The Willoughton Wanderer

"Eating my way through life one bite at a time!"

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Eating my way through life one bite at a time! My Willoughton Wanderer blog tells the story of my various visits to eateries, pubs and restaurants, both good and bad, on my travels together with the occasional recipe thrown in for good measure.

Pan-fried Hake, Samphire and Prawn Bisque

This is a beautiful meal that can be eaten at lunch or, with the addition of some whole prawns in the bisque, as a main meal.

Ingredients: Serves 2

8 large shell on king prawns

1 shallot, diced finely

600ml fish stock

180g salted butter, cubed

Two tablespoons olive oil

2 medium hake fillets, skin on

A handful of fresh samphire

Salt and pepper to season

Recipe:

You can make the prawn bisque in advance and warm it through just before serving.

In a medium sized saucepan heat a tablespoon of olive oil and 120g of the butter, then add the shallots. Sweat down for a few minutes and add the prawns, shell and all. Fry off the prawns until they are a nice orange colour. Add the fish stock and bring to a simmer. Hold the simmer for about 5 minutes then remove from the heat.

Using a stick blender blitz the prawns and shallots in the stock to a smooth consistency. This can be messy so use a food processor if preferred. Once done pass the bisque through a mesh sieve into a clean saucepan and, using the back of a spoon, press the pulp against the sieve to release as much of the liquid as possible. You should have a very fine and smooth bisque in the pan with no bits in it. Keep warm until ready to serve.

In a frying pan heat a tablespoon of olive oil and add the remaining butter. When hot pan fry the hake skin side down for about 3 minutes. You can see the flesh cooking up the side of the fillet. When the skin is nice and crispy flip the fillet over and cook for a further couple of minutes or until done. Do not over cook. When ready, remove from the pan and rest for a couple of minutes.

Meanwhile heat a pan of water and add the samphire. Samphire is naturally salty so don’t add any salt to the water. Simmer for a few minutes. Again, don’t overcook but keep the samphire al dente.

When ready to plate up carefully pour the prawn bisque onto a warmed plate and add the hake fillet. Place the samphire on top and drizzle some olive oil over the dish. Enjoy!

The bisque is too good to not finish so I mopped up the remainder with a home baked caraway seed roll!

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