Green! The young man doesn't do green. Courgettes, aspragus, parsley, rocket are not his thing. I have never been able to tempt him with broccoli ice-cream. This isn't something we've wanted to make a fuss about as he eats plenty of fruit. But since he's been eating with us rather than earlier in the evening it does impact the sorts of dishes that can be served. I learned this a while ago serving a Paella with chicken, fish and artichoke. I thought he would be able to pick out the artichoke, but artichoke flavour suffused the whole dish and he ended up with cheese and an apple. Anyway this morning he left for the Isle of Wight for a couple of days to stay with a mate on Newtown Creek. So today...
Merluza en salsa verde
There's a lot of fuss about Hake and the sustainability of the European stock seems to be a serious issue. However, it's a fantastic fish to cook and eat and the Spanish are rightly mad for it. We're eating Cape Hake tonight from an MSC approved fishery but I will admit to having a bit more trouble avoiding more locally caught (and fresher) fish landed at Plymouth when we're in Devon. I haven't had time to go to Condon and so there are no Paloudres to go with our Hake but we do have the very last of the English Asparagus to support this Basque classic recipe.
400g Hake in two fillets
2 tblspn Olive Oil
10g butter
Seasoned flour
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1/2 tspn fennel seeds
4 tblspn fresh flat parsley chopped
60ml white wine
70ml fish stock
4 Asparagus spears steamed till 'al dente'
Dust the hake with the flour. Heat the oil and when hot add the butter. When the foam has subsided add the Hake and seal it until golden (a minute or two) either side. Remove to a dish for the moment. Add the garlic and fennel to the pan and fry for a minute or so until the garlic is golden then stir in half the parsley. After a minute turn down the heat and stir in 1/2 tspn of seasoned flour. Cook this for a further minute then stir in the wine and a minute later the fish stock. This will thicken slightly - just another minute should do it. Add the asparagus and warm though for another minute then add the fish back. Cover the pan and leave it for 2 minutes then sprinkle the remaining parsley over everything. Serve with steamed new potatoes slightly crushed.
If you can get it, drink a good Txacoli with this otherwise a bone dry french wine.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment