Sea bass à la Menton

We once had a super plat du jour, dish of the day, in Menton on a warm and sunny October day. We had first explored Menton, a French Riviera resort with Italian flavour, and then chose a little restaurant outside the market hall for its promising lunch menu: loup de mer, seabass, with grilled vegetables.

The dish was beautifully presented: the fish fillets were placed on top of the grilled vegetables skin side up. A generous dollop of remoulade was placed on fish and it was simply served with good bread.

The following recipe is my twist of the lunch in Menton. Feel free to choose any fresh fish fillets with skin, I have used trout fillets in this recipe.

2 servings

2 fresh fish fillets such as seabass or trout, with skin
1 tsp. flour
2 large slices of aubergine, about 2 cm thick
1 red or orange bell pepper, sliced
2 small Italian courgettes, sliced
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried Provençal herbs
4- 5 tbsp. olive oil

For the quick and easy remoulade sauce:
2 tbsp. good quality mayonnaise, pref. organic
1 heaped tsp. capers, minced
2 small cornichons, baby gherkins, minced
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp. minced parsley

Start by making the remoulade. Mince the capers, gherkins, and parsley. In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients. Keep in the fridge until needed.

In a grill pan, fry the aubergine slices in olive oil on both sides until soft. In another pan, fry the bell pepper and courgette slices with the shallot, garlic, and herbs in olive oil.

Spread the flour in a large plate and lightly coat the fish fillets. Heat 2- 3 tbsp. olive oil in a large frying pan over medium- high heat. Fry the fish fillets about 4 minutes on both sides, depending on the thickness.

Divide the vegetables on the plates, starting with aubergine. Place the fish fillets on the vegetables and top with the remoulade. Serve with some good whole wheat bread.