BRITISH CHEFS have come up with wonderfully innovative recipes for fish and shellfish, and in this they have been greatly helped by the marketing revolution which has brought back to the fishmongers a great many fish and shellfish not seen for years, as well as types not previously sold there. Fishmonger, still used in Britain, simply means “one who deals in fish.” It has been used since 1464, a truly venerable expression. Sometimes fish on the Eastern side of the Atlantic do not swim in American waters, but close, often nearly identical, substitutes can be found in fish markets, and I have given these equivalents in recipes. Seafood has the great advantage of taking little time to prepare and cook; it is appetizing, attractive to look at, and good for us.
This is a quick, simple and easy recipe made special by the fresh herbs which head chef Graham Flanagan of Cottage in the Wood, a small secluded Georgian hotel at Malvern Wells, Hereford and Worcester, likes to use. His cooking is an interesting blend of traditional and modern. Serve with a Pouilly-Fuissé.
4 skinned and boned fillets of sole or flounder, each 6 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 large eggs
¾ cup light cream
Pinch of cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons minced mixed herbs, such as parsley, chives, tarragon, basil and chervil
Season the fish with salt and pepper and roll the fillets up. Secure with a toothpick if necessary. Generously butter a shallow ovenproof baking dish large enough to hold the fish in a single layer. Add the fish. Sprinkle with the lemon juice.
Beat the eggs in a bowl with the cream; add salt to taste and the cayenne pepper. Fold in the herbs and pour the mixture over the fish. Cover the dish with foil and bake in a preheated moderate oven (350°F.) for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the fish is done. The custard will be very lightly set, more like a sauce. Serve immediately.
SERVES 4.
This turns fillet of sole into something special, and is easy and quick to cook. Nigel Lambert, head chef at the Elms, a Queen Anne house now a country house hotel at Abberley in Worcester, who created this dish, describes his cooking as English country cooking. His aim is to produce unpretentious honest food that is also original and interesting. Serve with a Chardonnay.
2 pounds skinned and boned sole or flounder fillets, cut into 8 pieces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
¼ pound (1 stick) butter, plus butter for pan
1 tablespoon chopped shallot
1 cup fresh orange juice
4 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup heavy cream
¼ cup Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur
1 orange, peeled and separated into segments
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Puff Pastry shapes (see Index) (optional)
Season the fish with salt and pepper and fold the fillets in half. Lightly butter an ovenproof dish large enough to hold the fish in a single layer. Sprinkle dish with the shallot and arrange the fish on top. Pour in the orange and lemon juice, cover with buttered paper or foil, and cook in a preheated moderate oven (350°F.) for about 10 minutes. Lift out the fillets to a warmed dish, cover, and keep warm.
Strain the cooking liquid from the pan into a saucepan and reduce over fairly high heat to about ¼ cup. It should be very concentrated. Pour in the cream and continue to reduce until the sauce reaches coating consistency. Off the heat stir in the Grand Marnier and beat in ¼ pound butter, cut into bits, until it is all incorporated.
Arrange the fish on 4 warmed plates and coat with the sauce. Garnish with the orange segments and parsley, and the puff pastry shapes if liked.
SERVES 4.
VARIATION: If I want to cut down on butter and cream, I stir in ½ cup Fresh White Cheese or Yogurt Cheese (see Index) instead of the cream and just heat it through, then stir in the Grand Marnier and leave out the butter.
I admire the forthright approach of young John Martin Grimsey of the White Hart Hotel, a hostelry since 1489 in Coggeshall, Essex. He cares deeply for traditional British cooking but recognizes the need for change. He feels this dish meets his requirements, and says of it that he particularly enjoys the subtle blend of flavors and textures. I agree. The true sole is not an American fish and though many flat fish are called sole, they should more properly be called flounder. Winter flounder, gray sole or lemon sole are good substitutes. Serve with a Pouilly-Fuissé.
2 large lemon or gray sole or winter flounder
¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1 ounce smoked salmon, about 4 slices
1 medium-size avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
Hollandaise Sauce (see Index) (optional)
Have a fishmonger skin the sole and remove a whole fillet from each side, giving 4 large fillets. Keep the bones for making stock, if liked.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Generously brush an ovenproof dish, large enough to hold the fish when folded into envelopes, with the melted butter. Put the fillets on a board and season with salt and pepper. Brush with melted butter and top with the smoked salmon slices. Brush the salmon with melted butter and top with the sliced avocado. Fold the fish over the filling to make an envelope. Brush with butter and press down lightly to seal. Arrange in the buttered dish. Bake in a preheated moderate oven (350°F.) for about 15 minutes, or until done.
Arrange the fish on 4 warmed plates and pour the hollandaise sauce, if using it, over them. Garnish, if liked, with tomato roses, puff pastry cut into tiny fish shapes, or sprigs of fresh chervil or parsley. Serve with new potatoes and an assortment of fresh green vegetables, such as green peas, snow peas, zucchini or green beans, arranged on small separate plates.
SERVES 4.
John Armstrong, head chef at Martin’s restaurant in London, unlike many of today’s chefs, prefers to use French when describing his dishes. French, he feels, is the language of the kitchen, with neat poetic terms that can become clumsy in English. His food, however, is very English, is poetic, and is never at all clumsy. He cares about presentation, and even more about flavor. In addition he is a true original. Serve with a Sauvignon Blanc.
5 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons chopped shallots
12 fillets of Dover sole, or similar fish, each about 4 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
2 cups Fish Stock (see Index)
½ cup light cream
2 large ripe avocados
1 tablespoon chopped basil leaves
1 tomato, about 6 ounces, seeded and diced
6 small sprigs of chervil
Butter an ovenproof baking dish, about 6 by 9 inches, with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Sprinkle with the chopped shallots. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Lightly flatten the fillets and tie each into a loose knot, or fold over to make triangles. Arrange in the baking dish. Bring the stock to a simmer and pour over the fish. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated moderately hot oven (400°F.) until firm to the touch, about 8 to 12 minutes. Lift out the fillets to a warmed dish and keep warm.
Pour the cooking liquid into a saucepan and reduce to 1 cup over moderately high heat. Add the cream and reduce again to 1 cup. Pour liquid into a food processor or blender, add one of the avocados, diced, and the basil leaves and process to a purée. Cut remaining butter into bits. With the machine running add the butter, a piece at a time, until it has all been incorporated. Season to taste with salt and pepper. For a very fine sauce, put through a strainer.
Peel remaining avocado and cut into slices. Arrange a fan of avocado on each of 6 warmed plates. Arrange 2 fillets on each plate and coat with the sauce. Garnish with tomato dice and chervil sprigs.
SERVES 6.
Ken Stott, head chef of Kildrummy Castle Hotel, a country house hotel in Scotland, is himself a Scot who has always worked in the northeast of his own country. He believes in using the produce for which Scotland is famed and applying his skills and ideas to create appetizing new dishes which will give pleasure to those who eat them. I found this utterly delicious. Serve with a Chardonnay.
2 teaspoons butter, plus 2 tablespoons butter, cut into bits
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
½ cup Fish Stock (see Index)
8 large fillets of sole or flounder, each about 6 ounces
4 ounces smoked salmon, about 8 slices
½ cup dry white wine
½ cup light cream
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Heat the 2 teaspoons butter in a small saucepan and stir in the flour. Cook, stirring, over low heat for 1 minute. Off the heat whisk in the fish stock, return the saucepan to the heat and cook, stirring or whisking, until the sauce is smooth and lightly thickened. Set aside.
