Brill cooked on the bone with sea vegetables and mash
Cooked on the bone for extra flavour, this baked fish served with samphire, veg and seaweed is a celebration of British seafood.
Ingredients
For the mash
- 400g/14oz Ratte potatoes (or other waxy potatoes), peeled
- 200g/7oz salted butter
- 100ml/3½fl oz milk
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the fish
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 x 250g/9oz tronçons (or steaks) from a 2–2.5kg brill
- 3–4 tbsp plain flour, for dusting
- 2 shallots, sliced into rings
- 1 sprig thyme
- pinch seaweed powder
- knob of unsalted butter
- 150ml/5fl oz white wine
- 50ml/2fl oz crème fraîche
For the sea vegetables
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú butter
- 20²µ/¾´Ç³ú sea aster
- 20²µ/¾´Ç³ú sea beets
- 20²µ/¾´Ç³ú salty fingers
- 20²µ/¾´Ç³ú sea purslane
- 20²µ/¾´Ç³ú samphire
For the garnish
Method
Put the potatoes in a saucepan of boiling salted water and simmer very slowly until soft.
Mash the potatoes and add the butter and milk. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm until ready to serve.
Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5.
In an ovenproof frying pan, heat the olive oil. Lightly dust the fish with flour. Fry for a minute to lightly brown one side. Turn over, add the shallots, thyme, seaweed powder, butter and white wine.
Cover the fish with a circle of baking paper and bake for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it rest for 3 minutes. Remove the skin from the fish and keep warm.
To make the sauce, pass all of the cooking liquor from the frying pan into a small saucepan. Add the crème fraîche and whisk well to form a smooth sauce.
For the sea vegetables, heat the butter, 50ml/2fl oz water and a pinch of salt in a frying pan. Bring to the boil. Pick the sea vegetables and wash in lightly salted water. Add to the pan and cook for 1 minute, then drain well.
To serve, spoon the mash onto the plates and make a well in the centre. Place the sea vegetables at the back of the plate and the fish next to it. Pour the sauce all around and finish with the chive oil and oyster leaves.