Fish

November 25, 2012 Fish

Steamed turbot, crushed potatoes with crab, and buerre noisette…

My on-going lack of a gas supply has resulted in me turning to some alternative methods of cooking. I wanted to pan-fry some turbot, in a loose tribute to Tony Fleming’s dish, but actually as his was steamed, it suddenly motivated me to get the steamer out of the cupboard – I’m quite sure it’s not even been used a dozen times – but now it was going to come into it’s own! Needless to say the children had eaten all my lovely tomatoes – so the sauce vierge was also going out of the window. I swapped over to a beurre noisette and capers – and here you have it…

The potatoes would apparently take 45 minutes in a steamer (45 minutes ?!?!?!), and the thickness of the turbot looked as though it would take 15 minutes.

I cooked the buerre noisette on a portable induction hob, ensuring that the butter had gone to a golden colour – then throw in some capers – and in my case, a little white balsamic vinegar, my new addiction.

The potatoes were crushed with a little white crab meat, and some sorrel and butter….

Overall, actually pretty quick, extremely effective and the steamer may find a place slightly higher in my list of gadgets than previously…

June 12, 2012 Fish

Aqua Grill in Soho, New York…

I’m in New York – hurrah! City to some of the finest restaurants in the world, and a mecca for foodies everywhere. Every street corner boasts a diner or deli, and with produce coming in from all over the country and overseas, it’s no surprise that it also has restaurants like Aquagrill.

On the day that we visited, Aquagrill had no less than 27 kinds of oysters available on its huge ice-packed counter… And that’s just the oysters. There were also countless kinds of fish, produced in a myriad of different ways.

We were six for dinner, and in the time we sat there, tables emptied and refilled around us. Platters of fruits de mer seemed to be the most popular dish, and trays heaving with shellfish poured up and down the room. It’s obviously an extremely popular local restaurant, and the pace never lets up.

There’s just one tiny problem – I can’t actually eat oysters… Yup… So why come here? I chose Aquagrill precisely because I appreciate this kind of dedication – fish and shellfish of this standard should be applauded, and I just wish we had something comparable in London. Of course we have Scotts, Bentleys et al, but this is different – this isn’t a fine dining restaurant – this is just sheer and unadulterated homage to the produce, served in a continental style.

Given that there were six of us, it would have been impractical for me to photograph everyone’s food (not to say annoying in the extreme), so I have my dishes, and a couple of others…

The kitchen sent us some lobster tartare on a game chip to begin – really good tartare, some hint of horseradish in there that might have been a touch of wasabi.

Lobster tartare on a game chip

I began with the lobster salad… A good combination of tail and claw meat, well dressed salad, avocado, zingy ruby grapefruit and tiny beetroot dice for texture and sweetness. The lobster was succulent, and a lovely light way to begin the meal. Hubby had this too and thought it very good. The others had lobster cocktail (apparently good), and soft shelled crab (good, but a little salty). I’ll check the other dishes when I get a minute.

Maine Lobster salad with avocado,
ruby grapefruit, and a champagne vinaigrette

Crispy soft shelled crab, with sautéed spinach, jicama,
ortaniques, and micro greens in a spicy citrus vinaigrette

Hubby and I both followed this with a special of the day, porcini dusted loin of yellow fin tuna, porcini polenta, fiddlehead ferns, fresh porcini and arugula salad (that’s rocket to us Brits) in a truffle vinaigrette… What’s not to like? Rare tuna and an intense umami kick from all the mushroom elements. These didn’t overwhelm the tuna, and fiddleheads… Strangely enough I had a (twitter) conversation with Sat Bains and James Tanner recently about fiddleheads, and we were commenting on the fact that they’re eaten more in the US than the UK. I know some varieties are considered poisonous, but these were lovely… I can’t really describe the texture or the flavour, but they eat as you’d imagine they would. Here they completed that sense of the woodland when combined with the porcini, and added an extra forest-like dimension.

Porcini dusted loin of yellow fin tuna, porcini polenta,
fiddlehead ferns, fresh porcini and arugula salad dressed in a truffle vinaigrette

Seared diver scallops, with Peekytoe crabmeat risotto
and sugarsnap peas in a tomato shellfish emulsion

To finish I had the creme brûlée – not the best one I’ve ever eaten to be honest, and I couldn’t get a decent picture of it. The custard was a tiny bit granular – always a possibility with creme brûlée – though the sugar top was crisp and good.

Creme brûlée

Two of my chums had the panna cotta, which they thought was very good, and another two had the apple tarte which they also thought good.