Put the fillets of sole on a board and flatten them slightly. Top each with a slice of smoked salmon and roll them up. If necessary secure each roll with a toothpick. Arrange the fish in a single layer in a large skillet with a lid. Mix the sauce, wine and cream together and pour over the fish. Bring to just under a simmer, cover, and poach the fish until done, about 8 minutes. Lift out the fish and keep warm. Reduce the sauce over fairly brisk heat to 1 cup. Lower the heat and whisk in the pieces of butter one by one. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.
Have ready 8 warmed plates. Cut each fillet though the middle and arrange on the plate cut side up so that the pink of the salmon can be seen. Pour the sauce round the fish. Serve immediately, with new potatoes and a green vegetable or two, such as snow peas or green beans, on small separate plates.
SERVES 8.
The recipe can easily be halved.
This is one of Raymond Baudon’s attractive, easy-to-cook fish dishes, which I enjoyed when he was head chef at Johnstounburn House, at Humble in Scotland. Serve with a Chardonnay.
8 large scallops, with roe if possible
8 fillets of sole or flounder, each about 6 ounces
½ cup Fish Stock (see Index)
½ cup dry sherry wine
4 medium-size mushrooms, sliced thin
Salt, freshly ground pepper
½ cup heavy cream, or Fresh White Cheese, Junket Cheese or Yogurt Cheese (see Index)
1 tablespoon butter
Garnish: sprigs of dill
Using a small sharp knife, cut the coral from the scallops and reserve it. Cut each scallop into 3 slices. Lightly flatten the fish and place 3 slices of scallop on each of the sole or flounder fillets. Carefully roll up the fillets and secure each with a toothpick.
Pour the fish stock and sherry into a flameproof dish large enough to hold the fish in a single layer. Add the mushrooms, the rolled-up fish and salt and pepper to taste. Top each fillet with a scallop roe. Bring the liquid to a simmer over moderate heat, cover the pan with wax paper and a lid, or with aluminum foil, and cook in a preheated moderately hot oven (400°F.) for 5 minutes. Lift out the fish to a serving dish, cover, and keep warm.
Pour the liquid from the pan into a saucepan and reduce it to half its volume over moderate heat. Add the cream, simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, and stir in the butter.
Pour the sauce around the sole, not over it. Garnish with sprigs of dill. Serve with new potatoes and a green vegetable or two such as peas, snow peas, baby carrots or zucchini, served separately.
SERVES 8.
VARIATION: The sauce can be made, if liked, with fresh white cheese or junket or yogurt cheese, simply stirred in and gently warmed through. Omit the butter.
Anthony Blake, head chef at Eastwell Manor, now a country house hotel of considerable elegance at Ashford in Kent, first began cooking at the age of 13 when he opted out of a woodworking class in favor of food, a decision he has never regretted. I first met him when he was sous-chef to Christopher Oakes at the Castle Hotel at Taunton, Somerset, an important experience for his career. He is a highly creative cook who likes his dishes to be simple and light. This one is very adventurous. Serve with a Chardonnay.
Vanilla and Lemon Balm Dressing
1 vanilla bean
1¼ cups vegetable oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
Salt, freshly ground pepper
½ cup lemon balm leaves
Salmon
4 slices of skinned and boned fillet of salmon, each about 7 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Butter
¼ cup dry white wine
½ pound spinach, washed and trimmed, about 3 cups loosely packed
Grated rind of lemon
In a jar soak the vanilla bean in the oil for 24 to 36 hours. In a bowl whisk the lemon juice with the vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Add the oil, the vanilla bean and the lemon balm leaves, and bottle until ready to use.
Season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper. Butter a large, shallow ovenproof dish and arrange the salmon fillets in the dish. Pour half of the reserved vanilla dressing over the salmon, and put 2 lemon balm leaves on top of each fillet. Pour in the white wine and cover with buttered paper. Put into a preheated moderate oven (350°F.) for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the salmon is just cooked. Remove from the oven and keep warm.
Cook the spinach in a large saucepan of briskly boiling salted water for 4 minutes. Drain, refresh in cold water and drain thoroughly, squeezing out as much liquid as possible. Return to the saucepan with a tablespoon of butter; season with salt and pepper.
To serve, put spinach on each of 4 heated plates and top with a salmon fillet. Strain the dressing, whisk, and pour over the salmon. Garnish with the grated lemon rind.
SERVES 4.
This was cooked for me by Alan Casey when he was head chef at Culloden House, Inverness, in Scotland. It is extremely simple and very flavorful. There are not a great many fish recipes using red wine, and this has become one of my favorites.
4 slices of salmon fillet, each 6 ounces, cut on the slant
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Flour
4 tablespoons butter
12 white onions, about 1 inch in diameter, peeled
12 button mushrooms
2 cups dry red wine
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons minced parsley
Season the salmon with salt and pepper and dredge with flour, shaking to remove excess flour. Heat the butter in a skillet with a lid and seal the salmon steaks quickly on both sides. Lift out and set aside, covered. In the butter remaining in the pan lightly brown the onions and mushrooms. Pour in the wine, add the bay leaf and thyme, and bring to a simmer. Return the salmon and any juices that may have collected to the pan, cover, and simmer just until the salmon is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove the fish to a warmed serving dish and keep warm.
Remove and discard the bay leaf and thyme. Add the cream and reduce the sauce to coating consistency over fairly high heat. Add the lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Pour the sauce over the salmon and sprinkle with the parsley. Serve with boiled new potatoes.
SERVES 4.
This is an attractive, easy-to-cook dish given me by Peter Jackson when he was head chef at Bodysgallen Hall, Llandudno, Wales. I have cooked it very happily with sea (salmon) trout and other fish and always enjoy its simple fresh taste. Peter is now chef-patron at the Colonial Restaurant in Glasgow, Scotland. Serve with a Chardonnay.
2 cups loosely packed fresh spinach leaves
4 slices of salmon fillet, boned and skinned, each 5 to 6 ounces
Flour
Salt, freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons butter
2 medium-size leeks, thoroughly washed and cut into julienne strips, white part only
¼ cup strong Fish Stock (see Index)
¼ cup dry vermouth
½ cup heavy cream, or ¼ cup Fresh White Cheese (see Index)
Drop the spinach into a saucepan of briskly boiling water and cook for 4 minutes. Drain, refresh in cold water, then drain thoroughly, pressing out as much water as possible. Rolling the spinach up in a bamboo mat and squeezing it is the easiest way. Purée the spinach in a blender or food processor and set aside.
Dredge the salmon with flour, shaking to remove excess flour. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Heat half of the butter in a skillet large enough to hold the fish in a single layer and sauté the fillets, turning once, for about 6 minutes, or until done. Lift fillets out of the skillet to a warmed plate, cover, and keep warm.
Add the rest of the butter and the leeks to the skillet and cook, stirring, over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until leeks are tender. Add the fish stock and vermouth and simmer, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced to about half. Add the cream and reduce until the sauce is of coating consistency. Stir in the spinach and add salt and pepper if necessary. Spoon the sauce onto 4 heated plates and put a salmon fillet on top.
SERVES 4.
If liked, omit the cream and stir in the fresh white cheese and warm it through.
The rich flavor of salmon is enhanced by the slight acidity of sorrel in this dish created by Murdo MacSween, head chef at Oakley Court near Windsor. Murdo, who is a nephew of the famed novelist Sir Compton MacKenzie, is a Scot who speaks fluent Gaelic. He naturally specifies Scotch salmon for the dish, but I have made it successfully with salmon from other than Scottish waters, and with sea (salmon) trout. Serve with a Chardonnay.
4 slices of salmon fillet, each 6 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons minced shallots
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup heavy cream
4 cups loosely packed sorrel, about 8 ounces
4 tablespoons butter
Garnish: parsley sprigs
Lightly flatten the salmon fillets and season with salt and pepper. Combine the shallots and wine in a small saucepan and simmer, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced to ¼ cup. Pour in the cream, bring almost to a boil, cover, and set aside.
