Stripped Bass, Sunchoke Puree, Purple Asparagus, Fava Beans, Pan Brown Butter

The earthy flavors of sunchokes, favas and asparagus match nicely with a buttery stripped bass filet.  The healthy and delicious meal costs $35, feeds four and takes about and hour.

Sunchoke Puree
1 lb sunchokes, peeled and large diced
1 shallot, rough chop
4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon cream fraiche (or cream cheese)
salt and pepper

Start sunchokes and shallot in a medium pot with cool water.  Bring to a boil and let cook 15 minutesmor until the sunchokes are fork tender.  Remove from the heat and strain, reserving 4 teaspoons of the water. Puree in a blender with the reserved water, olive oil and cream fraiche, add salt and pepper to taste.

Purple Asparagus
Peel the bottom half of the stalks and trim to even length.  Blanch the asparagus (boil then cool in ice water) for 5 minutes.  Sautee with a little butter and olive, salt and pepper for a few minutes before serving.

Fresh Fava Beans
1 lb fresh fava beans, removed from pods
Blanch the beans for 5 minutes.  This makes it easy to remove the skin covering the bean.  Once the skin is removed sautee in a little butter and olive oil along with salt and pepper for 3-4 minutes before serving.

Pan Seared Stripped Bass with Pan Brown Butter
Sear the fish on medium high in a large sautee pan along with olive and a little butter, about 4 minutes on each side or until golden.  Once fish is cooked toss a few teaspoons of diced onion or shallot in the pan along with  2 tablespoons of butter.  Let cook on medium until the butter starts to brown slightly and shallot gets cooked, about five minutes.  Add a touch of sherry or red wine vinegar and mix well.  Spoon over the fish.

Thanks to my boys Pad, Casey and Dre who came through to eat and watch game 1 of the playoffs.  Buon Apetito!