Seafood Made Simple: Capers sourced closer to home feel so satisfying
And Grenoblise Plaice Cauliflower Picture: Anderson Chani Roast
Capers are the small, pickled flower bud of the Mediterranean plant Capparis spinosa.
A typical accompaniment to seafood and a store cupboard must, these briny buds are preserved by way of salt and vinegar.
We’ve experimented and made our own in Goldie, first salting in coarse Achill Island Sea salt.
Then washed and pickled to further preserve them in a vinegar solution.
Our best results have been with wild garlic ransoms, the buds of the nasturtium plant and, more recently, the stalks of Florence fennel.
There is something immensely satisfying about preserving a flavour from a particular season and indeed something even more satisfying when you can make a product with local ingredients instead of importing.
Brown butter has been all the rage with us chefs for the last couple of years, from brown butter ice cream to brown butter brownies and brown butter poached fish.
Butter — an already perfect product — can be made even more delicious by cooking.
This of course is not a contemporary process but a fundamental element of classical French cookery. ‘Beurre Noisette’ or in the case of this weekend’s recipe, ‘Caper Noisette’, is one of the first sauces a trainee chef will learn how to make.
It's a speedy sauce made by cooking butter to remove its water content and caramelising the milk solids present yielding a toasty and nutty flavoured sauce.
The butter is first melted and then cooked before being finished with fresh chopped and segmented lemon, capers and parsley.
This sauce works with so many fish species:I’ve served it with flat and round fish, monkfish and it’s also excellent with root vegetables and brassicas this time of year.
Plaice & cauliflower with capers & brown butter
Dover And Using Megrim, Sole, Equally Well Would Any I’m Sole Lemon Here Work Plaice But Work Brill, Will Fish Round
Servings
4Time Preparation
45 minsTime Cooking
40 minsTotal Time
1 hours 25 minsCourse
Mainingredients
150g Butter Unsalted
Segmented 1 Lemon, And Chopped
Chopped 2 And Capers, Roughly Tbsp Drained
Small Bunch 1 Parsley, Chopped
480g Fillets 120g Person) Plaice Per (or
1 Cauliflower
Tbsp 2 Oil Rapeseed
method
The Oven Preheat 180°c To
Pot Appear The The The And Regularly Melted Milk Off High Medium Throughout Cook Low A Once Water Like The Butter Browning 4 Melted Slowly In Place Unsalted For Are Until Brown Heavy The To Of And The Turn Solids Has Medium Prevent Minutes Place Heat By Begin Small From Butter Flecks On Stir To Butter 5 Based Heat Base Butter Cook To Up A The The Caramel Burning
Capers Segments Lemon Keep And Warm Sea Aside Set And With Salt Chopped Add Parsley The Season And Taste
Salt And For The To The To Rapeseed Sea Oven 15 In Oil Toss Cauliflower, Bake The Head A Small Add A 1 Place In Into With Place Florets Of Tray 20 On Minutes Until And Cut Caramelised And Roasting Medium Bowl Tablespoon Season Coat Prepare Fine
Lightly Pat While Plaice The The Dry With Roasting Fillets Salt In Oven The Cook Season Cauliflower With Is Some Fine The To Paper Sea Remove Kitchen Water Excess
Two High Minutes Non Steel A Or Pan Rapeseed Frying On Medium Heat For Oil Carbon Preheat The Add Stick
Side One Finish You Working Cooking Fillet Roast Greased Pan To Sauce Oil One Them The The The Place The Skin Once Tray Cauliflower Down Immediately The On The Lay The Away Pan Move Fish Do In Fish All Once And Tray Fillet To Is Batches From Oven A Or In The Confidently On With Avoid Minutes From Pan Side Disturb Not To Place Serve 3 And Butter Brown Lay Plaice Fillets Fillets In The Lightly Side Slice A Lift The For The Seared Brown 4 Golden On Splatters Are Use
Store fish fillets on a plate or tray in a single layer in the fridge. Avoid stacking fillets and covering in plastic: both will cause the fish to sweat and leech water.
Remove the fillets of plaice from the fridge 15 minutes before cooking.
If you are nervous about the fillets sticking to the pan you can coat them lightly in flour to create a non-stick barrier. Make sure you shake off the excess flour before adding to the pan.
Allowing the crust of caramelisation to develop evenly at the beginning of cooking the fish is key and will make it much easier to remove the fillets from the pan.
No matter what piece of fish you are cooking when removing from a pan always lift from the tail end of the fish. It causes less damage to the skin.