Cut the stems and coarse ribs from the sorrel leaves, stack and roll them, and shred them very fine. Set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet and sauté the salmon over moderate heat until it is done, 5 to 6 minutes. Arrange the salmon on 4 warmed plates. Add the sorrel to the reserved sauce and bring to a boil over fairly high heat. The sorrel will melt into a purée. Add the remaining butter, cut into bits, all at once, and taste the sauce for seasoning. Stir sauce and pour over the salmon. Garnish with parsley sprigs.
SERVES 4.
Edouard Hari, executive chef of the Inn on the Park in London, cares a great deal about the people who come to eat at the Inn’s restaurants. He wants the food to taste and look superb. A little bit of himself goes into every meal that is served, he says. His aim is to keep natural flavors unspoiled and never to mix flavors that will conflict with each other. Like Shaun Hill of Gidleigh Park in Devon, he dislikes bizarre garnishes that no one can eat. An optimistic and ebullient man, he delights in creating new dishes, this one very tempting. Serve with a Pouilly-Fuissé.
½ recipe Puff Pastry (see Index)
2 bunches of watercress, about 8 ounces
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 fillets of fresh salmon, each about 6 ounces
Salt, freshly ground white pepper
½ cup Fish Stock (see Index)
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup heavy cream
Make puff pastry. Roll the pastry out into 2 pieces, each 4 by 6 inches, and bake them in a preheated moderate oven (350°F.) until well risen and lightly browned, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool, then split each into halves. Set aside in the turned-off oven to keep warm.
Wash and pick over the watercress. Discard the stems. Drop the cress into a saucepan of briskly boiling water and blanch for 1 minute. Drain thoroughly, rinse under cold running water, and drain again. Purée the cress in a blender or food processor until very smooth. Divide the purée into 2 parts and set it aside.
In a skillet large enough to hold the fish comfortably, heat the butter. Add the shallots and cook over moderate heat until they are softened, about 1 minute. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and cook in the skillet over low heat, turning once, until the salmon is done, 5 to 6 minutes. Lift out to a plate and keep warm, covered. Pour the fish stock into the skillet and reduce the liquid to half over fairly high heat. Add the wine and reduce the liquid in the pan to ½ cup. Add the cream, bring to a simmer, then stir in half of the watercress purée. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper if necessary. If any juices have collected on the plate with the salmon, add them to the sauce.
To assemble the dish, spread both pieces of each of the pastry cases with the remaining watercress purée. Place the bottom halves on each of 2 warmed plates and top with the salmon. Spoon the watercress sauce on the salmon and top with the lid.
SERVES 2.
Chris Oakes, head chef at the Castle Hotel in Taunton, Somerset, has created a medley of flavors that harmonize beautifully in this dish. Serve with a Chardonnay.
1½ pounds center-cut salmon fillet, skinned and cut into 4 slices
1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon
Salt, freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter
¼ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup seedless green grapes, peeled
4 large scallops, sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice, or to taste
Make a slit in each piece of salmon and stuff each with ¼ teaspoon chopped tarragon. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet large enough to hold the salmon in a single layer. Sauté the salmon over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. It should be firm to the touch. Be careful not to overcook as the fish dries out easily. Transfer the salmon to a warmed plate, cover, and keep warm.
Add the rest of the butter to the skillet. Add the walnuts, grapes, scallops and lemon juice, and toss over moderate heat for about 1 minute, or until the scallops are opaque. Season with salt and pepper and spoon the mixture over the salmon. Sprinkle with remaining tarragon. Serve immediately.
SERVES 4.
This is a grand dish, but worth the trouble for a special occasion. John King of the Ritz Club in London created the dish, which accurately reflects his culinary philosophy. He is a firm believer in chefs having a classical cuisine training which they should use as a springboard to launch themselves into an inventive future, always shunning gimmickry. Serve with a Chardonnay.
Mousse Stuffing
½ pound boned and skinned salmon
2 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1 cup heavy cream
Salmon
1½ pounds center-cut salmon fillet, skinned and cut into 4 slices
¼ pound (1 stick) butter, plus butter for pan
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup strong Fish Stock (see Index)
1 pound mixed wild mushrooms such as chanterelles, morels, oyster mushrooms
½ cup heavy cream
Garnish: parsley sprigs
To make the mousse combine the salmon, chopped coarse, in a blender or food processor with the egg yolks and process to a purée. Add the 2 whole eggs, and salt and pepper to taste, and process until smooth. Scrape into a bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour. When the mixture is cold beat in the cream with a wooden spoon. Taste for seasoning, add salt and pepper if necessary, and refrigerate until needed.
Very lightly flatten the 4 slices of salmon, which should measure about 5 by 4 inches. Season them with salt and pepper. Either pipe or spoon the chilled mousse along the short side of the salmon, then gently roll the fish up into a fat sausage. Secure the sausages with toothpicks to stop them unrolling. Butter an ovenproof dish large enough to hold the salmon in a single layer. Sprinkle the dish with the shallots, add the salmon, and pour in the wine and stock. Cover and cook in a preheated hot oven (425°F.) for about 10 minutes, or until the fish is done. Lift out the salmon to a warmed plate, cover, and keep warm.
Heat 4 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet and sauté the mushrooms for about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and keep warm. Pour the liquid in which the salmon was cooked into a saucepan and reduce it to half over fairly high heat. Add the cream and reduce to 1 cup. Cut remaining butter into bits and beat it into the sauce. Taste for seasoning.
Arrange the salmon fillets on 4 heated plates and spoon the sauce over them. Sprinkle the salmon with the mushrooms and garnish with a few sprigs of parsley. Serve immediately.
SERVES 4.
NOTE: If there is any leftover mousse, make it into quenelles and poach in fish stock. Use to garnish other fish dishes. The uncooked mousse will keep, refrigerated, for 2 or 3 days.
The pike mousse in this recipe created by Bernard Rendler, the sous-chef at Gravetye Manor in East Grinstead, West Sussex, could not be easier to make. The dish is interestingly different from Martin Bredda’s Haddock and Salmon Trout Surprise although the ingredients are very much the same. It demonstrates the creative originality of the chefs. When I find pike hard to get I substitute a nonoily white fish; I have also substituted sea (salmon) trout for the salmon with great success. Serve with a Muscadet.
Pike Mousse
8 ounces skinned and boned pike or other nonoily white fish
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1 large egg
1 cup heavy cream
Fish and Sauce
Butter
4 slices of salmon fillet, each about 5 ounces
2½ cups Fish Stock (see Index)
½ cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons minced shallots
4 medium-size mushrooms, sliced
4 medium-size tomatoes, peeled and chopped
½ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons snipped chives
In a food processor or blender purée the pike or other fish until it is very light and smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Add the egg and process until thoroughly mixed. For a very fine, light texture rub the mixture through a sieve into a bowl, or simply scrape the mixture from the food processor into a bowl. Set the bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice and very slowly beat in the cream with a wooden spoon.
Butter a shallow flameproof dish large enough to hold the salmon fillets in a single layer. Pour in 2 cups fish stock and wine and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat. Carefully spread the mousse over the fish. Arrange the fish in the baking dish and cook in a preheated hot oven (425°F.) for 15 minutes. Run under a broiler to glaze.
While the fish is cooking make the sauce. Pour remaining ½ cup fish stock into a saucepan. Add the shallots, mushrooms and tomatoes and simmer, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced to ½ cup. Add the cream and continue to simmer until the sauce reaches coating consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Pour the sauce onto 4 heated plates. Top with a salmon fillet and sprinkle with chives. Serve immediately.
