I admit, there’s another Nounours recipe similar to this one, featuring turbot and a light fish stock sauce. But this time, we’re doing things a little differently.
For two servings:
- 1 fennel bulb
- 120g cod loin
- 4 scallops with coral
- 2 sea urchins or 20g of sea urchin roe
- 3 tablespoons crème fraîche
- 1/4 teaspoon whole grain mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard
- A pinch of saffron threads (~12)
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Optional:
- 1 teaspoon Cointreau
- 2 teaspoons Armagnac
The trickiest part of this recipe is timing all the cooking elements so they come together perfectly… but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s start from the beginning.
Slice your fennel bulb horizontally to create six cup-like pieces (for once, we’re being selective—choose the most beautiful cups and save the rest for a soup).
Usually, the uneven size of fennel’s concentric layers can be annoying when plating, but in this case, we’ll use it to our advantage.
Select two sets of three cups, each of a different size.
If your sea urchins are whole, extract the roe and place it on a paper towel to drain.
Blanch the fennel cups in boiling water for 2 minutes, then keep them warm.
For cooking, we’ll go with the version that includes alcohol. count 1 minute less for sauces that don’t receive the alcohols.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of crème fraîche, the Armagnac, and the mustard. Stir to combine, then add the scallops and slightly lower the heat.
Let them cook while stirring occasionally; the entire process takes about 7 minutes.
In another saucepan, add 1 tablespoon of crème fraîche, the Cointreau, and the saffron. Stir to blend.
Add the cod and cook over medium heat. Flip it after 3 minutes and cook for another 3 minutes.
Remove the saffron sauce from the heat and stir in the sea urchin roe.
Now, it’s time to assemble:
- The largest fennel cup holds the cod, coriander, caraway, and olive oil.
- The medium cup holds the mustard-infused scallops.
- The smallest cup holds the saffron-infused sea urchins.
Serve hot, with the recommendation to eat the sea urchins first, then the scallops, and finally, the cod.
