Potato Chip Sole, Pea and Bacon Broth

Sorry for the lack of posts over the past week - busy, busy.  The good news -  I have lots of good dishes to post in the upcoming days, along with the next ILSL recipe for April.

I'm in full Spring mode, as I hope you are.  Food-wise, I'm all about balancing light with flavorful.  Here's a dish I created based on another Iron Chef-like challenge.  You know - hand me the ingredients, I make whatever.  This whatever is sole, which I crusted with sesame seeds.  I seared it and finished it under low heat in the oven.  In the meantime, I pureed some peas with chicken broth, creating a sweet soupy broth.   I crisped some bacon because peas and bacon is just an excellent combo. 

That could have been the dish, and a fulfilling one at that.  But I was given potatoes (a purple and a yukon) as well as golden beets.  Sure, I could have made a puree with potatoes or simply roasted them, but I thought about creating a textural contrast.  I sliced the potatoes very thinly and fried them for a few seconds in a very small amount of vegetable oil.  I roasted the beets with some olive oil and salt in a closed foil pouch in advance, then sliced them as a base for the fish.

I was concerned this dish would be busy with flavors.  Sure, if I wasn't playing the Iron Chef game I think I could have skipped the beets.  Otherwise, I think this dish is certainly one for the arsenal. The perfect bite -a moist fork of fish with a piece of crispy chip, bathed in the pea sauce and a small bite of bacon - was the kind that left the others at the table silent.   That's usually when I know a dish is more than just good.  Average dishes usually just become part of the conversation....

Related: Crispy Pea Wontons