Pembrokeshire is surrounded on three sides by the sea which naturally puts seafood high on our list of favourite things to eat.

So we asked Simon Vickers owner & head chef of The Griffin in Dale supported by his team Adam Newton and Amirah Aly what would be on the menu. I think you’ll agree the choice of whole local Sea Bass on the BBQ with a creamy leek and vanilla sauce on a bed of Pembrokeshire potatoes sounds so mouth-wateringly good.

And what’s even better, if you can’t get to The Griffin, Simon and his team have shared their recipe for you to cook at home.

Enjoy. 

Ingredients

• 1 whole sea bass (scaled and gutted)
• 1 leek finely diced
• 1 clove of garlic finely diced

The sauce

• 2 leek finely diced
• 2 shallot finely diced
• 4 cloves of garlic finely diced
• 200ml cream
• 200ml white wine
• 40g fish stock in 400ml water
• ½ vanilla pod
• 1 tbsp of vanilla essence
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Mix the leek and garlic together with a little bit of salt and pepper and stuff the cavity of the Sea Bass. Score the Sea Bass three times and rub butter into the scores.
• Make a foil bag and place the fish in it, with a splash of wine then foil the bag up, this will allow the Sea Bass to cook in the steam. Once the bag is closed place the fish on the BBQ or in the oven for 20 – 25 mins.
• Whilst this is cooking you can now make the sauce by firstly heating some oil in a saucepan then add the shallot, garlic and leek. Allow these to soften for about 5 mins.
• Now add the wine and allow to reduce a little before adding the fish stock, cream and a pinch of salt and pepper.
• Finally, remove the seeds from the vanilla pod and stir into the sauce along with pod and vanilla essence and allow to reduce down. The longer the sauce has to reduce the more flavour and texture you will gain

Once your Sea Bass and sauce is cooked remove the Sea Bass from the BBQ/oven and cut the bag open. You will be greeted with a beautiful smell of cooked Sea Bass steam.

Place some crushed potatoes or a selection of steamed green vegetables in the centre of the plate pour your sauce over it then carefully remove the Sea Bass fillet from the bone and place on top of your potatoes/vegetables and sauce.

You can always garnish it with some samphire, give it a squeeze of lemon, then dig in.

Simon.

P.S. If you can’t get to The Griffin, here’s our list of where to buy Pembrokeshire seafood to create this recipe at home.