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Whole baked plaice in butter sauce

Preparation time
less than 30 mins

Cooking time
10 to 30 mins

Serves
Serves 2

By Paul Ainsworth
From Saturday Kitchen

Ingredients

For the butter sauce

  • 100g/3½oz cockles, scrubbed
  • 100g/3½oz mussels, scrubbed and debearded
  • 100g/3½oz clams, scrubbed and debearded
  • 300ml/10fl oz sparkling wine or Champagne
  • 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large banana shallot, peeled and finely diced
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1 star anise
  • pinch ground white pepper
  • 100ml/3½fl oz double cream
  • 100g/3½oz unsalted butter, diced
  • 100g/3½oz smoked butter, diced
  • 100g/3½oz mixed sea vegetables, such as samphire, sea purslane or seaweed
  • 2 oysters, shells removed and oysters set aside with their juice
  • ½ lemon, juice and zest
  • pinch sea salt
  • 5g finely snipped fresh chives
  • 5g chopped fresh chervil
  • 5g chopped fresh flatleaf parsley

For the plaice

  • 150g/5½oz unsalted butter
  • 1 large 800–900g/1lb 12oz–2lb whole plaice, cleaned, fins and guts removed
  • 1 lemon, sliced into thin rounds
  • 4 thyme sprigs
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • freshly steamed buttered new potatoes and asparagus, to serve

Method

  1. To make the butter sauce, discard any cockles, mussels or clams with broken shells and any that refuse to close when tapped. Place the cockles, mussels and clams in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add a splash of the sparkling wine then place a lid on and steam for 30–40 seconds until all the shells are open. Discard any cockles, mussels or clams that remain closed. Strain the shellfish, retaining any cooking liquid in a bowl and pick the meats from the shells. Set aside the cooking liquid and shellfish meats.

  2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the shallot, garlic, star anise and white pepper. Sweat for a couple of minutes, taking care not to colour or burn the shallots. Add the remaining sparkling wine and reduce until it has almost all evaporated and the shallots are glazed. Add the reserved cooking juices from the shellfish and the double cream and cook until reduced by half. Remove the pan from the heat, slowly add the butters and whisk to create a thick butter sauce.

  3. Return the pan to a low heat and stir in the sea vegetables, cooked shellfish, raw oysters and their juice, lemon zest and juice. Season with the salt and more acidity, if needed. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chopped herbs and keep warm.

  4. Meanwhile, to make the plaice, heat the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat until the butter has caramelised and turned a nut brown colour. Strain through a sieve and leave to cool to room temperature. Season the fish all over with salt and pepper and brush with the brown butter. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.

  5. Place the lemon slices all over the fish followed by the thyme sprigs and bake in the oven for 8–10 minutes. If you have a food thermometer, the fish is cooked if it is 45–50C when probed in the thickest part of the fish. Remove the fish from the oven and baste the brown butter all over the fish. Remove the lemon and thyme from the fish and place the fish on a serving plate. Spoon the butter sauce all over the fish and serve alongside the new potatoes and asparagus.

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