Baked Fillet of Hake with Gremolata

2005 Baked Fillet of Hake -7151

A fabulous fish dish that will suit most people. The recipe comes from a popular Swedish fish restaurant. The sauce can be used in other dishes as well. Be generous with the sauce because your guests will ask for more!

Serve after a starter of Green Pea Soup and with a sweet ending of Roasted Fruit with White Chocolate.

This dish requires quite a bit of time in the kitchen, but is well worth it. The sauce and the potato mix can be prepared in advanced and then reheated.

If you can’t find hake, cod loins or another thick fish fillet to your liking works just as well. (Actually, for this illustration, I didn’t find hake but used cod instead).

 

Serves 6

1,2 kilo fillet of hake, with skin
Salt
2 tbsp butter

Sauce:
4 echalion shallots (“banana shallots”)
2 tbsp butter
500 ml fish broth
300 ml white wine
50 ml white wine vinegar
300 ml double cream
10 parsley stalks, crushed
½ lemon, zest and juice
2 tbsp butter

Vegetable mix:

2 large baking potatoes
1 large fennel
150 g black olives, pitted
100 g sundried tomatoes (in oil)
2 tbsp butter
Salt

Gremolata:

1 lemon
4 garlic cloves
Flat leaf parsley
1 tbsp butter

Sauce (this part may be prepared in advance and later heated. If so, keep refrigerated covered by cling film):

  1. Finely chop the shallots. In a saucepan, sauté until translucent, do not brown.
  2. Add the broth, wine and vinegar. Let boil over high heat until it has reduced to about half in volume.
  3. Add the cream, parsley stalks, lemon peel and juice. Reduce to half by boiling.
  4. Strain the sauce into small pan and leave off heat. Add a little butter (will thicken the sauce a bit more) and maybe salt and pepper.

Vegetable mix:

  1. Peel potatoes and cut in small cubes. Rinse with cold water (removes some starch before frying).
  2. Cut fennel in small cubes (same size as the potato).
  3. Halve the olives.
  4. Drain the tomatoes and cut in pieces.
  5. Over medium heat, brown the potato in butter. Add fennel and sauté for a few more minutes. Add olives and tomatoes.
  6. Set aside. Will be re-heated later.

Gremolata:

  1. With a potato peeler, peel the lemon thinly (take care not to include too much of the white part as this is bitter). Slice the peel very thinly to form long “threads”.
  2. Shred the parsley leaves.
  3. Cut the garlic cloves in thin slices and sauté in butter until golden.
  4. Mix the lemon peel, parsley and garlic together.

 

Fish:

  1. Oven on 125C
  2. Sprinkle the fish with salt.
  3. Place the fish in melted butter in hot pan with skin side down. Fry until the skin is golden brown. Do not turn.
  4. On a greased oven proof dish, spread ½ of the gremolata to cover an equal area to the fish. Place the fish on top, skin side up this time, and place the dish in the oven until done (about 25-30 minutes).

 

Finishing:

  1. Heat the vegetable mix.
  2. Heat the sauce; whisk to give it a bit of a foam.
  3. To serve, spoon the vegetable mixture around the fish. Pour a little bit of the sauce around the mix, serve the remaining sauce on the side and the 1/2 gremolata on top.

Any comments, suggestions, ideas? Please write here!