GRILLED SEA BASS WITH ARABICA PRESERVED LEMON, ARTICHOKE AND GREEN OLIVE SALAD

This dish reminds us of the sun blushed shores of the Mediterranean

• 4 sea bass fillets (line caught)
• 2 Arabica Preserved lemons, soak in fresh cold water 2 hours before use
• 200g Cracked-green olives de-stoned
• 300g Artichokes hearts roughly quartered
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Arabica Wild Sumac
• 4 stems fresh chervil
• 4 stems fresh tarragon, leaves picked from stem
• small bunch flat leaf parsley leaves
• 1 lemon, juiced
• Salt for sea bass skin
• Pepper to taste for the salad

Serves 4-6

Sprinkle the skin of the fish with a pinch of sea salt. Remove the lemons which have been soaking and rinse under the tap. Finely dice the lemons, disposing of any unwanted pips. Pick the tarragon and parsley leaves off their stalks, discard the stalks or reserve them for stock. Wash all of the herbs, shake off the excess water, roll together and roughly chop just once or twice.

Heat a ridged griddle pan on a medium heat. Place the fillets on the hot griddle pan, leave them alone- however tempted you may be to push them around, as you’ll damage the skin. Leave them to cook for around 5 minutes. You‘ll know when there cooked as the fish changes colour. Meanwhile get a mixing bowl and add all of the other ingredients together and gentle toss, so that everything is evenly coated.

Take the fillets of the griddle pan and serve on a warm plate or a large shallow bowl with a large spoon of the salad.

Variations

Use fresh globe Artichoke hearts in season ( Best June - November)

It’s really labour intensive but really worthwhile
How to prepare and cook artichokes
Firstly remove about three or four of the toughest outer leaves, the stalk and some of the tough fibres running up into the base. Now remove the inedible choke: carefully spread the leaves apart until you come to the central cone of thinner, lightly coloured leaves. Pull this cone out in one piece and underneath it you’ll find the hairy ‘choke’ –scrape this all out of the heart with a teaspoon, and add a little lemon juice to stop the inside discolouring. Rinse out the artichokes and leave them to soak upside down in some cold water to which you’ve added a whole squeezed lemonuntil you are ready to cook them.

Bring a stainless steel pan of salted water with a tablespoon of lemon juice to the boil . Gently boil the artichokes, uncovered, for about 30-40 minutes or until one of the outer leaves pulls away easily and the bases feel tender when tested with a skewer. Drain the artichokes upside down in a colander, shaking them to get rid of the excess water.
Remove the cooked heart and slice into thin pieces.

or

Barbecue whole line caught sea bass or Mackarel