SERVES 4.
Martin Bredda, chef to the Earl and Countess of Normanton who entertain visiting parties at the family seat, Somerley, at Ringwood in Hampshire, has a simple aim in cooking. He wants to cook well, present the food beautifully, and use the best of the good things available to him, the fish and game from the estate especially. He uses pike in this recipe. If it is not available, substitute a nonoily white fish such as sole or flounder. Serve with a Pouilly-Fuissé.
1 pound pike, or sole or flounder or similar white fish, skinned and boned
Salt, freshly ground pepper
4 egg whites
¾ cup heavy cream
Butter
5 haddock fillets, each 3 to 4 ounces
5 sea (salmon) trout fillets, each 3 to 4 ounces
1 cup light cream, or Fresh White Cheese or Junket Cheese (see Index)
12 ounces shelled medium shrimps
2 tablespoons tomato purée
2 tablespoons melted butter (optional)
Chop the pike or substitute fish coarse. Season with salt and pepper and put into a blender or food processor. Process to a purée. With the machine running, add the egg whites one by one until the whites are thoroughly incorporated and the mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape the purée into a bowl. Set the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Remove purée from the refrigerator and beat in half of the heavy cream, using a wooden spoon. Return the mousse to the refrigerator for 15 minutes, then beat in the rest of the cream. Refrigerate the mousse until ready to use.
Butter a ring mold. Season the haddock and sea trout fillets with salt and pepper. Using each type of fish alternately, line the mold, letting the ends of the fillets hang over the sides. Spoon the mousse into the mold, fold the ends of the fillets over the mousse, and press them lightly in place. Cover the mold with foil or parchment paper and set in a baking pan with hot water to come about halfway up the sides. Bake in a preheated moderate oven (350°F.) for 35 minutes, or until the fillets are firm to the touch. Remove the mold from the pan and allow it to rest.
While the mold is resting, make the sauce. In a medium-size saucepan combine the cream, or fresh white or junket cheese, the shrimps and tomato purée. Cook just long enough to warm through and cook the shrimps.
Unmold the salmon and haddock mousse on a warmed circular dish. Brush it with melted butter if liked. Serve the sauce separately.
SERVES 8.
Peter Jackson, whom I met first when he was head chef at Bodysgallen Hall in Wales and later when he was head chef for a time at Eastwell Manor in Kent, is a passionate believer in fresh, natural food, but he does not believe in undercooking or combining ingredients that will quarrel with each other in the mouth; foods and flavors should complement each other. I enjoyed his salmon one brilliant summer day and feel his cooking lives up to his philosophy. He now has his own restaurant in Glasgow, Scotland—The Colonial. Serve with a Chardonnay.
1½ recipes Fish Stock (see Index)
1 tablespoon green peppercorns
1 whole salmon, 5 pounds, unskinned with head and tail left on
I recipe Mayonnaise made with lemon juice (see Index)
2 teaspoons dry vermouth, preferably Noilly Prat
½ cup sorrel, stems and ribs removed, leaves shredded
In a fish kettle large enough to hold the salmon comfortably, bring the fish stock to a boil with the green peppercorns. Wrap the salmon in cheesecloth and lower it gently into the briskly boiling liquid. Bring the liquid back to a boil over high heat, cover, turn off the heat and allow to cool. The fish will be perfectly cooked, moist and tender. Lift it out to a large serving platter and carefully skin it. Leave head and tail intact.
Mix the mayonnaise with the vermouth and stir in the sorrel. Serve with the salmon. If liked, the salmon may be garnished with lemon slices or cucumber slices and cherry tomatoes. It may be accompanied by cucumber salad, green salad or potato salad.
SERVES 8.
Martin Rowbotham of Huntstrete House, an eighteenth-century country manor house, now a country house hotel near Bath, did not start off as a cook, but fell in love with cooking and switched careers. He brings freshness and originality to cooking. Turbot is not a fish that swims in U.S. waters but fortunately halibut makes an excellent substitute. Serve with a Muscadet.
1 pound mushrooms, chopped fine
2 medium-size onions, chopped fine
½ garlic clove, crushed
Salt, freshly ground pepper
4 fillets of turbot or halibut or similar fish, skinned and boned, each 6 to 8 ounces
Large sorrel leaves, about 12
¼ pound (1 stick) butter
1 cup dry vermouth
½ cup heavy cream, or Fresh White Cheese or Junket Cheese (see Index)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Combine the mushrooms, onions and garlic in a heavy skillet and cook over moderate heat until mushrooms have given up all their liquid. Shake or stir the contents of the pan so that they do not burn. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Season the fish with salt and pepper and cover with the reserved mushroom mixture. Wrap each fillet in sorrel leaves. Butter the skillet and arrange the fish in it. Pour in the vermouth and bring to a simmer. Cover and poach for about 10 minutes, or until the fish is done. Remove the fish and keep warm.
Reduce the liquid in the pan to half over moderately high heat. Add the cream and reduce until the sauce coats a spoon. Add the lemon juice, then whisk in remaining butter, bit by bit, over low heat until the sauce is light and creamy. If using fresh white or junket cheese simply stir it in, add the lemon juice, and warm gently through. Omit the butter. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.
Pour the sauce onto 4 warmed plates and arrange a package of fish on each. Serve the rest of the sauce separately.
SERVES 4.
Simon Collins, head chef at Bishopstrow House in Warminster, Wiltshire, is brilliantly inventive. He has a talent for putting together quite ordinary ingredients in a way that transforms them into something very special. Instead of turbot, which is not available in the United States, use halibut; instead of dry Champagne, use a dry white wine from the Champagne region, or any dry white wine. Serve with a still Champagne.
¼ cup julienne strips of carrot
¼ cup julienne strips of celery
¼ cup julienne strips of white of leek
¼ cup julienne strips of mixed red and green bell peppers
Butter
Salt, freshly ground pepper
4 slices of turbot or halibut, or similar fish, 3 ounces each, cut on a slant
4 slices of salmon fillet, 3 ounces each, cut on a slant
1 bay leaf
Sauce
2 cups dry white wine
2 cups strong Fish Stock (see Index)
½ teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon, or ¼ teaspoon dried
Pinch of ground saffron
½ cup heavy cream
Combine the julienne strips of carrot, celery, leek and bell peppers in a saucepan of briskly boiling water and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water. Drain thoroughly.
Cut four 10-inch circles of aluminum foil, or wax or parchment paper, and butter generously. Season the fish with salt and pepper and place a slice of halibut on each circle. Top each with some of the vegetable julienne, a little bit of bay leaf and a teaspoon or so of fish stock. Top with the salmon slices and seal the paper or foil by folding it securely. Arrange the fish in an ovenproof baking dish and bake in a preheated hot oven (425°F.) for 6 minutes.
Meanwhile make the sauce. Pour the wine into a saucepan and reduce it to 1 cup over high heat. Add the fish stock, tarragon, saffron and a few grinds of black pepper and reduce the liquid again to 1 cup over high heat. Add the cream and continue to reduce, still over high heat, until the sauce reaches coating consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper, strain, and warm through.
Pour the sauce onto 4 warmed plates. Take the fish out of the foil or paper and serve on top of the sauce. Garnish, if liked, with a sprig of fresh tarragon.
SERVES 4.
This delectable dish is not difficult, but it requires attention to detail. Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients. Many of them are ordinary kitchen items. Use halibut instead of turbot, which is seldom available in the United States; halibut is an excellent substitute. Created by Raymond Blanc, the brilliant young chef-patron of Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons at Great Milton near Oxford, I find I can do no better than describe it in his own words: “The color effect is magnificent, the textures so different, and the taste will fulfill the enchantment of this still life.” Raymond is in love with cooking and this dish shows it. Serve with a Chardonnay.
