Ingredients
- 2 x 180g tranche of brill or other flat fish
- 4 sticks of salsify (can be replaced with parsnips)
- 2 large handfuls of chanterelles
- 6 sprigs of tarragon
- 400g fish stock
- 200g oloroso sherry
- 50g cream
- 180g butter
- 2 sticks thyme
- 2 cloves garlic in skin
Method
Step 1
Prep the salsify by peeling it and giving it a good wash.
In a pan, add 60g butter, and once foaming, add the salsify. Let it roast in the butter on low-medium heat until golden and tender; a small knife should easily be able to go through it if cooked.
Step 2
In a large pot, add 180g of the sherry and reduce it by half. Add the fish stock and reduce by a quarter, then add the cream in and reduce by a quarter.
With a little hand blender, blitz in 80g of cold butter and pass this through a fine sieve. Season the sauce with lemon juice and a few turns of black pepper.
Step 3
In a non-stick pan, with a small amount of rapeseed oil, place the brill dark side down into the pan. Add the garlic and thyme.
Let the skin darken and crisp up on medium heat. Then add 50g of cold cubed butter, and baste the fish constantly, add a bit more butter if necessary to get a good basting action.
Step 4
After a few minutes, flip the fish and continue to baste the fish off the heat. It’ll be cooked if a toothpick can be pushed comfortably in with little resistance through the thickest part of the fillet.
While the fish is cooking, put a pan on and add the salsify to warm up with its cooking butter, add the chanterelles two minutes before the fish is cooked.
Step 5
Warm the sauce separately, add the remaining 20g of sherry and give it and blend with the hand blender.
Once everything is ready, plate the fish and salsify with the sauce all over, garnish with the mushrooms and a few picked leaves of tarragon.
Above: Brill with salsify and oloroso sauce © Joe Woodhouse
Recipe courtesy of Simon Shand, Head Chef of Michelin-starred Leroy in Shoreditch.