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Pan-Seared Bluegill with Pan-Pickled Beets and Raspberry “Caviar”

Yum

Ingredients

• For the Raspberry Caviar

• 1 cup raspberries
• 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
• 3 cups water, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon sodium alginate
• 1/2 teaspoon calcium chloride

• For the Beets

• 2 medium beets (about 6 ounces), trimmed and washed
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 4 slices pickled ginger
• 4 teaspoons chevre cheese, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons mixed herbs of choice (basil, tarragon, thyme, etc.)

• For the Fish

• 2 teaspoons clarified butter
• 4 pieces (about 1 ounce each) bluegill fillets
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 teaspoons panko
• 2 teaspoons fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. For the Caviar (part 1): In a small saucepan, combine the raspberries, confection's sugar and 1/2 cup water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool.
2. For the Beets: Using a mandolin, slice the beets into 1/8-inch thick slices (requires 8 slices in all). In a small sauté pan, combine the water and the red wine vinegar and cook over medium heat. Add the granulated sugar and stir until it is dissolved. Place the beets into the pickling liquid, cover and all to poach until beets are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove beets to a plate and allow to cool. Continue cooking the sauce in the sauté pan until it is reduced by half and has thickened some. Remove pan from heat and set aside.
3. For the Beet Filling: In a small bowl, combine the mixed herbs with the chevre cheese. Using a pair of demitasse spoons, shape each teaspoon of chevre into a quenelle. Place 2 of the poached beet slices on your work surface, with one piece slightly overlapping the other. Place a strip of pickled ginger in the overlap. Set a quenelle of chevre in the middle of the beets and rolls the beets around the ginger and cheese to form a rose shape. Place the beet rose, seam-side down on a plate. Repeat with the remaining beets, chevre and ginger until you have 4 cheese-filled beet roses. Set aside.
4. For the Caviar (part 2): In a small measuring cup, combine 1/2 cup of water with the sodium alginate, whisking hard until all the chemical is dissolved. In a large measuring cup, whisk together 2 cups of water with the calcium chloride. Strain the reserved raspberry mixture through a fine mesh sieve. Pour the strained raspberries into the sodium alginate mixture and stir until well combined. Using a small syringe, pull the raspberry/alginate mixture into the barrel of the syringe. Begin adding the new mixture, drop by drop, into the calcium chloride mixture to form small balls of raspberry "caviar." Leave the balls in the chloride bath for about 1 minute, then strain the caviar and place them in a container with the remaining 1/2 cup of water. Set aside.
5. For the Fish: Place a medium sauté pan over medium high heat. Once pan is warm, add the clarified butter. While butter is getting hot, season the fish on both sides with salt and pepper. Combine the panko and parsley in a shallow bowl, then coat the fish on both sides with the panko mixture. Place the fish, presentation-side down into the hot butter and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Use a spatula to turn the fish and cook them on the other side until golden brown and fish flakes easily, 1 to 2 minutes more. Drain the fish on paper towels.
6. To Assemble: While fish are cooling, place each of the cheese-filled beet roses on a separate serving plate. Half-cover each rose with a fillet of bluegill. Sprinkle each fillet with 1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons of the raspberry caviar, then drizzle the food and the plate with some of the beet reduction. Serve

Notes