W
L
A LITTLE TASTE OF MASTER CHEF
BY PAUL ASKEW, CHEF PATRON OF
THE ART SCHOOL RESTAURANT
It’s my first column of the year, so may I take the opportunity to wish
you all a prosperous 2019. We’re back at full swing in the restaurant and
cellars with a number of events coming up.
One of the most popular events has been our re-creation of the Celebrity
Master Chef semi-final, so much so, that I’ve just released an additional
date of 30th January. This month I’ve included one of the recipes we made
on the show for you to try and recreate at home!
FILLET OF TURBOT WITH CUCUMBER TAGLIATELLE,
PALOURDE CLAMS, COCKLES & ATTILUS ROYAL SIBERIAN
CAVIAR - SERVES: 4
INGREDIENTS:
FILLET OF TURBOT:
•
4 portions of turbot, 125g per portion. De-boned and skinned -
ideally from the chunky part of the fillet. Ask your fishmonger for the
fillets from a larger fish
•
1 X 2kg Wild Scottish turbot – filleted (Wards Fish, Birkenhead
Market with bones supplied)
•
Maldon salt to taste
METHOD:
•
Skin, trim and portion the turbot fillet and ensure that the fillets are
dry before pan-frying.
•
Pan-fry the seasoned turbot in vegetable oil, finish with butter.
•
Drain onto kitchen cloth ready to serve with Cockles and Clams.
COCKLES AND PALOURDE CLAMS, 200G OF EACH:
Ensure that these are washed and checked thoroughly before use.
•
½ lemon
•
2 cloves of garlic, peel and finely chopped
•
1 banana shallot, peeled and finely chopped
•
1 sprig of thyme, leaves stripped
METHOD:
•
Sweat off the garlic, parsley stalks, shallot, and include a strip of
thyme leaves, in a knob of butter adding a squeeze of lemon.
•
Then add your cockles and clams, and steam until the shells start to
open.
•
Don’t overcook them otherwise they will look dry. Strain the juice
from this and add it to your sauce to retain all of the flavour from
both the clams and the turbot.
•
Pick the meat from the shells and leave it on the side.
VEGETABLE GARNISH
•
2 medium sized cucumbers, peeled and sliced into ribbons using a
mandolin or peeler
•
½ lemon Fresh dill
METHOD:
•
In a saute pan, add the cucumbers to a little bit of butter. This will give
a lovely bit of colour, and it will drive off any excess water.
•
We still, however, want to retain the texture of the cucumber. Remove
from the pan and drain off onto a cloth on a flat tray. Garnish the
centre of your serving plate using these ribbons, and coating them in
a little of the sauce.
SAUCE
•
Turbot stock (1kg turbot bones, ½ lemon, Carrots washed peeled
and cut into mirepoix, Celery washed peeled and cut into mirepoix,
Whole black peppercorn, Bay leaf (Fresh), 1 large onion peeled and
cut into mirepoix, Garlic bulb (1/2)
•
8 parsley stalks, tspn fennel seed, 3 sprigs fresh thyme, Cold water
•
1 tsp Dijon mustard
•
Butter to finish
•
Fish seasoning (200g Maldon salt, ½ teaspoon freshly ground white
pepper 3 cloves garlic, peeled, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon
espelette pepper)
METHOD:
•
The fish sauce comes from the cooking liquor of the cockles and
clams. That, in itself, is a derivative of the original turbot stock.
Therefore, we complete a full circle and bring the dish together using
all the elements of the dish.
•
Reduce the past stock and cooking liquor. Finish with the mustard
and butter, and season to taste.
•
Check the consistency of the sauce. You don’t want the cucumber’s
water content to thin it down.
GARNISH
•
Attilus Royal Siberian caviar
•
Fresh dill/fennel tips Sunflower cress
ASSEMBLY
•
Plate the turbot on a bed of the cucumber ribbons, adding sauce,
cockles, clams and vegetables plus garnish.
Outside of the restaurant, I’ve recently taken on the role of Chair
of Wirral’s Visitor economy board. It’s an exciting year ahead for
the peninsula as we look to harness the many wonderful events and
businesses that we have on the Wirral, I’ll reveal more on our plans in
future columns.
Before I sign off I’ll be at Gordale on the 9th and 10th February for their
food festival, joined by my good friend and fellow GBM competitor,
Ellis Barrie – pop along and say hello. Until next month ….
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