Grilled Sea Bass with Beurre Blanc and Marsh Samphire

Serves 4

Source of Recipe
Rick Stein

Preparation Time
30 mins to 1 hr

Cooking Time
10 to 30 mins

"First of all, don’t put off cooking this dish if you can’t get marsh samphire. Bass with Beurre Blanc is a classic. The samphire has been included because it is a highly fitting vegetable to serve with fish and is especially good with sea bass." Rick Stein

Ingredients
1 sea bass, weighing about 1.5kg/3½ lb
a little melted butter, for brushing
225g/8oz fresh marsh samphire
1 quantity beurre blanc, made with fish stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
1. Snip the fins off the bass, being careful to avoid spiking yourself, then scale the fish and remove the guts. Wash inside and out and slash the flesh of the fish two or three times on each side.
2. Pre-heat the grill to high. Brush the fish with some melted butter and season inside and out with salt and black pepper. Grill the bass for about 10 minutes on each side.
3. Wash the samphire thoroughly, then pull off the fleshy leaves and discard the thicker stalks with their woody centres. Bring a pan of unsalted water to the boil and boil the samphire for 2 minutes. Drain, set aside and keep warm.
4. Pass the beurre blanc through a sieve into a clean warm jug.
5. Serve the fish whole and fillet it at the table on to four warmed plates. Hand round the marsh samphire and beurre blanc separately