6 ounces (1½ sticks) butter
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1⅓ cups Gewürztraminer or other dry white wine
½ cup mushrooms, chopped fine
6 turbot or halibut fillets, each about 5 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon snipped chives
12 baby leeks, trimmed, washed, tied up, blanched for 3 to 4 minutes, then cut into ½-inch pieces
½ pound mixed wild mushrooms such as chanterelles (girolles), morels, etc.
2 tablespoons dry Madeira wine
2 tablespoons truffle juice (optional)
1 pound freshly cooked small new potatoes, kept warm
Set a flameproof dish, large enough to hold the fish in a single layer, over low heat. Melt ½ tablespoon of the butter in the dish, add the shallots, and cook until shallots are soft but not brown. Add the wine and simmer for 1 minute. Add the chopped mushrooms. Season the fish with salt and pepper. In a small saucepan melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and mix it with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice. Arrange the fish on top of the shallot-mushroom mixture and brush with the lemon-flavored butter. Cover the dish and cook in a preheated moderately hot oven (400°F.) for 3 to 5 minutes. Strain the juices from the pan through a sieve into a saucepan. Cover the fish and keep warm in a turned-off oven.
Reduce the juices over fairly brisk heat by about one third. Add the cream, then whisk in all but 4 tablespoons of the butter, cut into bits. Add the chives, season to taste with salt and pepper, and add a little lemon juice if liked. Set aside and keep warm.
Meanwhile warm the leeks in a skillet with hot water and a little butter, about 1 tablespoon. Drain and keep warm.
Melt 1 tablespoon of remaining butter in a small skillet and sauté the wild mushrooms with a little of the remaining lemon juice for about 4 minutes. Lift out the mushrooms with a slotted spoon to a warm plate, cover, and keep them warm. Add the Madeira to the skillet and reduce it to half. Add the truffle juice, if using. Whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, cut into bits. Cover and keep warm.
To assemble the dish, have ready 6 warmed plates. Put a fish fillet in the middle of each plate and garnish the plate with alternate mounds of leeks and wild mushrooms. If necessary return the plates, covered with buttered paper, to the oven for 2 minutes to heat through. Pour the butter sauce over the fish, and the Madeira sauce over the mushrooms. Add the new potatoes and serve.
SERVES 6.
This is another of Denis Woodtli’s interestingly different fish dishes. He is head chef at Lochalsh Hotel, Kyle of Lochalsh, in Highland, Scotland. For turbot, use halibut; for langoustines use either crayfish or jumbo shrimps. The recipe can easily be doubled but it does make a lovely self-indulgent meal when one is dining alone and is not content to dine less than well. Serve with a dry Moselle.
1 turbot or halibut fillet, 5 to 6 ounces
2 langoustines, crayfish or jumbo shrimps, whole, unpeeled
2 large scallops
2 tablespoons butter
½ medium-size onion, chopped fine
½ cup medium-dry white wine
½ cup strong Fish Stock (see Index)
2 tablespoons tomato purée
¼ cup brandy
½ cup heavy cream, or Fresh White Cheese (see Index)
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Lightly flatten the turbot or halibut fillet. Shell one of the langoustines, crayfish or jumbo shrimp and place it, with one of the scallops, on the fish. Roll it up and secure it with a toothpick. Generously butter a small skillet. Add the onion, white wine, fish stock and stuffed fish. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, or until done.
In another skillet heat a little butter and toss the other crayfish or jumbo shrimp, unshelled, in the pan over moderately high heat for 1 or 2 minutes. Add the tomato purée, stir, then pour in the brandy. When brandy is warm, ignite it. Add half of the cream and cook until the sauce reaches coating consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Lift the fish out of the first skillet and put it on a heated plate. Cover and keep warm. Reduce the liquid in the skillet to half its volume, add remaining cream and the scallop and reduce the sauce to coating consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
Pour the white-wine sauce onto half of the fish and plate, and the tomato purée sauce onto the other half. Put the scallop on the tomato sauce, and the whole crayfish or jumbo shrimp on the white-wine sauce. The finished dish looks very attractive and tastes wonderful. It is worth the trouble. Serve with a green salad.
SERVES 1.
If I want to avoid cream, I stir in fresh white cheese and warm it through. The dish will be quite heavy enough and as the scallop only needs minimal cooking it will cook while the cheese is heating through.
Every now and then an elegant dish is needed for a special occasion. Michael Croft, head chef at the Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath, Avon, has a special genius for creating such culinary elegance. Instead of turbot, use halibut. I have also cooked the dish with sea (salmon) trout very successfully. Serve with a Sancerre.
Sauce
2 tablespoons minced shallots
½ cup minced mushrooms
1 sprig of thyme
½ garlic clove, crushed
2 cups dry red wine
½ cup strong Fish Stock (see Index)
1 tablespoon glace de viande
Salt, freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons butter
Fish
2 thick fillets of turbot or halibut, each about 5 ounces
2 tablespoons clarified butter
2 tablespoons raw butter
1 cup chanterelle (girolle) mushrooms, rinsed and dried
4 quail eggs, soft-cooked and shelled
½ teaspoon minced mixed herbs (parsley, chervil, chives and basil)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ cup Garlic Croutons (see Index)
To make the sauce, put the minced shallots, minced mushrooms, thyme and garlic in a saucepan. Pour in the wine and reduce over moderately high heat to ½ cup. Strain the sauce, return it to the saucepan, and add the fish stock and glace de viande. Bring back to a simmer, taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper if necessary. Whisk in the butter, set aside and keep warm.
Season the fish with salt and pepper. Heat the clarified butter in a small heavy skillet large enough to hold the fish comfortably and sauté the fish over moderately high heat for about 2 minutes each side. Remove from the pan and keep warm, covered. Add the raw butter to the pan and let it brown slightly. Add the chanterelle mushrooms and sauté for 1 minute. Add the eggs, herbs, lemon juice and croutons.
Pour the sauce onto 2 heated plates. Put a fish fillet in the center of each plate and garnish with the mushroom mixture.
SERVES 2.
NOTE : Glace de viande is available from specialty food shops and many supermarkets; otherwise simply reduce some rich brown stock to a syrupy consistency.
Alan Vikops, head chef at the County Hotel in Canterbury, Kent, likes his sauces to have a distinct flavor but not so overwhelming as to mask the taste of the food they accompany. He also likes his dishes to look attractive, pleasing both eye and palate. I think he succeeds very well in this simple recipe. Use halibut instead of turbot. Serve with a Pouilly-Fuissé.
8 pieces of skinned and boned monkfish, each about 2 ounces
4 pieces of skinned and boned turbot or halibut fillet, each about 3 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons sweet paprika
¾ cup dry vermouth, preferably Noilly Prat
¾ cup strong Fish Stock (see Index)
¼ pound (1 stick) butter, cut into bits
½ cup snipped chives
Season the fish with salt and pepper then roll it in the paprika. Put it into a skillet large enough to hold it in a single layer. Pour in half of the dry vermouth. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook over very low heat until the fish is done, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the fish to a warmed plate, cover, and keep warm.
Pour the rest of the vermouth and the fish stock into the skillet and reduce it over high heat to half. Whisk in the butter and the chives.
Arrange the fish on 4 heated plates and pour the sauce round them. The reddish-brown of the fish, colored by the paprika, will make an attractive contrast to the white sauce, flecked with green.
SERVES 4.
