Red Mullet with Saffron potatoes, fennel and orange, bisque foam, bay prawn.

Fri, 11 January 2019

Red Mullet with Saffron potatoes, fennel and orange, bisque foam, bay prawn.

INGREDIENTS:

·         Bay Prawn Shells

·         1 shot Brandy, 1 dash Olive oil

·         1 Lemon

·         2 Shallots

·         3 Garlic Cloves

·         2 Carrots, 6 Tomatoes

·         1 Bay Leaf, Salt & Pepper

·         300ml White Wine

·         400ml Cream (divided in 2).

·         6/8 Fillet of Red Mullet

·         1 Lemon

·         10g Unsalted Butter

·         2 Heads of Fennel

·         1 Orange

·         20ml Olive Oil

·         5 Spanish Onion

·         200g Sugar Snap Peas finely sliced

·         100g Finely Sliced Shallot

·         20g Unsalted Butter

·         8 Medium Potatoes

·         Thyme

·         Dill

·         Mint

·         1 pinch Saffron

·         500 ml Vegetable Stock

·         4 Dublin Bay Prawns whole steamed

METHOD:

To make the Bisque

·         It is probably best to start with the bisque, this can be done well in advance and frozen into containers with just enough in them for each meal.

·         In a large heavy based saucepan, fry the prawn shell in a little olive oil. Continuously turn them until you have basically taken out all the moisture and the shells have become quite dry, brittle and are beginning to brown.

·         Now add the brandy and pour a little of this over a wooden spoon. Remove the spoon away from the pot and ignite the brandy, once the spoon is alight place it carefully into the pot ensuring your face is way from the pot! The brandy in the pot will ignite with a lot of heat and pas just as quickly.

·         Now add the chopped onions, shallots, garlic, celery and carrot. Continue to turn these in the pot over the heat for another 6/7 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes now along with all the remaining ingredients except the cream.

·         In addition, add enough water to cover all the ingredients in the pot. Bring this to a simmer and allow it to do so for at least an hour. Return to the pot from time to time to remove the unwanted foam like bubbles that form at the top.

·         At this stage in the kitchen we pour all of the ingredients into a very strong blender and grind it up, this way we get the very most out of the shells, but it’s not easy on the blender!! Now pass the broth through a fine sieve. Return this liquid to a clean pot and continue to boil until it has reduced by half, check the seasoning and leave to cool.

·         Take approximately 300 ml of this and return to the boil, add in half the cream and allow this to reduce until as thick as a thin custard. Pour the remaining cream into a cream charger followed by the hot bisque. Close the charger up, add the gas and shake well before serving.

To prepare the remainder of the dish

·         Begin by preparing your Red Mullet Fillets. It’s very important all the scales and pin bones are removed; this makes eating fish so much more pleasurable. Ask you fish monger to do this for you. Once this is done, score the fillets down the back slightly through the skin, this will prevent the fillet from curling as it cooks and will also help the fillet cook evenly throughout.

·         Before cooking the fish get the potatoes on. I like to turn the potatoes for this dish, which means to shape them like a barrel. Place them into a pot of cold water along with the herbs, saffron and a little pinch of salt.

·         Bring them to a gentle simmer and continue to simmer for about 14 minutes, they should have a slight bite to them when they have finished. Gently remove them from the water so they keep their shape and allow them to sit until you are ready to use them.

·         Now you can get the fennel cooking. Firstly, hold back a little of the green fennel herb and finely chop for the butter later. Use a mandolin or a similar to slice the fennel very thinly and do the same to the onion. Heat a pot over a gentle heat and add the olive oil.

·         Now add in the onion and fennel and cook gently over the heat with no colour until it wilts down and loses most of its moisture. Segment the orange and keep the segments separate but get as much juice from the remainder as you can. Now add the juice of the orange to the pot and increase the heat slightly. Continue to simmer until the fennel is soft adjust the seasoning, remove from the heat and add the orange segments

·         While the potatoes and fennel are cooking, heat a non-stick pan, not too hot! Drizzle with a little olive oil. Drizzle each side of the Red Mullet fillets also and season lightly. Place them skin side down on the pan and shake the pan gentle continuously as you place them down. This will prevent the fish from sticking.

·         Cook until golden brown on the skin side, about 2 minutes and turn over. Now add the butter to the pan and based the fillets as it melts. Now squeeze the lemon over the fillets and remove the pan from the heat, this should only take another 2-3 minutes.

·         Remove the fish from the pan and place onto kitchen paper to catch the extra butter. Return the pan to the heat and quickly sauté the shredded sugar snap for just 30 seconds with the shallots.

·

To assemble:

·         Cut the potatoes into quarters and place 3 potato quarters around randomly. Now dredge the braised fennel around the dish, sort of giving 3 focal points to please the fish on. Cut the fennel with the sautéed sugar snap. Overlap the Red Mullet across the fennel.

·         Now after shaking the cream charger, squeeze a little of the foam 5 or 6 points around the plate and garnish these with a little fennel herb.