Ambassadeurs Cookbook- Flavors of Greece

Ambassadeurs Cookbook is a fine flavors collection of Greece and recipes by Greek Chefs cooking with excellent quality local ingredients.

Sea bass fillets in baking rings with steamed clams

Chef Stamoulis Theodoros

Portions for: 4 persons

Cooking preparation time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 8 sea bass fillets that come from 4 fish of 400-500grams each
• 1kg clams 
• 4 pieces of spring onions thinly sliced (washed and cut in thin pieces. Do not remove the green part on the top)
• 1 clove of garlic 
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil 
• ½ glass of wine 
• 1 twig of fresh thyme or 1 tsp of dried thyme leaves
• Juice of 1 lemon 
• 600 gr of seasonal “horta” *
• Salt and Pepper

*In Greece the blanched leafy greens “horta” is a big culinary tradition.  They are foraged often but you can also get them in the grocery.  Similar to blanched collard greens but with a great variety and seasonal kinds and names like “vlita”, “italika”, “radikia” etc)

For the Seabass

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Place 4 baking rings (about 10cm diameter 6cm height) on a small baking tray).  Line them inside with parchment paper.  Season the fish fillets and wrap them up per two inside each other.  Place each pair of them inside the four rings.  Fill up with fresh onion inside the fish.  Pour half the wine and thyme on the oven pan and drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil on the fish.  Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. Remove them when cooked.  Let cool for 3-4 minutes and remove rings and parchment paper.  Keep the broth of the pan.

For the clams

Clean up the clams by soaking them in water for 10 minutes.  Brush and rinse again.  The shells keep sand from the sea that if not removed it goes inside the clam when cooked.  Use a saucepan of good quality, preferably heavy, shallow and with a lid. Preheat the pan on medium high heat.  Frizzle the onion and add 1 clove of garlic. As soon as the onion starts browning, pour the rest of the wine, the spring onions and thyme, then the clams and close the pot’s lid.  We need to maintain high temperature, in order for the wine to steam. This steam will heat up quickly our clams. After about 7 minutes all of them will open up. Uncover and stir only once. Remove from heat.

Plating

Put the blanched greens in the middle of a plate shaping them like a nest . Place the fish inside by using a spatula and spread the clams around them. Drizzle the fish and greens with the broth from the fish pan and add lemon juice if you want more acidity. Pour the broth from the steamed clams around the plate.

Bon Apetit!

Chef’s bio