Seared Striped Bass With Celeriac Puree, Purple Potatoes And Walnut Lemon Dust

How to re-create this recipe:

Ingredients:

(Serves 2)

• 2- 4 oz Fillets of Wild Striped Sea Bass (skin on)
• 1/2 a cup of shelled Walnuts
• 1 Lemon Peel
• 1 knob of Celery/Celeriac
• 8 Baby Purple Potatoes
• 4 Tablespoons of room temperature Unsalted Butter
• 1/2 a Tsp of Garlic Powder
• 1 Tsp of Yellow Curry Powder
• 1 Watermelon Radish
• 1/2 a cup of Olive Oil
• 1/2 a cup of Grape seed Oil
• Salt to taste
• Micro greens for garnish (optional)

Putting it together:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Fill 1 small stockpot up halfway with water and bring it to a boil. Fill 1 medium stockpot up halfway with water and bring it to a boil. Add some salt to both stockpots.
2. While waiting for your water to boil you can make your Walnut and Lemon Zest Dust. With a vegetable or cheese peeler, peel 1 slice of Lemon zest off a lemon and cut it into small pieces. Add 1/2 a cup of shelled Walnuts and the pieces of lemon zest to a food processor and process on high until the mixture looks like a sand consistency. Put aside in a small storage container until all the other food is prepared and clean out your food processor b/c you will need it again.
3. Prepare your Celery Knob by shaving the entire outside of knob off with a vegetable peeler and then dice the Celery Knob into 1 inch chunks.
4. Once the water comes up to a boil, boil the baby potatoes for 15-20 minutes until they are fork tender.  Boil the celery Knob for 25 minutes until fork tender. Before spilling the water out from cooking the Celery Knob, reserve 1/2 a cup of that liquid (if you give it a try it will taste slightly earthy).
5. Add the Celery chunks to a food processor with 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tsp of salt. Blend on high and while the mixture is blending, slowly pour in 1/2 a cup of Olive Oil. Make sure to adjust the amount of Olive Oil you use until you get to a creamy mashed potato looking consistency.
6. Next you can make a simple sauce that you will coat the potatoes in. Get a small Saute pan and turn the heat on high. Add the 1/2 cup of the reserved Celery stock to that pan with 1/2 a tsp of garlic powder, 1 tsp of Yellow Curry powder, 2 Tbs’s of butter and salt to taste. Whisk all ingredients together until butter fully melts. Slowly and carefully add that mixture to a blender (make sure that your blender has its lid on it tightly so you don’t burn yourself) and blend on high for about 2 minutes. Toss your potatoes in this mixture.
7. The last step is searing the fish. Clean out your small saute pan, on high heat add 1/2 a cup of Grape seed oil. Sprinkle salt on both sides of your fish and place the skin side down first into the pan (the oil should be very hot and you should hear the fish sizzle). Use a spatula and press down firmly so that the fish and skin remains flat. Continue to press down with the spatula for 3 minutes, flip fish over and sear the other side for 3 minutes. Place the fish in your oven that’s set at 400 for an additional 5 or 6 minutes.
8. While fish is in oven, using a mandoline shave a few slices of Watermelon Radish and then quarter the slices.
9. When fish is done cooking, you can assemble your dish using the picture above for inspiration.

Nourishment for your body: Striped Bass is high in protein and low in calories. It also contains Omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin B-12 and Selenium.  Celeriac/Celery root has a high amount of potassium, Vitamin K, and Phosphorus. Purple Potatoes are loaded with antioxidants and disease-fighting phytonutrients.

Tips when cooking: If you do not have Walnuts or don’t prefer how they taste, you can substitute for any nuts you prefer. Keep in mind you will have a lot of this “dust” left over and you can sprinkle it on salads or meat dishes. You will also have a nice chunk of the Watermelon Radish left over. If you place the Radish in a plastic zip lock bag it will store  well in the fridge for up to several weeks.  The Celeriac Puree is a good take on mashed potatoes. It tastes like celery with earthy and nutty tones. Using Olive Oil instead of heavy cream makes this dish significantly lighter. When searing your fish, it is best to use a Cast Iron Skillet if you have one. It is also important when searing, to use a oil that has a high smoke point. Other oils that can be used are vegetable oil, Sunflower oil, coconut oil, and Palm Oil. When cooking fish,  a rule of thumb is that for every inch the fish is, cooking time will be about 6 minutes.