The latest season of Grilling sees Simon invite his guests to prepare a dish on a Weber Genesis barbecue. Here, John Torode delivers his version of fish 'n' chips - a beautiful wild sea bass stuffed with herbs, served with lemon, seaweed butter and potato salad, drizzled with his extra-special dressing.
Recipe:
Ingredients for the fish
2 whole cleaned gilt head bream or sea bass
A fennel bulb
Handful of dill
Half a lemon sliced
Salt and pepper
2 branched of rosemary
Ingredients for the potatoes
1 Kilo of new or salad potatoes (boiled for 15 minutes) – can be cold or warm
2 Tablespoon of vegetable oil
2 Teaspoon of paprika
Salt and pepper
4 Branches of rosemary
5 Long red chillies
Ingredients for the potato dressing
200ml Olive oil
100g Dijon mustard
400ml White wine vinegar
Ingredients for seaweed butter
200g butter (soft)
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 Tablespoon of seaweed flakes (can use seaweed salt but you will need to use unsalted butter)
1 Teaspoon of ground black pepper
Method
1. First, prepare the fish: wipe the fish clean inside and out, and then use a sharp knife to make three small incisions in the skin of the fish on one side. Turn it over and repeat. Then, slice the fennel thinly and in bowl mix with the seasoning, lemons, and dill before filling the inside of each fish with the mix. Now push in the rosemary. Your fish is now ready to go and can be kept in the fridge for several hours or even overnight if needed.
2. Next, prepare the potatoes: cut them in half lengthwise and rub with the oil, then season with salt, pepper and paprika before mixing well with the whole chillies and rosemary. Your potatoes are now ready to go.
3. Once the potatoes are done, prepare the dressing: place the olive oil, Dijon mustard and white wine vinegar into a jar and shake well. Put it to one side.
4. Now you need to prepare your butter: use an electric hand mixerbeater to whip the butter and zest of a lemon in a bowl until white and fluffy. Then add lemon juice and beat again. Once it’s mixed, add the seaweed and the black pepper and put to one side.
5. Now it’s time to cook the fish: heat the barbecue and place the seasoned potatoes onto a sear grate and cook for 10 minutes to get a little colour. Then, move the potatoes a little so the fish can sit on the grate with the potatoes surrounding it.
6. Take the temperature to 200°C and cook for eight minutes.
7. Then, open the lid and give the potatoes a little shuffle. Take out the rosemary from the potatoes (but keep the branches in the fish) and close the lid and cook for another five minutes.
8. Gently lift the fish (without turning it), place on a platter and drop some of the seaweed butter on top. Sprinkle the fish with some truffle salt and serve with wedges of lemon.
9. Put the potatoes in a bowl and pour over a little dressing. You are now ready to serve and enjoy!
