Welsh Turbot, Laver puree and Potato wrapped Langoustine

Welsh Turbot, Laver puree and Potato wrapped Langoustine

My dish is based upon seasonal produce for January from around Britain, with the key ingredient being the little known Laver, also known as the ‘Welsh man’s Caviar’. This is a type of seaweed found on the rocks around the coastal areas of Britain, traditionally served for breakfast in Wales. Here it is accompanied by a welsh turbot fillet, as homage to it’s origins, seasonal English leeks and carrots, Irish Dublin Bay prawns and Scottish cockles, making it a dish from all corners of Britain. Paying homage to the strong British fishing industry, using all sustainable, seasonal produce.

For the Turbot:

2 x 150g fillet of welsh turbot, skin attached, bones removed

2tbsp olive oil

15g unsalted butter

For the Laver puree:

15g dried laver seaweed

15g butter

1tsp brown sugar

For the Deep fried cockles:

250g cockles

50g well seasoned flour

500ml corn oil

For the white wine sauce:

1kg/2¼lb fish bones and skin

1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

1 onion, peeled and quartered

1 stalk celery, roughly chopped

6 black peppercorns

1 dried bay leaf

3 fresh parsley stalks

20g butter

4 shallots, finely chopped

1/4 fennel bulb, finely chopped

125ml white wine

125ml dry vermouth

2 cloves garlic, halved

250ml double cream

1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

For the potato wrapped Dublin Bay Prawns or Langoustines:

2 langoustines/ Dublin Bay Prawns

300g floury potato, peeled

50g plain flour, mixed with a pinch of salt

80ml sesame oil

1tbsp unsalted butter

For the Garnish:

6 spears baby leeks

6 baby carrots

45g unsalted butter

Parsley to garnish

For the Laver puree: Cover the laver with salted water and bring to the boil. Cook for 5-7mins, until the laver begins to break down. Drain and transfer to a blender. Blend until smooth. Add the butter and sugar and blend again. For the White Wine Sauce: Put the fish bones, carrot, celery, peppercorns, bay leaf and parsley into a large pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and skim off any scum that has formed. Cover and simmer very gently for 20-30 minutes. Strain into a large bowl and allow to cool. Reserve for later. Meanwhile gently sweat the fennel and shallots in the butter and a pinch of salt until soft. Add the wine, vermouth and garlic and reduce by half. Add 250ml of the reserved fish stock and reduce again by half. Pour in the cream and boil to a thicker sauce-consistency. Strain to remove the shallots, garlic and fennel. Stir through the mustard and season to taste. For the Cockles: Wash the cockles carefully under cold water to remove any excess sand, leave to soak for 10minutes then rinse again, draining out as much excess water as possible.  Lightly dust the cockles with the well-seasoned flour, shaking off any excess. Heat the oil to 190oC and immerse the cockles for about 1minute until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain. For the Langoustines: Clean the langoustine leaving the tails attached. Shred the potato thinly, Julienne style. Roll the prawns in a little flour to help the potato stick. Tightly wrap the langoustines in the potato threads until completely covered with the tail sticking out. Heat the oil in a pan to 190 oC and add butter. Fry the prawns until the potato is golden brown, remove and drain excess oil. For the Turbot: Heat the oil in a pan and then fry the fish for 3–4 minutes on skin side down, so skin is crispy before carefully flipping to cook for a further 3-4 minutes on the other side, basting throughout. Then adding the butter to finish off. Sprinkle with sea salt. For the Garnish: Heat 20g butter in a pan, add the carrots and 100ml water, cover and cook gently for 5mins. Uncover and cook for a further 3-5mins stirring occasionally until cooked through, season. Meanwhile heat 25g butter in a pan, add the leeks and cook over a medium heat for 5mins, ensuring they still retain their shape, season. Place 3 baby leeks and 3 carrots in a line along the centre of each plate. Spoon small circles of the laverbread puree around the vegetables. Scatter the deep fried cockles over and either side of the veg. Place the pan-fried turbot fillet on top of the carrots and leeks and lean the potato wrapped langoustine against the fish. Spoon over the white wine sauce and garnish with parsley sprigs.