in a medium saucepan, then add the shallot and garlic and fry for 1–2 minutes. Add the bay leaf, white wine, vinegar, and the juice from the oysters and cook until reduced by half. Add the oysters and the remaining butter to the pan. Poach gently in the liquor for 1–2 minutes or until warmed through.
Heat a sauté pan and cook the spinach with a splash of water until wilted.
To serve, place the wilted spinach in the centre of two plates and top with the sea bass and all the brown butter mixture from the pan. Arrange the poached oysters on top and finish with fresh parsley.
