In my kitchen

SIMON Gueller’s Sea-Bass Clam Chowder

You will need

Preparation time: 1 ½ hrs

Cooking Time: 5-7 mins

Ingredients: For the veloute: 2 Shallots; Pinch cracked white pepper; 250ml white wine; 250 ml noilly prat; 500ml fish stock; 660ml dbl cream. 100g baby spinach. 6 * 130g bass portions; 24 palourde clams; 6 bay leafs; 100g finely chopped celery; 100g finely chopped fennel; 100g finely chopped carrot; 100g finely chopped onion; 100g finely chopped leek; 100g finely chopped morteau sausage; 200g chopped potatoes (Maris Pipers); 50g chopped parsley; Pinch cayenne pepper; 1 lemon; Maldon sea salt; 200g piece of morteau sausage.

Method

VELOUTE: To make the velouté sweat shallots and the pepper without colour. Add the white wine and reduce by ½, add the noilly reduce by ½, add fish stock reduce to a syrup then add the cream and bring to the boil. Remove from heat blitz with a hand blender and pass through a fine sieve. Chill till needed.

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VEGETABLES: Chop all the vegetables to ½ cm dice and the potatoes to 1 cm dice. Cook off in butter till tender 5-7mins. Cook the potatoes in milk salt and pepper and bay leaf until soft and chill.

MORTEAU: Dice the Morteau to 1cm dice and fry in clarified butter until coloured and put to one side. With the remaining Morteau keep as the whole circle and cut thinly on a meat slicer. Lay out on a oven proof cilpat mat and cook in the oven at 170 for 4-5 mins or until golden brown. Remove from tray whilst still hot and fold over a round implement.

FISH: Cook the bass in a non-stick pan skin side down in vegetable oil for 1 minute on a high heat. Then transfer to the oven for 3-4 minutes until cooked. Whilst bass is in the oven sweat the spinach in a water and butter emulsion. Prepare the chowder by adding the fryed Morteau to the chopped vegetables and the velouté. Boil and reduce slightly. Season with salt, lemon juice and cayenne pepper to taste. Steam the clams in a pan with olive oil, bay leaf and a little water and cover cook until the clams have opened, 1-2 minutes.

TO SERVE: Place spinach in a ring in the middle of the bowl and arrange the velouté with the vegetables around the spinach. Arange the clams and Morteau tuilles over the chowder. Add the fish to the dish, placing it on the spinach. To finish the dish arrange herbs such as micro- celery and parsley over and around the chowder. Finish with good quality olive oil.

* Simon Gueller is Chef at the Box Tree in Ilkley.

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Christine Austin recommends: Enhance the flavour of Noilly Prat in the sauce of this dish with a lightly spiced Gewurztraminer from Cave de Turckheim in Alsace (Majestic £9.99) or carry through SanLeo Prosecco Brut from aperitif to main course and enjoy its soft bubbles with the fish (Waitrose £8.99).