Spooky Sea Bream

OK there is nothing spooky in the sea bream dish I made last night, aside from the fact that it was our Halloween dinner. This dish is an improvisation of a dorada (gilt-head bream) meal we once (2014) had in Barceloneta, the beach area of Barcelona.

We actually discovered the dorada in Cadaqués, while wandering towards Salvador Dali’s house in Portlligat. We ran into a typical small beach shack with a few tables serving fresh grilled fish. The sea view enticed us to a table. We ordered a jug of sangria and grilled fish to go with it. We were asked to select one of the two freshly caught fishes and it happened so that our selection was dorada. Not sure was it the view, the fresh breeze, the sangria or the fresh catch just off the grill but we both thought that this was the most delicious fish we’d ever had. Since then we don’t miss the opportunity to order dorada when in a Mediterranean country.

A few days later we stepped into a Barceloneta restaurant. Loved the setting and asked if they served dorada. Of course they did! We shared a litre and a half jug of sangria (Well, we ordered a jug. The jug’s size was totally unexpected – A) and dorada accompanied with potatoes and tomatoes.

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Back to the present: I had a small sea bream that needed something to make it shine and bring its taste to life. With Halloween cancelled due to the Covid lockdown, I had time on my hands for a sophisticated dish. The farmed sea bream we get here from the Chinese store (it was delivered to our door yesterday) is a remote cousin of the freshly caught Mediterranean dorada.

As many of you know I create my recipes based on what I have in the fridge. These days we order our groceries every week or two and don’t run to the grocery store if something is missing. So, I had a small bell pepper, 6 to 8 cremini mushrooms, and two roma tomatoes, plus onions and potatoes in the pantry.

I quartered the cremini, sliced the bell pepper, an onion and 3 garlic cloves. Fried up the onion and garlic, added the mushrooms and after they were browned (Huh? I thought they were brown to start with – A), added the pepper. The roma tomatoes ended up in the mix towards the end of the frying. Salted the mix and transferred it to the roasting pan.

Then fried up the pre-boiled potatoes and layered them over the vegetables.

Set the lightly salted sea bream over the potatoes. Still needed some oomph to finish it. Had a half lemon in the fridge (a full one would probably have been better) that covered the top of the fish. An open bottle of dry chardonnay caught my attention.

That will add a nice flavour to the dish. What else? How about adding a teaspoon of chili flakes in half a cup of the wine? (The reason I mix them in the wine is for easy spread. The dry flakes are hard to spread since they tend to clump.) Poured the mixture over the fish and lemons. Then ground some peppercorns over and sprinkled the entire dish (fish and potatoes) with paprika. Ah, have a few olives left. They ended up around the fish too. One last visit to my garden. After the previous night’s -6°C nothing would last much longer. Mint, parsley and chives were still waiting for me.

Sprinkled the finely chopped herbs on the top, then wrapped it with foil.

Baked in the oven for about 40 min on 400°F. Et voila! The dinner was exceptionally delicious.

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Well, this is how I cook, but for those of you that look for a recipe here it is:

Ingredients:

• One sea bream (two will be better)
• 6 to 8 medium cremini mushrooms (white will be OK too), quartered. (I don’t think portabella will be good though since they are harder and will overwhelm the taste of the vegetable mix)
• 1 red bell pepper (medium), sliced
• 2 roma tomatoes (any other will do too), diced
• 6 to 8 red potatoes, pre-boiled (I actually used small russets and think they gave a distinct flavour to the dish. Also, they didn’t overcook after being first boiled, then fried and then baked for 40 min)
• 2 – 3 garlic cloves, sliced (skip if you don’t like garlic)
• 8 – 10 olives (I had green, but others will be good too)
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 lemon, sliced
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 1 tea spoon chili flakes
• Paprika, ground mixed peppercorns or black pepper and salt to taste
• Fresh herbs (I used parsley, chives and mint, however others like thyme, dill and cilantro will be good too)
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Fry the onions and add the garlic. After they are slightly brown, add the mushrooms. Fry until they brown and add the pepper. After the pepper is almost done (but still firm), toss in the tomatoes. Salt to taste. Mix and transfer the vegetables into the roasting pan. Thinly slice the potatoes, fry them and layer them over the vegetables. Salt and pepper the fish lightly and add it on the top, cover with lemon slices (you can also add a few slices inside). Mix the chili flakes in the wine and pour over the fish. Sprinkle paprika (better if it is smoked) over the entire dish (fish and potatoes). Ground some more peppercorns over the dish. Finely chop the fresh herbs and spread them over the fish and the rest of the dish. Add olives if you have and cover tightly with foil. Bake for about 40 min (I use the small oven of my gemini stove, but you know your oven better.)

Serve hot with white wine (preferably the one you used for cooking).

Bon Appétit!