Aidan McCormack, the young Welsh head chef at Middlethorpe Hall, a lovingly restored Queen Anne house in York, now a small hotel, has a forthright philosophy of cooking; what is on the plate is to eat, and overdecoration with fussy garnishes give good cooking a bad name. He believes in the virtues of simplicity and true flavor, and the use of the nose, as a sauce is right when it smells right. I enjoyed two of his fish dishes, the recipes for which bear out his philosophy. The crayfish tails in the recipe can be replaced with shrimps. Use halibut in place of turbot. Serve with a Riesling.
1 cup medium shrimps or crayfish, shelled, and shells reserved
2 tablespoons minced shallots
½ cup dry vermouth
2 cups Fish Stock (see Index), or clam juice
4 pieces of skinned and boned turbot or halibut fillets, each 6 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons butter
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ cup chopped, peeled and seeded tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped parsley or chervil
If whole crayfish are available, reserve four of the heads as a garnish, if liked. Otherwise chop the shrimp or crayfish shells and put into a medium-size saucepan with the shallots, vermouth and fish stock. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Strain and set aside. For a simpler stock, omit the shallots and simply add the vermouth to the fish stock or clam juice.
Season the fish with salt and pepper. In a skillet large enough to hold the fish in a single layer, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the fish and pour in enough of the stock to cover. Reserve any remaining stock. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook over low heat for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the fish is done. Lift the fish onto a warmed plate, cover, and keep warm.
Add the reserved stock to the skillet and reduce over high heat until thick and syrupy. Add the cream, bring to a simmer, and cook until sauce is of coating consistency. Add the tomatoes and the crayfish tails or shrimps, season to taste with salt and pepper, and cook for 1 minute, until the shellfish is done. Off the heat stir in remaining tablespoon of butter, cut into bits.
Put the fish onto 4 heated plates, spoon the sauce over, and sprinkle with the herbs. Garnish each plate, if liked, with a crayfish head.
SERVES 4.
This is another of Aidan McCormack’s simple and imaginative fish dishes that I have enjoyed. If lime juice is not available, use lemon juice. Serve with a Muscadet.
4 slices of boned and skinned monkfish, each about 6 ounces
1 cup chopped, peeled and seeded tomatoes
3 tablespoons minced shallots
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 cup dry white wine
½ cup Mayonnaise made with lime juice (see Index)
In a skillet large enough to hold the fish in a single layer combine the fish, tomatoes, shallots, garlic, parsley and wine. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for about 3 minutes, or until the fish is done. Lift the fish out onto a warmed dish, cover, and keep warm.
Reduce the liquid in the skillet over moderately high heat to about one quarter. Pour in any liquid that has collected on the plate with the fish. Bring to a simmer, remove from the heat, and whisk in the mayonnaise.
Arrange the fish on 4 heated plates and mask with the sauce. Serve immediately.
SERVES 4.
Robert Gardiner, the young head chef of Ardsheal House Hotel at Kentallen, Highland, in Scotland, uses ginger very imaginatively in this simple, well-flavored, unusual fish dish. Serve with a white Hermitage.
Sauce
¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, sliced
2 tablespoons fine-grated fresh gingerroot
4 garlic cloves, minced
¼ jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped fine, or use any fresh, hot green chili pepper
½ cup light soy sauce such as Japanese usukuchi shoyu
2 tablespoons dry white wine
½ cup mixed minced red and green bell peppers
Fish
2 pounds monkfish, skinned and boned and cut into 6 slices
1 cup minced parsley
Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over very low heat. Add the gingerroot, garlic and jalapeño pepper, cover, and simmer over very low heat for 10 minutes. Add the soy sauce and wine and simmer for 5 minutes longer. Stir in the mixed red and green bell peppers and simmer for 2 minutes longer. Taste the sauce; if it is too salty, add a little more white wine.
Put the fish on a bed of parsley into a steamer and steam for about 3 minutes, or until it is no longer opaque. Do not overcook. Put the fish onto 6 warmed plates and spoon the sauce over it. Serve with rice.
SERVES 6.
Kenneth Bell’s Monkfish with Ginger could not be more different from Robert Gardiner’s creation although both are original and delicious, one from an old master in the kitchen, the other from a relative newcomer. Kenneth owns and runs sixteenth-century Thornbury Castle, near Bristol, which he has converted into a restaurant and hotel. Serve with a white Hermitage.
2 medium-size carrots, scraped and cut into cork shapes
2 small turnips, peeled and cut into cork shapes
2 tablespoons butter
2 pounds monkfish, skinned, boned, and cut into ¾-inch pieces
1 tablespoon drained, thin-sliced stem ginger in syrup
¾ cup diced celery, about 2 ribs
2 cups dry white wine
Salt, freshly ground pepper
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup chopped parsley, dill or chervil
Blanch the carrots and turnips in briskly boiling salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In a large skillet heat the butter and add the fish, ginger, celery, carrots, turnips and the wine. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 10 minutes. Lift out the fish and arrange it on a warmed serving dish. Cover and keep warm. Add the cream to the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes longer, uncovered. Taste for seasoning. Reduce sauce over moderately high heat if it is too thin. It should be almost of coating consistency. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper if necessary.
Pour the sauce over the fish and sprinkle with the herbs. Serve immediately, with new potatoes and a green salad.
SERVES 4.
I have made this successfully with Fresh White Cheese (see Index) for friends avoiding cream. Do not reduce the cheese, just stir it in and warm it through.
When pink trout is not available I use sea (salmon) trout for this. The recipe created by David Nicholls, head chef of Waltons in London, makes a superb lunch or dinner for two. Serve with a Chardonnay.
1 cup light cream
¼ garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon butter, plus butter for pan
¼ cup julienne strips of carrot, celery and leek
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Skinned and boned fillets from 1-pound pink trout
½ cup dry vermouth, preferably Noilly Prat
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup strong Fish Stock (see Index)
½ medium-size tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped
Garnish: dill sprigs
In a small saucepan combine ½ cup of the cream, the crushed garlic clove, the teaspoon of butter and the julienne of vegetables and simmer until the cream is thick and the vegetables tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Cool.
Place the fillets on a board and season with salt and pepper. Put half of the cream and vegetable mixture on each fillet about one third of the way up from the tail end. Fold the tail end over the vegetables, then fold the other end over. Fasten with toothpicks. Lightly butter a skillet big enough to hold the 2 fillets comfortably. Arrange the fish in the pan and pour in the vermouth, dry white wine and fish stock. Cover and poach until the fish is cooked, about 8 minutes. Lift out onto a warmed plate, cover, and keep warm.
Add remaining ½ cup cream to the pan and simmer until the sauce reaches coating consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the tomato and cook for 1 minute longer.
Spoon the sauce onto 2 heated plates and arrange a stuffed fillet on each plate. Garnish with sprigs of dill. Serve with new potatoes or noodles, and a green salad.
SERVES 2.
Sam Chalmers, formerly chef-patron of Le Talbooth Restaurant in Dedham, and now chef at his own restaurant, Chimneys at Long Melford, Suffolk, constantly comes up with attractively simple variations on classic dishes, transforming the well-known into something fresh and new. This is a good example of his special talent. Serve with a Chardonnay.
1 medium-size carrot, scraped and cut into julienne strips
1 celery rib, cut into julienne strips
1 small white turnip, peeled and cut into julienne strips
1 small leek, white part only, thoroughly washed and cut into julienne strips
2 tablespoons butter
Salt, freshly ground pepper
16 trout fillets, skinned and boned, lightly flattened
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup Fish Stock (see Index)
Sauce
¼ cup minced shallots
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup dry white wine
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
½ cup whipped cream
Sauté the carrot, celery, turnip and leek in the butter in a skillet until vegetables are soft. Season with salt and pepper. Cool slightly and spread the mixture over half of the trout fillets. Top with the other half. Arrange the fillets in a skillet large enough to hold them in a single layer. Pour in the wine and stock, bring to a simmer over moderate heat, cover, and reduce the heat to as low as possible. Poach the fish for 8 minutes. Carefully pour off the poaching liquid.
