Roasted branzino served on a warm salad of fennel, orange and treviso...
Don't you think my turkey looks bizarre?
This was indeed our dinner yesterday... as we will celebrate Thanksgiving tonight. It will more traditional although still out of the box... and very French... you might even find a clue about it in the current recipe!
Those "one-serving" branzini bought at Heinen's were superb and required a special treatment:
. First, I infused olive oil with fennel seeds, timut pepper corns, garlic, thyme, oregano, piment d'Espelette and slightly warm it up (so, "technically", this was a decoction) so that the flavors diffused... Mmm those flavors...
. I spread some coarse sea salt on the branzini skin, to avoid it stuck when in the oven, and I stuffed the fish with fennel greens and orange slices;
. I put the branzini on an oven dish, with an oil parchment paper on the bottom (again, to avoid sticking), spread around 1/3 of the flavored olive oil on the fish, and cooked them in a 350F preheated oven for 15 minutes;
. After those 15 minutes, I flipped over the branzini, with precaution, spread another 1/3 of the olive oil, and cooked them, same temperature, for another 10/15 minutes (till perfectly cooked so that a knife blade could stick up to the bone);
. I peeled and segmented a blood orange to make supremes that I cut in two and reserved. I took 3 or 4 rind trims, carved out the white bitter part and poached them in the last 1/3 of olive oil before slicing them in thin strips;
. Meanwhile, I diced a fennel and chopped treviso salad leaves, and added the whole in the last 1/3 of the olive oil brought to lukewarm in a pan, and added the fennel and treviso mix so that it is coated by the olive oil. Out of the burner, I added the half supremes andthe rind strips, and delicately mixed the whole.
. The bronzini were served on this bed of fennel, treviso and orange, with a few spared fennel feather greens, orange supremes and preserved rind strips, and a couple of tbsp. of the remaining olive oil spread on top.
. First, I infused olive oil with fennel seeds, timut pepper corns, garlic, thyme, oregano, piment d'Espelette and slightly warm it up (so, "technically", this was a decoction) so that the flavors diffused... Mmm those flavors...
. I spread some coarse sea salt on the branzini skin, to avoid it stuck when in the oven, and I stuffed the fish with fennel greens and orange slices;
. I put the branzini on an oven dish, with an oil parchment paper on the bottom (again, to avoid sticking), spread around 1/3 of the flavored olive oil on the fish, and cooked them in a 350F preheated oven for 15 minutes;
. After those 15 minutes, I flipped over the branzini, with precaution, spread another 1/3 of the olive oil, and cooked them, same temperature, for another 10/15 minutes (till perfectly cooked so that a knife blade could stick up to the bone);
. I peeled and segmented a blood orange to make supremes that I cut in two and reserved. I took 3 or 4 rind trims, carved out the white bitter part and poached them in the last 1/3 of olive oil before slicing them in thin strips;
. Meanwhile, I diced a fennel and chopped treviso salad leaves, and added the whole in the last 1/3 of the olive oil brought to lukewarm in a pan, and added the fennel and treviso mix so that it is coated by the olive oil. Out of the burner, I added the half supremes andthe rind strips, and delicately mixed the whole.
. The bronzini were served on this bed of fennel, treviso and orange, with a few spared fennel feather greens, orange supremes and preserved rind strips, and a couple of tbsp. of the remaining olive oil spread on top.
A delicious revisit of the classic Provençal "loup au fenoul" (branzino with fennel), where the sweet acidity of the orange (a love story with the fennel) and the crispy bitterness of the treviso salad formed a perfect match with the fennel and the fish. A special mention for the fish. This is a part is sometimes left aside when the fish is served in fillets because it is full of bones. But this is also the fattiest part of the fish and, because of that, it was deliciously infused with the orange and fennel flavors with a texture that could remind a bit of foie gras. Yes, foie gras in a branzino!!! A little treat by itself.
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