Bream Fillets with White Bean Puree and Bulgar Wheat

This was lovely! It was a bit of a faff to make with lots of different elements and timing wise, but totally worth making, absolutely delicious.

Bream Fillets with White Bean Puree and Bulgar Wheat
(from Grains by Molly Brown)
(Serves 4)

120ml oil
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves
2 400g tins cannellini beans, drained
150ml chicken stock
180ml extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice, plus lemon wedges
1 fennel bulb, diced
50g tinned anchovies, drained and chopped
2 tbsp chopped mint
2 tbsp capers, rinsed
2 tsp white balsamic vinegar
1 red onion, finely chopped
100g bulgar wheat
200ml chicken or veg stock
75g pitted black olives, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp chopped parsley
700-800g bream fillets
seasoned plain flour

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a saucepan over a low-medium heat and cook the white onion until soft but not coloured. Add 1 of the garlic cloves (crushed), the beans, the chicken stock and salt and pepper. Cook over a medium heat for about 4 mins. Blitz the beans and the cooking liquid in a blender with 80ml of extra-virgin olive oil and 1 tbsp of lemon juice. Season.

To make the relish, fry the fennel in 2 tbsp of oil over a medium heat until just softening. Add 2 of the garlic cloves (chopped) and cooked for 1 min. Transfer to a bowl and add the anchovies, mint, capers, vinegar, pepper and 90ml of the extra-virgin olive oil. Stir and season. Set aside.

Saute the red onion in 1 tbsp of the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. When soft and translucent add the remaining garlic (crushed) and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the bulgar then pour over the chicken stock and season. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 mins or until all the stock has been absorbed. Ensure the bulgar doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat, cover and set aside for 10 mins. Add the olives and fork through the bulgar with the parsley, the remaining extra-virgin olive oil and the remaining lemon juice. Season.

Dip the fish fillets in the flour and shake off any excess. Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and cook the fish, skin side down, over a medium heat for 3 mins until brown. Turn over and repeat.

Put a portion of bulgar onto each plate and spoon over some bean puree. Put the fish fillets on top and top with the relish.

Potato Crusted Sea Bream with Greek Baked Chickpeas

This one of my best things that I have made recently. It was really tasty and I loved the crunch of the potato crust on the fish. I made up the chickpea recipe as I wanted something with a little more sauce than in the original recipe and I had onions that needed using up.

Potato Crusted Sea Bream with Greek Baked Chickpeas (from Kalofagas)
(Serves 4)

For the chickpeas
1 tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 400g tins chopped tomatoes
2 400g tins chickpeas, drained
200g cherry tomatoes

For the fish

4 sea bream or sea bass fillets, rinsed and patted dry
oil
4 tsp mustard
1 large potato
4-5 cloves garlic
zest 1 lemon
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper
1 tsp of paprika

Pre-heat the oven to 200C.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onion, cook until translucent, then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add in the chopped tomatoes, chickpeas and cherry tomatoes. Pour the mixture into an oven proof dish and place into the oven for 30 mins.

Drizzle each fillet with some olive oil and rub all over to coat. Now spread a tsp of mustard on the top-side of each fillet. Season lightly with salt and pepper and set aside.

Place the potato (with skin on) and garlic cloves into a pot of water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 mins. Drain the hot water and replace with cold water and allow to cool for 5 mins. Squeeze the garlic out of the skins and place in a bowl. Mash them with a fork.

Grate the potato on a box grater into a bowl. Add the lemon zest, juice and parsley and gently toss until mixed together.

Divide the grated potato mixture and spread on top of each fish fillet. Drizzle some olive and sprinkle the paprika. Place in the oven for 15 mins. Remove the chickpeas from the oven. Move the rack into the grill position and set your oven to grill. Grill the fish for another 2 mins or until the potato crisps-up and becomes golden-brown. Serve the fish on top of the chickpeas.

Fried Bream Fillets with Pea Puree

This is a really simple dish in terms of ingredients although it takes a little effort to prepare, especially is someone rings you in the middle of pureeing the peas! I served it with a courgette, tomato and balsamic salad and crushed new potatoes.

The peas came from my garden! I have a very small amount of peas with a life of their own and I ended up with about 70g peas so I had to add another 30g of frozen peas. The peas out the pod were delicious though, a reminder than summer is here!

Fried Bream Fillets with Pea Puree (from River Cottage Fish)
(Serves 4)

1 large bunch mint, leaves chopped (keep the stalks)
400g peas
cooking spray
1 1/2 garlic cloves, 1/2 finely chopped, the other skin left on, bruised with a knife
75g unsalted butter
2 bay leaves
4 bream fillets
salt and pepper

Bring a pan of water to the boil and throw in the mint stalks. Add a pinch of salt and the peass and boil for 4-5 mins until the peas are tender. Drain and reserve the cooking water. discard the mint stalks. Put the peas in a blender and set aside.

Put a small pan over a medium-high heat, spray with cooking spray and add the chopped garlic. Sizzle gently until the garlic just begins to colour, then quickly pour into the blender with the peas. Add 50g butter, salt and pepper and the chopped mint leaves. Add 2 tbsp of the pea cooking water and blend to a puree, adding a little more liquid if needed, it should be like coarse hummus.

Put a large frying pan over a medium-high heat, spray with cooking spray. Throw in the bay leaves and the bruised garlic to flavour the fat. Season the fish fillets all over and lay them skin side down in the pan. Cook for about 3 mins until the flesh has turned opaque, then flip them over and cook for 30 secs. Serve.