This recipe incorporates the delightfully wild and foraged ingredients from December's Forage box, including fresh three-cornered leek and fresh sea radish. Both these elements complement the fillets of wild coley which are covered in breadcrumbs and fried in butter. The mild bitter flavour of the leeks combined with juicy capers, gherkins and lemon juice make for a sumptuous tartare sauce which is perfect for dipping.
Forage Box aim to provide home cooks like me with 'snapshots’ of what wild flavours there are out there and to showcase their potential. From syrups to salts, freshly picked to powdered, juice to jam, their foraged ingredients will delight and surprise you. Find out more information on the subscription and how to sign up here.
INGREDIENTS (Serves 2)
2 tbsp olive oil
50-60g three cornered-leeks
150ml mayonnaise
1 tbsp capers, drained and chopped roughly
1 tbsp gherkins, drained and chopped roughly
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
oven chips (to serve 2)
x2 (about 260g) coley or cod fillets
1 egg, whisked
50g breadcrumbs
1 tsp paprika
2 knobs of butter
2-3 stems of sea radish, leaves plucked and washed
fresh chives, roughly chopped (optional garnish)
METHOD
Heat the oven to 200c.
Start preparing the tartare sauce by adding the 2 tbsp of olive oil and three-cornered leeks to a blender and blend until the leeks are broken down into smaller pieces (they'll look live chopped chives). Next, fold in the capers, gherkins, shallot and crushed garlic. Mix well, season and chill the tartare sauce in the fridge whilst you move onto preparing the fish (this will only enhance the flavour).
Dry the coley/cod fillets and season with salt and pepper. Season the breadcrumbs and add the 1 tsp of paprika. Using a pastry brush coat each fillet generously with the egg, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and press down firmly so they stick.
Lay out your oven chips on a baking tray and cook in the oven according to the packet instructions.
Meanwhile, heat a frying pan on a high heat and add the first knob of butter, once bubbling add the fish fillets and cook for about 3 minutes on each side until golden.
Remove the fish from the pan and place on a second baking tray, place in the oven for 5 minutes until it's cooked all the way through and beautifully flaky. Remove ready for serving and sprinkle with fresh chives.
In a separate frying pan, add the second knob of butter and once bubbling sauté the fresh radish leaves for a 2 minutes.
Remove the chips from the oven, sprinkle with salt. Serve alongside the breaded fish, sautéed sea radish and homemade tartare sauce.
