One of the most traditional main dishes that is not usually missing from Christmas menus is baked sea bream, which, in addition to being delicious, is very easy to prepare and less heavy than meat for dinner. If you want to give it a twist improving the basic recipepoints out the tricks that Karlos Arguiñano has taught us in one of his programs dedicated to the holidays.
Noble and healthy fish with a season that starts in November and lasts until March, the drawback that sea bream presents is the high price that reaches as we approach the Christmas season. We can always buy it a few weeks before and freeze, or opt for one of the best alternatives to replace sea bream at Christmas.
This is how Arguiñano improves the traditional baked sea bream
The tireless television chef shared with us a very simple roast sea bream recipe but with a few small tricks and steps that elevate a truly dish even more. easy and it doesn’t require much work in the kitchen.
This fish is traditionally baked on a bed of baked potatoes, which must poach at medium temperature, cut into slices neither too thin nor too thick. If the typical thing is to sauté some onions first, Arguiñano prefers to start with the tuber and add, in its place, four cloves of garlic in thick slices, two chives and two julienned green peppers, without letting them cook too much. Important: preserve the oil of the fry.
This mixture is spread on the baking sheet to form a bed that will accommodate the fish. What Arguiñano does is open it like a book, leaving the head and removing the central spines, before placing it, seasoned, on the vegetables. Then she generously paints the sea bream with the oil from poaching the potatoes, using a brush or brush cooking, to give it more flavor and juiciness.
Another touch of the Basque chef is to water, without soaking too much, the fish and the plate with txakoli wine, using a couple of glasses. With the vegetables already practically cooked and the sea bream being a white fish, it will only need about 10-12 minutes of cooking in a strong oven, at 220 ºC, and previously preheated.
And it could be served without further ado, but Arguiñano teaches us how to prepare a delicious sauce of dipping a lot of bread. You just have to arrange the whole fish on a platter and next to it the vegetables with almost all the potatoes, reserving all the juices of the plate and about five or six slices of baker’s potatoes.
All of this is placed in a frying pan on the fire, letting it boil slightly to reduce it a little, and the potatoes are mashed in that broth using a fork. And so we have an exquisite sauce with which Arguiñano waters the sea bream, without forgetting the final touch of fresh parsley.
Furthermore, as a final complement that provides a touch of color and freshness, the cook lightly sautés some cherry tomatoes with a pinch of oil and salt. And so we have a great party worthy of any celebration or to also enjoy outside of the Christmas holidays.
Atlantis Txakoli – 3 bottles 0.75L
*Some prices may have changed since the last review
Photos | Karlos Arguiñano – iStock
In DAP | Sea bass in salt
In DAP | Christmas fish