Day forty six

Today's plate

Shallow poaching and submerged poaching, what is the difference?

Today was a continuation of cooking fish. This time it was shallow poaching and the fish was sea bass.  Quite dry fish, naturally, because it has less fat then salmon. For garnish we made rice pilaf, this time from basmati rice, glazed carrots, and cooked greens (spinach).

The idea of shallow poaching is to partially submerge protein (at least 1/3 and 1/2 maximum). As protein is not covered completely, cover is used to have combination of cooking methods. The bottom part is cooked in liquid and the top part is cooked by steam. We may use a lid for the pan, or we can make cover from parchment paper (cartouche). If we use parchment paper, it should be big enough to cover pan and do not touch main item (the place where parchment is in contact will not be cooked).

Some other differences between these two methods are:
we do submerged poaching on a stovetop, shallow in the oven; for shallow poaching we use much less liquid and this liquid is used to make a sauce; garnish can be cooked together with main item at shallow poaching.

Poached Sea Bass with Clams, Bacon and Peppers

Yield:   2 portions

Ingredients                                             Amounts

Bacon, diced                                               2   oz.

Clams, Manila                                            5   each

White Wine                                                 2   ounce

Fumet                                                          1   ounce

Sea Bass, filets 4.5 oz.                                2   each

Salt & Pepper                                                  To Taste

Butter, cold                                                 2   ounce

Green Bell Pepper, julienne                         2   ounce

Chives, thinly sliced                                    1   tsp.

Heavy Cream (Optional)                                As needed

Lemon Juice (Optional)                                   As needed

                                                                                   

Method

1.         Sauté bacon to render fat.  Cook until crisp.  Remove and reserve bacon.

2.         Return pan to heat, add clams and heat through.

3.         Add white wine, fumet, and sea bass filets.

4.         Bring liquid to a simmer over direct heat.  Place a buttered  cartouch over fish and clams.  Transfer pan to a 300° F oven,

5.         Poach until fish is slightly underdone (internal temperature 135 F) and the clams are barely open, 10 to 12 minutes.

6.         Transfer the fish and clams to a hotel pan, add a small amount of the caisson, cover with plastic wrap, and hold warm.

7.         Place pan with cuisson over medium-high heat, bring to a simmer, and reduce by 2/3.  Whisk in the remaining butter to thicken sauce.  Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

8.         Strain sauce.

9.         Return to pan, add peppers and cook through.

10.      Add bacon, chives, sea bass, and clams to pan.  Baste to reheat.

11.      Adjust seasoning.

12.      Plate and serve.