Tom Kerridge's Proper Pub Food (18 page)

Tomato and olive tart with Cornish gurnard

This is a very light seasonal dish, using the best of British summer vegetables. The horseradish gives the dish the acidity that marries all of the flavours together and lifts the
taste of the trout. This recipe also works well with salmon, lemon sole or plaice.

Serves 2

For the Parmesan tuiles

For the horseradish mayonnaise

To make the Parmesan tuiles, preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 and line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Place an ungreased biscuit cutter in a shape you like on a
baking sheet and sprinkle in one-sixth of the cheese. Lift off the cutter and repeat to make a total of 6 tuiles. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the tuiles for 2–3 minutes until
the cheese melts into the desired shape. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and leave the tuiles to cool and become crisp before you take them off the baking sheet. They can be stored in an
airtight container for up to 2 days.

To make the horseradish mayonnaise, place the egg yolks, fresh horseradish, white wine vinegar, mustard and horseradish cream in a food processor and blend. With the motor still
running, slowly add the vegetable oil until it emulsifies and thickens. Season with cayenne, lemon juice and salt. Transfer the mayonnaise to a bowl, cover and put in the fridge until needed.

Melt the butter in a large deep frying pan over a medium heat and add a big splash of water. Remove the flowers from the courgettes and keep to one side. Thickly slice the
courgettes, add them to the pan and cook for 1–2 minutes, then add the broad beans and peas, season and continue cooking for a further 2 minutes.

Place the trout fillets on top of the vegetables and cover with a piece of kitchen foil, which will effectively steam the fillets. Leave them to steam for 2–3 minutes, then
remove them from the pan. Stir the herbs, rocket leaves and courgette flowers into the vegetables and season. They will wilt in the heat.

Spread each plate with horseradish mayonnaise and spoon the vegetables on top. Place the trout on top of the vegetables and serve immediately with crispy Parmesan tuiles on each
plate.

Freshly steamed rainbow trout is a great fish. Rainbow trout is farmed, sustainable and good value for money. I serve it here with a potato salad, but the real stars of this dish
are the toasted fennel seeds, orange zest and thyme leaves. Perhaps not your normal fish garnishes, but they give the mild trout flavour a massive lift.

Serves 2

Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil over a high heat. Add the new potatoes and return the water to the boil, then boil for 8–10 minutes until tender. Drain well,
then leave them in the colander to steam dry for 3–4 minutes.

Transfer the potatoes to a bowl. Whilst they are still hot, stir in the yogurt and mint, then add the lettuce and season. Keep to one side until needed.

Select a pan that your steamer fits over and bring about 5cm water to the boil over a high heat. Cut out a sheet of baking parchment that fits the base of your steamer
basket.

Place the trout fillets, skin side up, on the baking parchment and steam for 3–4 minutes. The fish should be still a little raw at this point. Gently peel the skin from the
fillets and drizzle the flesh with some of the melted butter. Discard the skin. Season the fillets with the fennel seeds, thyme leaves and orange zest. Sprinkle over sea salt flakes to taste, then
re-cover the steamer and steam the fillets for a further 1–2 minutes until the flesh flakes easily.

Place 2 fillets on each plate and add the potato salad. Drizzle each plate with rapeseed oil and serve.

Turbot is the king of fish, but other meaty fish, such as halibut and monkfish, work with this dish. You don’t have to save cucumbers just for salads and sandwiches. I know
cooking cucumber might sound odd, but it is lovely. The seeds give off a great toasted flavour.

Serves 2

Melt 30g of the butter with about 2 tablespoons rapeseed oil in a frying pan over a low heat. Add the shallots and fry, stirring occasionally, for at least 5 minutes until
softened, but not coloured. Add the girolle mushrooms and continue stirring for a further 1–2 minutes until they are just tender. Add a splash of Cabernet Sauvignon vinegar and a pinch of
salt. Remove the pan from the heat and leave the mushrooms to one side to cool.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 and line a roasting tray with a piece of kitchen foil large enough to wrap around the fillets and mushrooms. Place the cooked
mushrooms in the middle of the foil and put the turbot fillets on top. Season with sea salt flakes, then dot the remaining butter on top of the fish. Bring the edges of the foil up to seal the fish
in a bag-like ball. This doesn’t need to look neat!

