A Very Seasonal Affair: Pan-fried Brill with Mussels and Asparagus

The sun was shining, it was an utterly beautiful day. I had an urge to cook something as fresh and in season as possible! So in my lunch hour I wandered down to Sea Haze - the fishmonger on the beach, who sources its produce from local day boats - and picked up some gorgeous brill and a couple dozen mussels (presumably the last of the season!). As I hadn't decided what to cook at this point I left the brill whole and ended up filleted it myself when I got home - I was very proud of myself!!

On the way home I stopped at the greengrocers and got a bunch of British asparagus, vine ripened Jersey Vittoria tomatoes, Jersey Royal potatoes and British watercress.

All the flavours were amazingly vivid - the tomatoes especially were the most gorgeous ones I've tasted since last year!!! They smelled like real tomatoes should - like the ones my dad used to grow in the greenhouse when I was growing up.

Pan-fried Brill with Mussels and Asparagus

Serves 2

• 4 brill fillets (i.e. one fish)
• A couple of vines of cherry tomatoes
• Bunch of asparagus
• Boiled Jersey Royal potatoes to serve
• 12 mussels
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp butter
• olive oil to fry
• 300ml vegetable bouillon
• 1 glass of white wine
• 1 large handful water cress, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 200c.

Prepare the mussels...
Clean the mussels by pulling out the beards and scrubbing the shells under cold water. Discard any that stay closed after a sharp tap on the counter (they're dead!)

Heat the wine in a saucepan, when it is bubbling, throw in the cleaned mussels, cover the pan and steam for 3/4 minutes - shaking the pan after a minute or so.

Remove the mussels with a slotted spoon and reserve the wine. When the mussels are cool enough remove them from the shells and set aside.

Make the sauce...
Heat the olive oil and butter over a low-medium heat in a saucepan. Add the shallot and garlic and cook until soft, be careful not to let it colour.

Sprinkle over the flour and cook out for a couple of minutes - keep it moving so the flour doesn't burn. Gradually add the stock, stirring constantly - it should thicken up nicely. Add the mustard, wine, and the water cress, mix and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the mussels and set aside.

Prepare the veg...
Snap and peel the asparagus as appropriate to its age and thickness. Arrange on an oven tray. Put the vine tomatoes alongside.

Drizzle with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper and put into the oven for 10-12 minutes.

Cook the brill...
Mix some white pepper and salt with some flour, and dredge the fillets in it. Make sure you pat off as much flour as possible.

Heat some olive oil on a medium heat, and place the fillet in skin side down. Cook for 3/4 minutes. Turn the fish over, cook for a further minute on the other side, then turn off the heat. Allow to sit in the pan for 2/3 minutes more to finish cooking.

Serve...
Place the fillets on top of the asparagus and spoon over plenty of the sauce. Put the tomatoes on the side and serve the potatoes along side.

Italian Cookery Course: Soup Aux Moules

Blimey... I just realised it's been almost a week since my last post! I've got a wee bit of catching up to do - what a busy week! Though not in the kitchen - the last two nights we've had takeaway... tsk tsk tsk...

Anyway, here is one of the recipes from my Italian cookery class last week by Francis Adou - a gorgeous, rich, creamy mussel soup. I seldom eat cream, and as such this was maybe a little bit too rich for me - I think next time I will serve it in half size portions.

Because there will be a next time - it was seriously good!

It was the first time I've cooked with mussels - I was always a little bit scared on them. The first time I ever ate mussels I got terrible food poisoning. (I even went blind for a couple of hours - took me a long time to even look at shellfish again...) I think that put me off cooking any shellfish - I didn't want to be responsible for causing anyone else that kind of sickness! Anyway, under the watchful eye of Francis, I cleaned and de-bearded, and discarded the dead ones - and I'm now confident I can go it alone!

Soup Aux Moules

Excuse the sloppy bowl and dark picture - I was at Boyfriend's house, and starving! My belly became more important than the photo ;)

Serves 2 large bowls - or 4 small :)

• 3 large shallots, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 20 g flour
• 250 ml fish stock
• Generous pinch of saffron
• 100 ml double cream
• Sea salt
• 250ml white wine
• 500g mussels
• ½ bunch of flat parsley
• olive oil to fry
  

Sort and clean the mussels - pull out the stringy beard, discard any that are cracked, or any that are open and don't close up when gently tapped!

Heat the oil and fry the shallots gently for 4 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for a further couple of minutes until the shallots are soft but not coloured.

Sprinkle in the flour and stir well to absorb all the oil. Slowly add the stock, mixing to make a smooth broth. At this point it felt like I was making a risotto - which I now have a craving to do! Could be a plan for tonight - I'm having the girls round!

Add the saffron, cream and seasoning, then simmer for 15 minutes. Make sure

Meanwhile, in a different pan, heat the wine over a medium heat. Add all the mussels, then cover and cook for 4/5 minutes until they are all open. (Any that are not open after 6 minutes should be discarded.)

Strain the liquid, allow to cool slightly, and add it to the soup. Allow the mussels to cool, then remove the meat from the shells and add to the soup.

Reheat gently (don't let it boil!), add the parsley, and serve.