Fish pie

Ingredients

55g/2oz scallops

455g/1lb cod or Huss fillets, skinned and cubed
115g/4oz mussels
115g/4oz cooked tiger prawns
55g/2oz butter
55g/2oz plain flour
150ml/¼ pint dry white wine
425ml/¾ pint stock
1 bay leaf
seasoning
2 tbsp soured cream
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
4 sliced boiled eggs

Rosti:
900g/2lb potatoes, par-boiled and grated
1-2 carrots, peeled and par-boiled
30g/1oz butter, melted
55g/2oz strong cheddar cheese, grated

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
2. In a small pan heat the butter, add the flour stirring continuously.
3. Heat the wine, stock, bay leaf and seasoning. Add slowly to the flour mixture, stirring continuously.
4. Add the fish, shellfish,boiled egg slices, soured cream and herbs. Pour into a 1.2 litre/2 pint pie dish.
5. Mix together the potato, carrot, butter and cheese; place on top of the fish sauce.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.

Lobster Bisque

Ingredients

• 1.5kg lobster heads
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small carrot, chopped
• 1 stick celery, chopped
• 2 sprigs flat-leaved parsley
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 large tomato
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper, plus extra to serve
• 1 tbsp brandy
• 300ml dry white wine
• 1 litre fish stock
• 500ml veal stock
• 250ml double cream
• 8 tsp Armagnac
• sea salt

Preparation

1. Crush the lobster heads with a mallet or a rolling pin until they are well broken up.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion, carrot and celery over low heat. When the vegetables are lightly browned, add the parsley, thyme and bay leaf and the lobster heads, stirring so that the contents do not stick or burn. After about 5 minutes, stir in the tomatoes, tomato purée and cayenne pepper. Add the brandy and stir well for a minute or two, then add the wine. Bring to the boil and cook for at least 3 minutes.

3. Add the fish stock and veal stock and bring back to the boil. Season lightly with sea salt. Simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally and skimming off the scum that appears on the surface.

4. Drain through a colander set over a large bowl, pressing the lobster bones well to extract all the juices and flavour. Then strain this liquid through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan. Bring to the boil and skim.

5. To serve, bring the soup back to the boil and allow it to reduce by one-third. Add up to 250ml double cream, according to taste, and boil for 5 minutes. Pour 2 teaspoons Armagnac per person into four warmed soup bowls and pour the soup over it. If you have any lobster claw meat available add that too.

6. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper, dress with a little chives and serve immediately.

Salmon and caper sauce

Ingredients:

• 100g butter
• 250g shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
• ½ x 1kg new potatoes, peeled and par-boiled for 5 minutes then cooled
• 15g coriander, finely chopped
• 2 x 15ml spoons cider vinegar
• 100ml sunflower oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 salmon fillets
• 250g dwarf beans
• 284ml fish stock
• 142ml double cream
• 40g capers, drained and rinsed
• 15ml spoon gin

Method:

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and cook the shallots gently until almost caramelised then allow to cool.

In a large bowl coarsely grate the potatoes. Add the shallots, coriander, vinegar, oil and seasoning.

Mix and form into 4 large flat patties and cook slowly in a large frying pan until golden on both sides.

At the same time, place the salmon fillets in a frying pan and cook for about 3 minutes on each side.

While the fish and rostis are cooking, place the fish stock in a small saucepan over a medium/high heat and simmer until reduced by two-thirds. Cook the green beans in boiling water until tender and keep warm.

Stir the cream into the stock and continue reducing until the sauce thickens, then add the capers, gin and seasoning to taste.

To serve, place the rosti on a plate, top with some green beans, then the salmon fillet and spoon over a little caper sauce.

Bouillabaise

Ingredients

For croutons

• 12 to 16 (1/2-inch-thick) baguette slices
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, halved

For soup

• 1 lb crab meat
• 2 large tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lb boiling potatoes
• 1/3 cup finely chopped fennel fronds
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 9 cups white fish stock(or store-bought)
• 3 pounds white fish fillets (such as monkfish, turbot, red snapper, striped bass, porgy, grouper, and/or cod), cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1/2 pound cockles or small hard-shelled clams, scrubbed
• 1/2 pound cultivated mussels, scrubbed and any beards removed
• 1/2 pound large shrimp in shells
• Rouille

Preparation

Make croutons:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 250°F.

Arrange bread slices in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan and brush both sides with oil. Bake until crisp, about 30 minutes. Rub 1 side of each toast with a cut side of garlic.

Make soup:

Cook tomatoes, onion, and garlic in oil in cleaned 6- to 8-quart pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Meanwhile, peel potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Stir potatoes into tomatoes with fennel fronds, bay leaf, saffron, sea salt, and pepper. Add stock and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until potatoes are almost tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

Add thicker pieces of fish and cockles to soup and simmer, covered, 2 minutes. Stir in mussels, shrimp, crab and remaining fish and simmer, covered, until they are just cooked through and mussels open wide, about 5 minutes.

Stir 3 tablespoons broth from soup into rouille until blended.

Arrange 2 croutons in each of 6 to 8 deep soup bowls. Carefully transfer fish and shellfish from soup to croutons with a slotted spoon, then ladle some broth with vegetables over seafood.

Top each serving with 1 teaspoon rouille and serve remainder on the side.

Ingredients for Rouille

3 tablespoons water

3/4 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a baguette, crust removed)

3 garlic cloves

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation

Pour water over bread crumbs in a bowl. Mash garlic to a paste with sea salt and cayenne using a mortar and pestle. Add moistened bread crumbs and mash into garlic paste.

Add oil in a slow stream, mashing and stirring vigorously with pestle until combined well.