Place the tray into the oven and roast the fish for 10–12 minutes until the fillets are firm to the touch when you open the foil bag.

Whilst the fish is cooking, heat 1 tablespoon rapeseed oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Place the cucumber, seed side down, into the pan and place another pan or light
weight on top. Cook the cucumbers until they are browned on the seed side. They will taste a little like cucumber popcorn!

When the cucumbers are browned, turn them over and throw the radishes into the pan. Drizzle over a little more rapeseed oil and toss them all around in the pan for 1–2
minutes until just tender. Season with sea salt flakes.

Remove the turbot from the oven and open the foil bag. Divide the mushrooms between 2 plates and put a fillet on top of each, but pour the juices into a bowl and season with
Cabernet Sauvignon vinegar and salt and pepper. Garnish the plates with the radishes and cucumber and spoon over some of the cooking sauce and serve immediately.

Turbot, toasted cucumber, mushrooms and radishes

I love this dish. Both the main ingredients are underused and offer great value for money. This is what I call clean and tidy food – it’s simple and lets the produce
speak for itself. Grey mullet is like a poor man’s sea bass and should be treated the same way for fantastic results. Swiss chard has a fresh sour taste – a little like a cross between
spinach and sorrel – that provides a good balance to the rich sauce.

Serves 2

Mix the shallots, white wine vinegar and wine together in a saucepan over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Continue boiling until the liquid reduces down to a glaze. Add the
cream and return the liquid to the boil. Add the rosemary sprigs and continue boiling until the liquid is reduced by about one-third.

Turn the heat to very low and slowly whisk in 100g diced butter, whisking constantly until it emulsifies into a sauce. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Remove the
rosemary sprigs and leave the sauce to one side, covered with clingfilm to keep it warm.

Trim the Swiss chard by removing the leaves from the stalks. Thinly shred the leaves, then peel and trim the stalks into pieces 10 x 3cm. Set both aside until needed.

Combine the water, remaining 100g butter, the freshly squeezed lemon juice and the ½ teaspoon salt in a deep frying pan over a high heat, stirring to melt the butter.
Bring to the boil, then add the Swiss chard leaves and stalks, reduce the heat to low and leave to simmer, uncovered, while you cook the fish.

Heat the rapeseed oil in a non-stick frying pan over a low heat. Dust the skin side of the grey mullet fillets with flour, shaking off the excess, then gently place in the pan,
skin side down, and cook slowly until almost cooked through, but the top side still looks raw. If the pan is over a low heat the fish will cook perfectly.

Add the chard leaves and stalks and continue cooking for 30 seconds – 1 minute until they are tender. Season.

Gently flip the fish over and add a knob of butter and a squeeze of lemon juice to the pan. This will steam the fish to finish the cooking and give a lovely flavour and
colour.

To serve, divide the butter sauce between 2 plates and add the chard leaves and stalks. Top each portion with a grey mullet fillet and serve immediately.

Grey mullet, Swiss chard and butter sauce

Fish is normally associated with white wine, but poaching it in red wine gives it a fantastic taste. Here, I treat these tender fillets more like a piece of meat, serving them
with substantial and robust vegetables. You must be careful when cooking plaice, as it can go a bit like cotton wool and become dry if you overcook it.

Serves 2

A day ahead, preheat the oven to 110°C/Gas Mark ¼. Place the Spanish onions in a roasting tray, give them a little drizzle of rapeseed oil and add a sprinkling of
thyme leaves. Place the tray into the oven and roast the onions for 8 hours.