FOOD+DRINK
STAY HOME & COOK! CONT.
Confit Halibut with Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Gnocchi and Spring Onion Butter Sauce
Recipe by Allister Barsby, chef owner, Hide and Fox, Hythe
www.hideandfox.co.uk
hideandfox
Serves 4 Method:
Top tip: use fresh halibut and not
frozen! Find a reputable fishmonger
you can trust so you can be sure the
quality of the fish is supreme. You can
switch up the garnish seasonally...
summer is close and the asparagus
season has just started! For the halibut, get your fishmonger to skin
the fillet for you, then:
Ingredients:
• 700g halibut fillet
• 20 spears of purple sprouting broccoli
• 1 head of maitake mushrooms
• 1 bunch spring onions finely sliced
For the gnocchi
• 250g Maris piper potatoes peeled
• 80g plain flour
• 50g finely grated parmesan
• 3 egg yolks
• 5g salt
For the butter sauce
• 50g sliced shallots
• 75g sliced button mushrooms
• 100g Noilly Prat
• Lemon juice
• Salt and pepper
1. Generously sprinkle the fillet on
both sides with fine salt.
2. Place this on a tray, clingfilm and
leave to cure in the fridge for 4 hours.
This will firm the flesh and make it
much easier to confit without it falling
apart.
3. Once it has cured, wash the fillet
well under cold running water and
soak in cold water for 20 minutes.
4. Pat dry and portion into 150g
portions.
5. Drain them and store on a tray in
the fridge until needed.
To start the butter sauce:
1. Sweat the sliced shallots and
mushrooms in 50g of butter for 5
minutes until they are soft, add a
generous pinch of salt followed by the
Noilly Prat. You want to reduce the
vermouth by 2/3. This can then be
stained into a small saucepan.
2. Add a tiny drop of cream and bring
this back to the boil.
To make the gnocchi:
1. Boil the potatoes until just cooked,
pass them off and allow to air dry
before passing through a drum sieve.
2. While the potato is still warm add
the rest of the ingredients and gently
mix in until fully incorporated.
3. Dust your surface with plain flour
and roll the gnocchi out in a long
sausage roughly 2 cm thick, then cut
the rolls of gnocchi every 2cm to create
little pillows.
28
4 These can then be blanched in salted
boiling water for 3 minutes and
refreshed in ice water.
3. Then gradually whisk in
approximately 75g of butter or enough
to create a sauce thick enough to coat
the back of a metal spoon.
4. Season this to your taste with salt
and a squeeze of lemon juice.
To finish the dish:
1. Bring 500ml of extra virgin olive
oil to 60C over a very low heat.
2. Add the fillets of halibut to the oil
which will reduce the heat to 55C,
regulate the temperature of the oil
and cook the halibut for 15 minutes
at 55C.
3. While the fish is cooking you can
blanch the broccoli for 3 minutes in
boiling salted water, reheat the gnocchi
in the butter sauce gently with the
spring onions, and sauté the maitake
mushrooms over a high heat in butter
and a pinch of salt.
4. Once all these elements are ready
the dish can be plated and is ready to
be served.
5. Lift the halibut out of the oil using
a fish slice and place under a hot grill
for 20 seconds.
6. Place this on the plate followed by
the mushrooms, gnocchi then the
broccoli.
7. Finish with plenty of the spring
onion butter sauce!