I Just Love My Apron: Dinner for 2: Sea Bass and Cranberry Butter Sauce

I went to the NAAAP-Seattle 30^th Annual Gala at the Golf Club at Newcastle and had this delicious Sea Bass dinner. The sauce, rice, and sea bass was so well incorporated and well cooked. I liked the color of the sauce and texture of the rice. How good is this dish? Well, I ate it all!

They also served steak, and chicken. I’m a fish lover, so I had no doubt picking this dish. Remember? Omega-3 fatty acids..

I was curious, myself, about the recipe and the key was “the sauce”. I knew it was cranberry butter sauce so it had to have cranberry and butter for sure. My curiosity didn’t stop there and so I came up with this recipe. It tastes great even though it’s not exactly the same. Here it is, a healthy dinner for 2 on a romantic night.

Dinner for 2: Sea Bass and Cranberry Butter Sauce

Ingredients

½ lb Sea Bass

1 Small sized eggplant. Slice cross length, 1/2 “ thick

½ cup of cranberry juice

½ cup of milk. I use soy milk but you can use heavy cream for more creamy taste.

1 splash of white wine, about ¼ cup

1 teaspoon of nutmeg

1 teaspoon of thyme

2 teaspoons of kosher or sea salt

1 small pinch of saffron. It’s a very powerful taste. Don’t put too much

1 ½ tablespoon of flour if using soy milk (1 tablespoon if using heavy cream)

1 tablespoon of lemon zest

Pepper and salt to taste

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Extra virgin olive oil

1 cup of wild whole grain brown rice

2 cups of water

Directions:

Cook rice first. If you have a rice cooker, this will be very easy. Combine rice and water in a rice cooker and put on cook mode. If you don’t have a rice cooker, no worry, you can use a medium saucepan or medium pot. Boil water, then add rice. Put on low and leave it for 25 mins or until it’s cooked.

Sauté eggplant with extra virgin olive oil till tender in a skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside. Cover with foil.

Now let’s prepare sea bass. Dry fish by using paper towel to pat the sea bass. This way when we pan-fried, it’s crispy and avoid oil splatters all around. Season sea bass with salt and pepper. Fish is easy to prepare. Salt and pepper are enough. Heat up a skillet. Add oil, then sea bass. Pan-fried for 4 mins on each side. Use a flat spatula to turn. Be careful when turning. Fish is easy to get flaky.

In the meantime, heat up a small saucepan to get the sauce started. Sauce is a key flavor for this dish. Add juice and simmer until warm, then add wine. Leave it for a min, and add milk. If using soy milk, milk will look separated. Don’t worry. It’s normal for soymilk. Add saffron. Simmer it for 5 mins. Add thyme, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Stir. Add butter. You will see a light orange color sauce now. Add lemon zest and finish with flour to thicken it up.

Note: Bring the sauce to high heat before adding flour otherwise flour will form into a small ball.

And taste it!

Plating: Add rice first, then follow with eggplant. Add sauce around the rice. Top with sea bass.