Recipe: Bacchus new executive chef’s ling cod and mussels

Bacchus’ new executive chef Stefan Hartmann shows how to make fresh ling cod and mussels accompanied by bell pepper, garlic, and fennel.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg Fresh Ling Cod loin
• 1 pound mussels
• 1 Red Bell Pepper
• 2 to 3 heads of garlic
• 3 Fennel heads
• Salt
• Thyme
• Olive oil
• 100 mL white wine
• 3 tbsp butter
• 10 mL flour
• 4 tsp flour
• 1 to 2 tbsp Canola Oil

Method:

1. Portion the Ling Cod into four nicely trimmed pieces and save the scraps to use for the brandade portion of the recipe.

Bell Pepper

1. For the bell pepper, preheat the oven to 440 degrees Fahrenheit or 226 degrees Celsius.
2. Cut the pepper into quarters and wash the seeds off. Add them to a bowl and season with a touch of salt, thyme, and crushed garlic.
3. Lay the pepper skin side up on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes (until the skin gets dark). Remove from the oven and cover with a moist towel (this will make it easier to remove the skin). After 10 minutes, remove the skin, and keep the pepper on a small tray to use later.

Fennel

1. For the Fennel prep, cut off the front pieces and peel the fennel.
2. Use these extra fennel scraps to boil a little fennel stock by putting them in a pot and adding enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil and let it sit.
3. Take two of the fennel and cut them into eight wedges.
4. In a pan, sear those wedges in olive oil from both sides, season with salt and add garlic and thyme. Now add a little fennel stock you just made and cover the pan with an oven-safe lid and braise for six minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from oven, let it cool and add to the same tray as the bell pepper.

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Mussels

1. For the mussels, rinse them in water for five minutes. Remove any dead mussels and mussels with broken shells. Remove the mussel beard with a small knife and dry them slightly.
2. Sweat garlic and a diced shallot in olive oil in a pot. Add the mussels and sweat on high heat.
3. Add 100 mL of white wine and cover with a lid. Boil them for about four minutes and strain the now-open mussels. Keep the liquid separate. Take the mussels out of their shells and keep them separated.
4. Discard the shells. For the sauce, add a spoon of butter and melt, add 10 g of flour and sweat a little in a pot. Now add the reserved mussel liquid from before, and cook for about four minutes on low heat until nice and thick. Season if necessary with salt. Keep in a small pot.

Ling Cod

1. 15 minutes before serving (to ensure the fish stays firm), season the Ling Cod with a little salt.
2. Add a little Canola oil to a nonstick pan and sear the fish on high heat for about two minutes.
3. Then lower the temperature and keep searing for another two minutes.
4. Add butter and thyme and turn the fish around.
5. Now cook it until done and baste the fish with the butter a few times.
6. If desired, can continue with the optional recipe instructions or plate and serve with fennel and bell pepper creation.
7. Garnish with basil and dill (optional).
8. Enjoy!

OPTIONAL

Making the Brandade

Ingredients

Ling cod fish trims

1 yellow potato

1 bay leaf

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp breadcrumbs

1 to 2 cups of milk

1. Cut the potato in walnut-sized pieces and add to the fish trims.
2. Boil them together in some milk (enough to cover), bay leaf, and garlic.
3. When the potatoes are soft, strain the liquid and crush the mixture with a whisk (crush don’t whisk it).
4. Add the one egg yolk and two spoons of breadcrumbs
5. Form little balls and fry them in 350 degrees Fahrenheit hot oil (an air fryer might work too). You can also form little patties and sear them in a frying pan.

Making the Puree

Ingredients

Leftover fennel head

Leftover fennel stock from recipe

1 shallot

Olive oil

1 to 2 cups cream

Saffron (optional)

Turmeric powder

Salt to taste

1. Chop the leftover fennel head and one shallot.
2. In a pot, sweat in olive oil and cover with the fennel stock. Reduce the liquid on medium heat.
3. After five minutes, add a little saffron (optional) and turmeric powder.
4. Keep reducing the liquid until almost gone, now add some cream — only enough to cover the fennel again, and start reducing again.
5. Add some salt. Be careful at the end, fennel puree burns easy! Keep stirring until all liquid is gone and the fennel is nice and cooked.
6. With a blender, blend to a smooth consistency (can add some lemon juice or sherry vinegar before this process)