Last updated 19:43, Thursday, 17 April 2008

IT IS REALLY starting to feel like spring has finally arrived.

We are thinking about packing the pressure cooker away to bed for a while as we won’t be cooking many stews.

The bright evenings, with the extra hours of light makes you feel the need to start eating differently. This is handy as different produce is coming into season right about now.

It is the time of year to crack out the Jersey royal potatoes with English asparagus only a couple of weeks behind.

You should be able to find these beauties in the shops now.

We’ve also been getting some amazing locally caught sea bass which has been selling extremely well in the restaurant.

The majority of sea bass that you can buy in the supermarket is farmed in Greece. Although this is fine, it usually takes the form of small fillets and just doesn’t have the same intensity of flavour or thick juicy texture that you get from the locally caught, wild sea bass.

Maybe you could ask around. If you see people fishing on the coast, ask if they catch any bass. If they don’t, they might know someone who does. That’s how we found our supply.

So here’s a really simple dish incorporating those three ingredients.

Serves 2

2 portions of sea bass, skin on and scaled

1 bunch asparagus. Trimmed of their woody ends and cut into inch sized pieces.

250g Jersey royal potatoes, cleaned

1 packet watercress

Splash of olive oil

For the dressing

Zest and juice of one lemon

2 table spoons of white wine vinegar

4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon of chopped fresh tarragon

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper

The dressing can be made in advance. The easiest way to do this is to bung all the ingredients in a jam jar, add a little seasoning and give it a good shake. If you don’t use all the dressing, this is a great way to keep leftovers in the fridge. Hey presto an instant dressing for another occasion.

If you don’t have one handy then just combine the ingredients in a little bowl.

Put the potatoes into a sauce pan of cold water with some salt and bring to the boil. They should take approximately 15 minutes to cook. One minute before the end of the cooking time, throw the asparagus into the same pan to cook. Test the potatoes by inserting a sharp knife to check if they’re done. Drain everything together. Leave them sitting in the colander.

Heat a splash of oil in a frying pan. Season the fish fillets generously.

Put the bass in the frying pan skin side down. Fry over a medium-high heat. You want the fish to get a good crispy skin. You will begin to see the bottom of the fish change in colour. The flesh will start to turn from translucent to white.

Three quarters of the cooking time will be spent cooking it on the skin side. Flip the fillets over to finish them off.

To give you a guide, the thin fillets from the supermarket will only take approximately four minutes to cook. This means three minutes skin side down and one minute flipped over.

It is hard to give a solid cooking time as this will depend on the thickness of the fillets that you can get hold of.

Try not to over cook the fish as it will become dry. Check when you think it is done, by inserting the tip of a knife.

All the flesh should have turned white. Remember, you can always continue cooking if it’s slightly under done, but you can never take away cooking time if it is over done.

Mix the watercress with the potatoes and asparagus in a large bowl, they should still be warm. Add the dressing to taste and bind together.

Spoon the salad onto two plates and top with the fish fillets.

A nice suggestion to add to this would be some roasted cherry tomatoes on the vine.