Mussels in shellfish sauce with parsley, garlic and lemon zest
Whole roast wild sea bass with hollandaise sauce, roast new potatoes with lemon and thyme, steamed chard
Lemon Possett
Mussels
·For the fish stock
1.5kg fish bones (inc heads)
3 pints water
2 onions
1 large leek
3 carrots
2 sticks celery
glass vermouth/white wine
Simmer for 1 hour
·For the Shellfish sauce
2 pints fish stock
3 carrots
2 leeks
2 fennel
4 sticks celery
2 onions
2 pints prawns or equivalent
butter
Brandy
Glass white wine
Handful chopped tarragon
Pinch cayenne
2 tablespoons of tomato puree
Cut a fine mirrapois with the veg and fry in a little butter and olive oil
Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 1 hour
Blitz with a hand blender
Strain and (reduce)
·Gremolata
Zest of two lemons
Handful parsley
Two Garlic cloves
1 Kilo mussels
Grate the garlic on the zester or mash it, chop the parsley finely, combine the three ingredients.
Method
Steam the mussels in shellfish reduction with a splash of wine, when open toss with a handful of parsley, garlic and lemon Zest(Gremolata). Serve with lots of white wine to drink and bread for the juice.
·Whole roast bass
One wild bass as big as you can get, do not use farmed bass for this recipe. (One 2 kilo fish will feed six.) Cleaned , trimmed and rubbed inside and out with good olive oil and rock salt.
Handful chives, chervil, tarragon and dill
Stuff the fish with the herbs, Roast at 200 for 35 minutes, check the fish in the middle with a knive and roast for another 10 mins if necessary. For smaller fish reduce the cooking time.
·Roast new potatoes
For six
A dozen new potatoes depending on size
1 lemon
6 cloves of garlic
bunch of thyme
Salt pepper and olive oil
Scrape and blanch the new potatoes, roughly chop the garlic, lemon and thyme,
Heat some oil in a roasting tray throw in the vegetables and roast at 220 for 45 minutes turning occasionally.
Steamed chard
Stem the chard for two minutes, toss in butter, salt and pepper, serve
Hollandaise sauce
Half-cup white wine vinegar
Half-cup white wine
4 bay leaves
1tsp-cracked peppercorns
4 egg yokes
250 g butter clarified
Make a reduction with the vinegar, pepper, and bay. You are looking for about two tble spoons of liquid
Let this cool down. You can make a large batch of reduction by doubling or x4 the ingredients and keep this for up to a week,
Beet the egg yokes over a bain marie till they have doubled in size, pour in the clarified butter slowly beating all the time. Once the sauce is emulsified take off the heat, do not cook the sauce. you don’t want scrambled egg.
Lemon Posset
950 ml pouring cream
250g sugar
juice of 4 lemons
Heat cream and sugar
Remove from heat
Stir in lemon
Strain, put in ramekins, refrigerate, should set slightly