While the fish is cooking make the sauce. In a saucepan combine the shallots, lemon juice and wine and reduce to half over brisk heat. Off the heat, beat in the egg yolk, then fold in the whipped cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the trout and run the skillet under a preheated broiler to glaze the top.
Lift the trout onto 8 heated plates and spoon any sauce from the skillet over them. Serve with new potatoes, baby carrots and a green vegetable.
SERVES 8.
Roy Richards has an imaginative way with fish as the recipe on page 140 shows. He says of the red gurnard that it is an unlovely fish to look at, and much underappreciated, as despite its looks its texture and flavor are sensational. Gurnard is sold in U.S. markets as searobin. If gurnard are not available, the best substitutes are halibut or John Dory, but any firm white fish can be used. This is a delightfully simple recipe needing very little time. Serve with a Sauvignon Blanc.
Butter
6 fillets of gurnard or other white fish, each about 6 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1 recipe Velouté Sauce (see Index), made with ⅔ cup dry white wine, ⅔ cup fish stock and ⅔ cup light cream
2 tablespoons grated Gruyère cheese
Generously butter an ovenproof dish large enough to hold the fish in a single layer. Season the fillets with salt and pepper and arrange them in the baking dish. Make a velouté sauce with wine, fish stock and cream. Stir in the grated cheese, then pour the sauce over the fish. Bake in a preheated hot oven (425°F.) for about 10 minutes, or until the fish is done.
SERVES 6.
Shaun Hill, head chef at Gidleigh Park, a secluded Edwardian manor, now a charming country house hotel on the edge of Dartmoor, Devon, started cooking as an enthusiastic amateur, a classics scholar with no notion of cooking as more than a hobby. Cooking won, and he acquired some training and found himself quite quickly promoted to head chef at prestigious restaurants. His enthusiasm survives and his recipes reflect his philosophy that cooking should celebrate the qualities and flavors of the ingredients the cook is using. This is a delicious dish, pretty to look at and worthy of its name as it is a kind of flourish. It is not half as complicated as it looks, and the results are more than worth it. Serve with a Chardonnay.
Butter Sauce with Tomato
½ cup strong Fish Stock (see Index)
1 tablespoon tomato purée
¼ pound (1 stick) butter, cut into bits
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Butter Sauce with Broccoli
½ cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon puréed cooked broccoli
¼ pound (1 stick) butter, cut into bits
¾ pound fresh salmon fillet, cut into 4 slices
¾ pound turbot or halibut fillet, cut into 4 slices
4 large scallops, with coral (roe) if possible
8 jumbo shrimps, peeled
To make the Butter Sauce with Tomato, pour the fish stock into a small heavy saucepan, add the tomato purée and reduce over moderately high heat until only about 1 tablespoon of liquid remains. Reduce the heat to low, then whisk in the butter, bit by bit, to make a smooth sauce. Taste for seasoning, add salt and pepper to taste, and set aside in a warm place until needed.
In another small saucepan combine the wine and broccoli purée and reduce over moderately high heat until only about 1 tablespoon of liquid remains. Reduce the heat to low, then whisk in the butter, bit by bit, to make a smooth sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper, remove from the heat and set aside in a warm place until needed.
Arrange the fish and shellfish in a steamer over boiling water and steam until done, about 4 minutes. Be careful not to overcook. Have ready 4 warmed plates. Arrange the fish and shellfish in the center of the plates and pour the sauces over them so that each sauce covers half of the fish and shellfish in the center of the plate, or pour the sauces separately onto each side of the plates. The effect is very pretty with the brilliant red and green sauces, pink and white fish, pink shrimp and white scallop with its coral. Any combination of fish and shellfish can be used according to what is best at the market.
SERVES 4.
Roy Richards, chef-patron of the Manor House restaurant, at Pickworth in Rutland, Lincolnshire uses Pineau de Charentes, a sweet fortified wine of the Cognac region, in this recipe. It is a very pleasant apéritif but not easy to buy outside France or even outside the Cognac region. I have used a demi-sec white wine successfully in place of the Pineau. A teaspoon of brandy added to the wine is an advantage. Serve with a Muscadet from the Loire.
Butter
6 halibut fillets, each about 8 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
½ pound seedless green grapes
½ cup semisweet white wine
1 teaspoon brandy
½ cup heavy cream
Generously butter an ovenproof baking dish large enough to hold the fish in a single layer. Season the fillets with salt and pepper and arrange them in the dish. Scatter the grapes over the fish. Pour in the white wine mixed with the brandy and the heavy cream. There should be enough liquid barely to cover the fish, but it should not be swimming in it. Add more wine if necessary. Bake in a preheated hot oven (425°F.), basting frequently until the fish is done, 10 to 15 minutes. The sauce should be golden and glistening, with a creamy sweetness in contrast with the slight acidity of the grapes.
SERVES 6.
Nothing could be simpler than Chris Oakes’ recipe. Chris, who is head chef at the Castle Hotel in Taunton, Somerset, has a strong feeling for cooking methods that preserve the fresh taste of foods. Striped bass is such a delicate fish that this recipe is perfect for it. The chive and lemon sauce is an attractive and equally simple accompaniment. Serve with a Sauvignon Blanc.
2 tablespoons butter
2 striped bass fillets, each 6 to 7 ounces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1 cup dry white wine
Sauce
1 large lemon
¼ cup mild white-wine vinegar
1 cup olive oil
Salt, freshly ground pepper
⅛ teaspoon sugar
½ cup snipped chives
Butter a flameproof baking dish large enough to hold the fillets comfortably. Season the fish with salt and pepper and arrange in the dish. Pour the wine over it, dot with the rest of the butter, cover with aluminum foil, and bring the liquid to a simmer on top of the stove. Bake in a preheated moderate oven (350°F.) for 5 minutes, or until the fish is springy to the touch. Lift out onto 2 heated plates.
Remove the rind from the lemon and cut it into very fine julienne strips. Squeeze the juice from the lemon. In a bowl combine the julienne strips and lemon juice. Stir in the vinegar, then whisk in the oil, a little at a time, until the mixture is thick. Season to taste with salt, pepper and sugar. Add the chives. Spoon the sauce over the fish.
SERVES 2.
Brill, like turbot, does not swim in the waters on the American side of the Atlantic, so use halibut in this recipe. This comes from Tim Cumming, chef-patron of the Hole in the Wall restaurant in Bath, Avon. Tim had his first job there when trailblazer George Perry-Smith, now of the Riverside in Helford, Cornwall, was running it and helping to start the British culinary revolution. That was in 1965. Now twenty years later Tim is back where he began, still young and very creative. The restaurant has been expanded into a Restaurant with Rooms. Tim’s wife Sue, herself a fine cook, had also worked at the Hole in the Wall earlier. A pleasant homecoming for them. Serve with a Muscadet.
Butter for dish, plus 1 tablespoon
1 tablespoon minced shallots
2 halibut fillets, each 6 to 8 ounces
2 medium-size tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
4 medium-size mushrooms, sliced thin
Salt, freshly ground pepper
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
½ cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Generously butter an ovenproof dish large enough to hold the fish in a single layer. Scatter the shallots over the bottom of the dish, add the fillets, top with the tomatoes and mushrooms, and season with salt, pepper and thyme. Cut the tablespoon of butter into bits and dot the fish with it. Pour in the wine. Cover and bake in a preheated moderate oven (350°F.) for 12 to 15 minutes, or until done. Carefully remove the fish and keep warm.
