Braised Brill, Shallot, Onion, Tomato Parsley Butter Sauce
This recipe is very similar to the very second dish we made, which was braised whiting fillets. The practical didn't go very well, which means that I learned a lot :) :
Cleaning and filleting the fish was a big part of this practical. When you fillet a fish, you want to keep your fillet knife right at the intersection between the bone and the flesh, the knife angled slightly down into the bone, pulling the flesh away as you cut. It sounds and looks simple when someone who knows how to do it does it, but let me tell you, it ain't so simple. I just pressed the knife flat against the bone, which was a mistake, as I left lots of flesh still on the bone.
Know exactly how long each step is going to take, and plan your time accordingly. In this practical, I was late in getting the fish into the oven AND I used too much braising liquid, meaning that when I needed to reduce the braising liquid afterwards for the sauce, I was already running late, and it took an extra half hour, so I was 45 minutes behind everyone else. I had forgotten that reduction can take a lot of time, and didn't plan well.
Nevertheless, this is actually a pretty darn good recipe -- the sauce, unusual in that it isn't a clean sauce but contains brunoised shallots, onions, and tomatoes, is really tasty, and goes well with the fish.
To the steps of making this dish:
PREPPING THE FISH
Cut off the fins of the fish. Remove the gills. Fillet the fish -- since this is a large flat fish, four fillets are cut, two each on the top side and bottom side, separated by the spine. Chop up the bones and head. VERY IMPORTANT -- disgorge the bones thoroughly (soak in cold water and wash) to get rid of the blood and impurities which will taste bad in the stock.
With the fillets, remove the skin with the fillet knife.
FISH STOCK
sweat some diced shallots and onions in butter. Add garlic, mushroom trimmings, a bouquet garni, and some peppercorns (white or black doesn't matter). Add white wine, allow the alcohol to boil off. Add fish bones and cold water to cover (note -- you don't want too much water! Just enough to cover). Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20-25 minutes, skimming.
BRAISING THE FISH
Take a pan, butter, salt and pepper the bottom. Finely chop shallots, onions, and peeled, deseeded tomatoes and layer it in the pan. Cut the fish fillets into serving portions and lay them into the pan, bone side up (presentation layer is up). Choose a pan so that the fish just covers the bottom without too much wasted space or crowdedness. Boil some white wine (removing the alcohol content), add it to the pan, then add the hot fish stock so that it doesn't quite cover the fish. Butter a paper lid and place it over. Preheat an oven to 170-180 C, place the pan in the oven to cook for 7-8 minutes. (Note: you want the pan to be hot when it goes in, so you can actually heat it over the stove to make sure it's boiling before you put it in the oven. My pan was cold (literally, I put it in the refridgerator to keep the fish fresh before putting in the oven!), and the fish was barely cooked even after 15 minutes).
SAUCE
After the fish comes out of the oven, take the braising liquid and continue cooking it. Reduce it until almost a glaze (TRES IMPORTANT!), then add butter, a small cube at a time, whisking constantly, to make the sauce. Season to taste. Finely mince some parsley, add it to the sauce at the last minute.
Put fish fillet on a plate, cover with sauce, and you're done! Yum... :)
posted by chezdavid @ 2:19 PM
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