Recipe: Chilean Sea Bass

Previously, on Capital Cooking, Chef Enzo Fargione helped us Set the Mood with Food with his Chilean Sea Bass in Fennel/Anise Broth with Smoked Purple Potatoes.  Enjoy!

(Makes 4 Servings)
Ingredients:

24 oz Chilean Sea Bass, cut into 4 thick squares
2 Medium size fennel bulbs, cut into thin slices
1 Garlic clove, minced
2 oz Extra virgin olive oil
4 Each dry star anise flowers
4 Cups of water or chicken stock
2 Abundant pinches of saffron
2 Large purple potatoes
Salt
Cracked black peppercorns
A few leaves of fresh basil  
A few apple wood chips for smoking

Directions:

1. With a medium size melon-baller carve 20 spheres out of the purple potatoes.  Boil them in salted water and set aside to be smoked.
2. Sprinkle the wood chips with water and place them on the bottom of a deep hotel pan. Light the chips with a torch until they start to smoke and place a perforated, small hotel pan on top of it.  Place the purple potatoes on top of the perforated pan and cover very well with aluminum foil. Smoke for about two hours.
3. Drizzle 1 Oz of extra virgin olive oil in a medium size baking dish, sprinkle with salt and the minced garlic.  Fan out 4 slices of fennel on the bottom of the pan, placing each of the fish fillets on top of a fennel slice.  
4. Sprinkle the anise stars in the pan and add the stock; bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
5. Use a spatula to transfer each portion of fish and the fennel to a pasta bowl.
6. In the baking dish, add the saffron and the potatoes and reduce the fish broth for 30 seconds over medium-high heat until a bright yellow color forms in the broth.
7. To the broth, add the basil, sprinkle with the cracked black peppercorns and drizzle with the remaining olive oil.
8. Place five potato rounds in each bowl around the fish and generously add the hot saffron broth to each bowl.

Photo by Kristen Finn