Pour the juices from the ovenproof dish into a small saucepan and reduce them over fairly high heat to ½ cup. Lower the heat, stir in the cream, and heat through. Taste for seasoning.
Pour half of the sauce over each fish fillet. Serve with new potatoes, or rice and a green salad.
SERVES 2.
The sauce can be finished if liked, with Fresh White Cheese, Junket Cheese or Yogurt Cheese (see Index) instead of cream.
Paul Gayler, head chef at Inigo Jones restaurant in London, likes cooking with fish, especially as he has a supplier who brings it to him fresh daily and lets him choose just what he wants. He also likes to put together ingredients that do not usually find themselves in the same dish and does this with impeccable good taste. He is a very creative chef. Serve with a Sauvignon Blanc or a white Bordeaux.
4 tablespoons butter, plus butter for dish
1 tablespoon minced shallot
2 medium-size tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
1 large tart cooking apple, peeled, cored and diced
4 medium-size skate wings
Salt, freshly ground pepper
½ cup dry cider
¼ cup dry white wine
1 cup Fish Stock (see Index)
½ cup light cream
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ cup Calvados
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves
Butter a flameproof dish large enough to hold the skate wings. Add the shallot, tomatoes and apple. Season the fish with salt and pepper and arrange on top of the shallot mixture. Pour in half of the cider, the wine and the fish stock. On top of the stove bring the cooking liquid to a simmer. Cover the dish with buttered wax paper and bake in a preheated moderate oven (350°F.) for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the skate is cooked. Remove the fish to 4 warmed plates and keep warm.
Pour the liquid into a saucepan, add the cream, and reduce over moderately high heat until the sauce coats a spoon. Beat in remaining butter, cut into bits, the mustard, the rest of the cider and the Calvados. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.
Spoon the sauce over the fish and sprinkle with chopped tarragon. Serve immediately with new potatoes.
SERVES 4.
Raymond Duthie, whom I first met when he was head chef at the Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath, has decided ideas about food. He believes in following traditional methods of preparation, but at the same time wants the dishes he prepares to be clean-tasting, crisp, uncomplicated and eye-catching. He is a Scot and a perfectionist without being overfussy. His food is subtle and delicious. Serve with a Pouilly-Fuissé.
2 pounds assorted fish fillets, from 4 varieties if possible, including striped bass, John Dory, striped mullet, red porgy or similar fish, cut into 1-inch pieces
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1 medium-size onion, chopped
1 medium-size carrot, scraped and chopped
1 sprig of thyme
1 teaspoon black peppercorns, lightly crushed
Seaweed, if available
1 recipe Beurre Blanc (White Butter Sauce) (see Index)
Season the fish with salt and pepper and set aside. In the bottom part of a steamer combine the onion, carrot, thyme, peppercorns and a generous amount of salt, with water to cover. Line the basket of the steamer with seaweed and arrange the pieces of fish on top. Cover, and steam until the fish is cooked, about 6 minutes.
Have ready the butter sauce and pour it onto 4 warm, not hot, plates. Arrange the pieces of fish on top of the sauce. Serve any extra sauce separately.
SERVES 4.
This is an extremely simple, entirely delicious dish created by Simon Hopkinson of Hilaire restaurant in London. It is perfect for entertaining friends at an informal weekend supper, accompanied by a green salad and plenty of wine, such as a Sancerre.
1 quart mussels, cleaned
½ cup dry white wine
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons shallots, chopped fine
2 cups Arborio (Italian risotto) rice
2 cups Chicken Stock (see Index)
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon saffron, ground
½ cup minced parsley
Put the mussels into a large shallow pan with a lid. Pour in the wine, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Lift out and reserve the mussels. Discard the shells. Discard any unopened mussels. Strain the liquid in the pan through a sieve lined with a double layer of dampened cheesecloth and measure it. There should be about 2 cups. Make up the quantity, if necessary, with equal amounts of chicken stock and dry white wine.
In a large heavy saucepan melt the butter. Add the shallots and sauté until shallots are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the rice to the pan and stir over low heat until all the rice is coated with the butter but not browned. Pour in the chicken stock and mussel liquor. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the ground saffron. Bring to a simmer over moderate heat, stir and cook, covered, over very low heat until the rice is almost tender, about 20 minutes.
Add the reserved mussels and the parsley, stir to mix and cook just long enough to heat the mussels through and finish cooking the rice. Serve with a green salad.
SERVES 6.
Sonia Blech, chef-patronne of Mijanou restaurant in London, experiments with dishes. She seeks the ideal combination of flavor, texture and taste. This simple and beautiful-to-look-at dish achieves that aim. It is not difficult to make, but is very impressive both to see and eat, though not for everyday cooking. Serve with a Sauvignon Blanc or a white Bordeaux.
Scallop Mousseline
12 large scallops with coral (roe)
1 whole egg
1⅓ cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Cognac or other brandy
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Butter
Scallops and Mussels
12 mussels, thoroughly scrubbed, cleaned and soaked
½ cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon minced shallots
¾ cup Veal or Chicken Stock (see Index)
¼ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon Cognac or other brandy
12 medium shrimps, shelled
Carefully remove the coral (roe) from the scallops and put the coral into a blender or food processor. Reserve the scallops. Add the egg and process to a purée. Scrape out of the blender or food processor into a bowl and chill thoroughly. Return the mixture to the blender or food processor and, with the machine running, gradually pour in the cream. Flavor with the lemon juice and Cognac and add salt and pepper to taste. Butter 2 ramekins or small soufflé molds and fill with the mixture. Set in a baking pan with water to come about halfway up the ramekins. Bake in a preheated moderate oven (350°F.) for 15 to 20 minutes, or until done. Unmold, cover, and keep warm.
While the mousseline is cooking, put the mussels into a shallow pan with a tight-fitting lid. Add the wine and shallots, cover, and cook over moderately high heat for 5 minutes, or until the mussels have opened. Lift out the mussels and discard the top shells. Strain the liquid in the pan and pour it into a saucepan. Add the veal or chicken stock and simmer until the liquid is reduced to half. Season with salt and pepper if necessary, pour in the cream, and Cognac, and simmer for 1 or 2 minutes. Add the mussels in their half shells, the scallops and the shrimps. Cover and simmer for about 1 minute, until the scallops and shrimps are cooked and the mussels warmed.
To serve, pour the sauce onto 2 heated plates. Place the mousseline in the center of each plate and surround it with the mussels and scallops alternately. Place a shrimp above each scallop.
SERVES 2.
The delicate flavor of avocado complements the equally delicate flavor of the scallops in this elegantly simple and lovely-to-look-at dish created by Allan Garth, head chef at Gravetye Manor, East Grinstead in West Sussex. It takes only a brief time to prepare and requires only a very few ingredients, ideal for the cook in a hurry who wants to make something special. Serve with a Chardonnay.
1 cup Fish Stock (see Index)
2 cups light cream
1 large ripe avocado
Salt, freshly ground pepper
20 large scallops, with roe if possible
1 cup wild rice, or long-grain rice, freshly cooked
Pour the stock and cream into a saucepan and simmer over moderate heat, uncovered, until reduced to 1½ cups. Peel and pit the avocado and mash with a fork until smooth. Stir it into the reduced fish stock and cream mixture. Season with salt and pepper and warm through. Keep warm, not hot.
Steam the scallops for 2 to 4 minutes or until they have lost their opaque look. Be careful not to overcook.
Spoon the cooked hot wild rice or long-grain rice onto 4 heated plates. Divide the scallops among the plates and spoon the sauce over them.
SERVES 4.