Sea Bass with Lemongrass and Vanilla Tomato Polenta

Ingredients

• 500 g tomatoes
• 1 small onion
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 1 EL olive oil
• Salt
• a pinch of sugar
• 1 vanilla pod
• 200 ml poultry broth
• 100 ml heavy cream (min 30% fat)
• 150 g polenta (cornmeal)
• 2 EL freshly grated parmesan
• 1 EL Butter
• Salt
• 4 sea bass fillets (Loup de mer), about 120 g each, with skin
• pepper (ground)
• 4 stalks lemongrass
• 200 g chanterelle mushrooms
• 2 EL Butter
• 4 EL Olive oil
• balsamic cream (for garnish)
• 2 rosemary sprigs (for garnish)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Score the tomatoes crosswise, blanch them in boiling water, peel, halve, remove seeds and finely dice the flesh (reserve strips for garnish). Peel and finely dice the onion and garlic. Heat olive oil in a pot and sauté onions with garlic until translucent. Add diced tomatoes and simmer on low heat for 25 minutes, adding water if needed. Season with salt and sugar.

2. 2.

   For the polenta, split the vanilla pod lengthwise, scrape out the seeds and bring poultry broth and cream to a boil. Stir in the polenta and let it thicken over low heat for about 20 minutes.

3. 3.

   Wash, dry, and season sea bass fillets with salt and pepper. Insert one lemongrass stalk sideways through each fillet.

4. 4.

   Clean chanterelle mushrooms with a damp cloth, cut into large pieces. Heat butter in a non‑stick pan and brown mushrooms on all sides for 5 minutes.

5. 5.

   Heat olive oil in a non‑stick pan and sear sea bass fillets skin side first for 2–3 minutes. Flip and cook flesh side for about 1 minute.

6. 6.

   Stir parmesan and butter into the polenta, season with salt.

7. 7.

   Plate polenta with sea bass fillets, arrange tomato strips on top. Serve tomato sauce with mushrooms beside it, garnished with fresh rosemary tips, balsamic cream and scraped vanilla pods.