Apple tarte

Overall we had a good meal – the quality of the ingredients were exceptional. Some of us did have a issue with heavy-handed seasoning. It’s difficult to assess – all the food I’ve eaten in NewYork to date has been pretty heavily seasoned, so perhaps this is fairly typical? Certainly this wouldn’t have been the case if we’d tucked into the fruits de mer, and judging by the sheer quantity zipping past our table this is by far the most popular fare! If you’re in Soho, go visit Aquagrill – I defy you to find a better selection of fish and shellfish in any restaurant in the city.

Aquagrill
210 Spring Street

Soho
New York

NY 10012

@AquagrillNYC

May 25, 2012 British

Verveine, Milford-on-Sea

I was surprised to discover that the Hampshire Life 2011 Restaurant of the Year, and Chef of the Year awards belonged to a little fish restaurant about ten minutes from my house in the Forest. I’d had recommendations for Verveine, but somehow it had landed in my radar with more of a plink than a splash. Given the lack of a decent fishmonger in our area (ridiculous when you live on the coast), Verveine went straight onto my to-try list..

Cajun salmon mousse

Verveine is located on the High Street at Milford-on-Sea, and for non-locals, is just down the road from the lovely Chewton Glen Hotel. The front of the restaurant is the fishmongers, with a light and bright restaurant extension at the back. The kitchen is run by Chef Patron David Wykes.

I dragged along my usual accomplices, Dennis and Vicky. We were greeted warmly, and offered some Cajun salmon mousse, with crisps. The mousse was whipped, with a with a rich and earthy flavour, but the spice was a little raw, and made the texture a little granular.

Our Garden in Spring

To begin I had Our Garden in Spring with goat’s curd, pickled beet, radish, asparagus, peas, asparagus, garlic flowers and olive oil soil. The olive is scattered on top of the curd and acts like a seasoning. The richness of both is offset by the sweetness of the raw vegetables, and the pickling of the soused vegetables. There’s also an interesting combination of textures on the plate – I particularly liked the goat curd. And, let’s face it, it’s a very pretty dish…

Verveine preserves a lot of its ingredients to add flavour, in fact they make a number of their key components themselves and try to be as self-sufficient as possible. There’s also a small garden at the rear where they grow their own ingredients, including some of those in my starter.

Brixham octopus with chorizo, rice, chicken skin

Dennis opted for the finely diced Brixham octopus with chorizo, puffed rice, preserved lemons and crispy chicken skin. He enjoyed the surf ‘n’ turf combinations of the dish.

The main course is based on the premise that you choose your fish from the blackboard (with all the days specials priced out), and then have it cooked in one of four treatments. These were:

Provençale – Mediterranean vegetables, home-made potato gnocchi, Provençale sauce
Forest – Wild garlic risotto, wild mushrooms, squash puree, almonds
Sea – Sea vegetables, Jersey Royals, olive oil emulsion
Barigole – Morteau sausage, creamed potato, broad beans, baby artichokes

Turbot, Sea

We decided to opt for the turbot, and to each take a particular plating style. I had Sea – turbot with samphire, broad beans, jersey potatoes, and seaweed. The little blobs are purees of beetroot and I think butternut squash – they added a sweet depth to counter the salty sea vegetables.

The samphire was pickled, so was acidic rather than salty.

The purees look very pretty, and eat well, but as the dish had been kept under the pass for a little while, and were drying out.

Turbot, Provencale

Dennis opted for the Provençale, which came with courgettes, roast tomatoes, artichokes, gnocchi, and a scrape of aubergine. The various elements were less ‘mushy’ than a traditional ratatouille, allowing each ingredient to stand for itself.

Turbot, Forest

Vicky opted for Forest – her turbot was plated with mushrooms, almonds, a risotto of grains, pesto, new season ransoms, and samphire. I tried the grain risotto – I much prefer grain – it holds its texture much better than rice risotto where its an accompaniment (rather than the central element of the dish).

Sherbet Fountain

All of that was quite filling, and we weren’t going to have a dessert, until our waiting staff told us about David’s deconstructed dishes. One was a take on a sherbet dab, and Dennis and I both plumped straight for that, liquorice addicts that we are…

The liquorice element is a deep and intense ice-cream made with soft liquorice – the sherbet is made with a mixture of Fizzy, icing sugar, and citric acid. We loved this dish, absolutely delicious if you like liquorice. I liked it so much that it immediately became a tribute dish, and you can find my Thermomix recipe here.

