Romantics Anonymous: Sea Bream with Crispy Potatoes and Beurre Blanc
Romantics Anonymous is a Jean-Pierre Améris movie released back in 2010. I only got to see it recently since it was available on Amazon Prime but I thought it was such a fantastic movie! The story follows Angélique and Jean-René who, just so happens, both suffer from social anxiety. For anyone who has dealt with or know anybody that lives with social anxiety, will find this movie so much fun. This sweet story is lighthearted yet really rings uncomfortably close to home since I deal with a bit of social anxiety. If you have seen it, tell me what you think of it!
The recipe I have for you today is sea bream on a bed of sautéed spinach, crispy potatoes, and beurre blanc. This definitely isn’t something I would make everyday but it would be so nice for a special occasion! This dish is inspired by a scene in the movie when they went on a dinner date at a really fancy restaurant. They were so nervous to look at each other that we just ordered sea bream for the both of them.
Romatics Anonymous: Sea Bream with Crispy Potatoes and Beurre Blanc
Ingredients
Sea Bream
- 2 sea bream filets descaled
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper as needed
Sautéed Spinach
- 1/2 pound spinach washed and dried
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper as needed
Crispy Potatoes
- 1 large russet potatoes peeled
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper as needed
Beurre Blanc
- 1/4 cup white wine (2oz / 57g)
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 bay leaf
- 5 whole peppercorns
- 2 tbsp shallots minced
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp sliced into small pieces
Instructions
Crispy Potatoes
- To prepare the crispy potatoes, place the cleaned potato in a pot of cold water and place it over medium high heat. Bring to a boil and cook until tender of a knife can easily be inserted and removed. Drain and let the potato cool enough to handle. Chop the potato into small small cubes.
- Heat a saucepan over medium heat with 2 tbsp of oil. Once hot, add the cubed potatoes and cook until crispy and golden brown. Set aside in a warm area.
Sautéed Spinach
- Heat a large saucepan over medium heat with 1 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp of unsalted butter. Add the minced garlic and cook for a few second. Add the spinach and season with a bit of salt and pepper. Toss the spinach in the garlic and cook until the spinach has wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside in a warm area.
Sea Bream
- Heat and saucepan over medium high heat with 3 tbsp of oil. Season both sides of the fish with salt and pepper. Lightly dust each side with the flour and carefully place it into the hot pan. The fish should only take a few minutes. Make sure it's nice and golden brown on both sides. Set aside and keep warm.
Beurre Blanc
- In a saucepan over medium heat, add the white wine, vinegar, shallots, peppercorn, and bay leaf. Let it come to a simmer and let it cook down until it have about 2 tbsp of liquids left.
- Add the cream and let it simmer until it has reduced to half. Turn off the heat but keep the pan on the stovetop. Slowly star to incorporate you sliced butter into the pan while whisking to incorporate. The butter should melt from the residual heat and the sauce should thicken as you add and whisk. Strain the sauce.
- To plate, place the sautéed spinach in the center of the plate and scatter the crispy potatoes on top. Lay the fish on the top and spoon the sauce over the plate. Serve immediately!
