Perfect Dish for Fall Weather from Chef Scott Hunnel at Victoria & Albert’s at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

Victoria & Albert’s at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is the crème de la crème of Disney restaurants – the only AAA Five-Diamond restaurant in Central Florida, and home to Chef Scott Hunnel, a James Beard Award-nominated pro who runs the small kitchen with his finely tuned team.

With only 53 coveted seats in the dining room, plus the opulent (and even smaller) Queen Victoria’s Room and private Chef’s Table in the kitchen, we can’t all get a reservation, but Chef Hunnel kindly shares this pan-seared sablefish that you can make at home. It’s the sort of dish that tastes simple but takes some care to prepare.

At Victoria & Albert’s, this dish is served with beautifully sculpted baby vegetables and garnished with delicate fried carrot curls. Sablefish is also known as black cod and butterfish. If you can’t find sablefish, a good substitution is Chilean sea bass. And if you can’t find Zellwood sweet corn, any fresh corn will work.

Pan-Seared Sablefish with Fingerling Potatoes and Zellwood Corn
Serves 4

Corn Relish

• 2 ears Zellwood sweet corn
• Olive oil, for roasting corn and sautéing vegetables
• 1/2 sweet red pepper
• 1/2 red onion, diced small
• 1 teaspoon toasted cumin
• Coarse salt, freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Zellwood Corn Sauce

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 leek, white part only, diced
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 8 ears Zellwood corn, kernels removed
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 quart corn stock or chicken stock
• 1 bouquet garni (thyme, parsley, bay leaves, and peppercorns tied together with string)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Coarse salt, freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 6 tablespoons butter

Fingerling Potatoes

• 1 pound fingerling potatoes
• Olive oil, for sautéing
• Coarse salt, freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives

Sablefish

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 (5-ounce) portions sablefish
• Fresh white pepper, Maldon sea salt, to taste

For corn relish:

• Husk corn and lightly brush with olive oil. Heat a saute pan or grill over medium-high heat.
• Place corn in pan and rotate every few minutes using tongs. Baste with a little olive oil, as needed. Cook 7 to 10 minutes, or until corn is charred and tender. (If charring too fast, lower heat slightly.) Cool and slice kernels from the cob. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 425°F. Halve pepper lengthwise; remove stems, seeds, and membranes. Place cut side down on foil-lined baking sheet.
• Roast 20 to 25 minutes, or until skins are blistered. Carefully bring foil up and around the pepper halves to enclose. Let stand 15 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.
• Loosen edges of skins from pepper halves with a sharp knife. Slowly pull off skin and discard. Dice one-half into 1/2-inch pieces. Set aside.
• Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a small saute pan. Saute corn, pepper, and onion until soft. Stir in cumin and season to taste. Remove from heat and toss with extra virgin olive oil. Set aside until ready to serve.

For Zellwood corn sauce:

1. Heat saute pan over medium heat. Saute onion, leeks, and celery for 1 minute.
2. Add garlic and corn, and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in white wine, scraping bits from bottom of pan. Add stock and bouquet garni; reduce heat and simmer 35 to 40 minutes. Stir in heavy cream and season to taste.
3. Remove from heat, purée with immersion blender, and strain through a chinois or china cap. Stir in butter. Keep warm until ready to serve.

For fingerling potatoes:

1. Wash and quarter fingerling potatoes. Place in saucepan and cover with water over high heat. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, or until tender, depending on size of potatoes. Remove from heat and cool under running water.
2. Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add potatoes and cook until golden and crispy, turn and cooking about 5 minutes.
3. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chives. Keep warm until ready to serve.

For sablefish:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat olive oil in sauté pan over high heat.
2. Season sablefish with salt and pepper. Place skin side down in pan and sauté for 1 minute or until golden brown. Turn and sauté for 1 minute.
3. Roast in oven for about 2 minutes, or until desired doneness.

To serve:

1. Place roasted fingerling potatoes in center of plate and top with fish.
2. Drizzle Zellwood corn sauce around fish and potatoes; top fish with corn relish.

Perfect Dish for Fall Weather from Chef Scott Hunnel at Victoria & Albert’s at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa by Pam Brandon: Originally posted on the Disney Parks Blog