We had a long chat to David at the end of the meal, swapping recipe ideas, book choices and restaurant recommendations. David has cooked in some very accomplished kitchens, and this shows in his approach. From the freshly made butter, to the home-smoked ingredients, Verveine is as self sufficient as it can be. This does occasionally have its drawbacks, and all three of us disliked the soused samphire – where an ingredient has such an admired texture and flavour, it seems churlish to alter both without good cause. Plate dressings had also been allowed to dry out a little, which seems a shame, as the purees were actually very tasty. Overall we enjoyed our lunch, and will happily add Verveine to our list of regular haunts. The staff are very knowledgable and attentive, and one cheerfully selected a variety of leaves from the garden for another diner to taste. David is a competent chef with lots of very interesting ideas, and I can’t wait to try more of his deconstructed puddings. Next time I think this has my name on it:

Violet Beauregarde – Blueberries, bubblegum pannacotta, caramelised brioche
‘Great heavens girl!’ screeched Mrs Beauregarde, ‘you’re blowing up like a balloon!!’ ‘Like a blueberry ‘said Mr Wonka, ‘prick her with a pin!!’

Verveine Fishmarket Restaurant

98 High Street

Milford on Sea

Hampshire

SO41 0QE

August 11, 2010 Fish

J Sheekey’s, Covent Garden

Last week we went, yet again, to J Sheekey’s. It’s one of my absolute favourites – the staff are always polite, prompt, if sometimes a little brisk – but I like that…. It’s part of the atmosphere, and means they’re doing their job.

There are a couple of ways into the restaurant – I prefer going through the customary greeting by the doorman, into the tiny lobby – but you could go in through the oyster bar if you wish. There’s a teeny tiny bar which serves all manner of things in old fashioned martini glasses, and every available space is covered in photos of bygone stars…

In fact you’ll invariably spot a photo you hadn’t noticed before, and be whisked away on some reminiscence of the role they were playing, the production or film they were in… The restaurant is made up of a series of interconnected rooms, all crammed with little tables, all crammed with very animated diners. This is why I don’t mind the brisk staff, you get the impression it’s all run on a very tight and strict schedule – there’s no room for dilly-dallying.

The play we had been to see, Prisoner on Second Avenue, had finished phenomenally early, and we wandered up from The Strand, thinking that we could sit in the bar until our table was ready – not a bit of it – there way a queue out of the door… We wandered off to peek into the antique print shops in the next alley, and came back at 10.15… This time we were greeted by name (so they were obviously paying attention earlier – always a good sign), and shown to the end room… I have to say I’ve never noticed the division of Sheekey’s into the Gods and Wasteland you see in places like The Ivy… I’ve eaten at some point in every available table for two, four and six! Naturally the Hubby knew someone on the next table, so it was already quite late by the time we ordered.

Now, food: Sheekey’s is the sister restaurant to Scotts, and so you find most of what they do here too… You can eat oysters, caviar, tons of fresh fish, the odd nod to the meat eaters, and veggies – but fish is why we’re here!

As a starter I had little scallops, with crushed peas, pea shoots and crispy pancetta – absolutely yummy – one of my favourite combinations; the Hubby had devilled whitebait, which came out in a huge portion, with a serving of fresh tartare sauce to the side – he often has this – and says this is the place to eat it.

I can honestly say that I don’t eat fish and chips, never have and ordinarily probably never will – but I eat it at Sheekey’s and at Scotts. The haddock has a casing so crisp it shatters with your fork, and it’s served with crushed minted peas and chips – delicious!

This is what the Hubby chose, and I did gaze in his direction, but he ignored my fluttering eyelashes. No matter, I had one of my other favourites – the sole served off the bone, with really good bernaise sauce. I had my usual herb green salad – can’t go to a Caprice Holdings restaurant without that – and the Hubby had his parmesan courgettes.

The food was perfectly cooked: the bernaise was both unctuous and light, the sole practically melted in the mouth. The Hubby’s fish and chips really did look delicious, and he tucked in with gusto. It’s difficult to say much more about it, really: I have never had a bad meal at Sheekey’s – I have never had any issues with the staff at Sheekey’s – it’s a fabulous restaurant!

If you’re going to go to one of the Caprice Holdings restaurants for the food (!), it has to be Sheekeys! If you’re going to celebrate your wedding anniversary, or significant birthday, it should be Scotts. If you’re taking your easily impressed aunt from Blackpool, and you want to show off – may as well go to the Ivy – I don’t want you cluttering up Sheekeys for the rest of us…