Richie Wilson's Got Sole!
Thursday, 7 February 2008
As we ramble on into February, more and more food produce is coming into season. Richie is taking two of his favourites for this time of year and transforming them into lip-smacking dish, bursting with flavour.
Richie Wilson
In November 2006, the Morrison appointed Richie Wilson as Executive Head Chef in its newly restyled Halo restaurant.
Richie has a wealth of experience and has worked in a number of Ireland's top restaurants and hotels. These include the Tannery Restaurant, the Michelin Star Thorntons Restaurant, The Westin Hotel and most recently Richie was responsible for opening the food operations at the new Hilton Hotel.
Richie serves up a fusion of modern European cuisine using Irish produce wherever possible. He ensures that all produce used is of the highest quality and he believes that the secret to good food is having an excellent relationship with your supplier and that the chefs cooking it should be enjoying it too, "If the chef is smiling while he's cooking, the plate will smile too".
Honey & Pistachio Glazed Teal With Parsnip Puree & Slow Gin Sauce
2 Portions
Ingredients
Teal
. 2 Teal (whole or breast)
. 50g Honey
. 50g Pistachio
Pomme Maxime
. 4Potatoes
. 100g Clarified Butter
. Salt + Pepper
Gin Sauce
. 500ml Stock
. 100ml Red Wine
. 50ml Gin
. 50g Unsalted Butter
. 1Shallot
. 1 sprig Thyme
Parsnip Puree
. 4Parsnip
. 100ml Double Cream
. 100ml Water/Veg Stock
. Salt + Pepper
Method
Gin Sauce
Making your own stock is the best way to go but it is very time consuming, so to make this a little easier it is possible to buy liquid stocks in the supermarket.
If you are using this stock be careful not to add salt and to follow this recipe you should first follow the instructions on the pack to make the stock and then follow the recipe above.
"Sweat" shallots and thyme in a hot pot and add the wine to reduce until there is virtually none in the pot, this is important to avoid a pinkish color in the sauce.
Add the gin immediately followed by the stock.
Reduce this until the bubbles begin to look thick.
Reduce the heat to a light simmer and add the butter in small dices a little at a time stirring continuously "Monter au Beurre".
Pomme Maxime
Peel and slice the potatoes into thin coin shaped discs.
Season them all in a bowl and coat the in clarified butter; this is butter from which the fat solids have been removed simply by heating and passing through muslin cloth. Arrange the disc around each other on a non stick ensuring they lay half way across each other to ensure they stay in the shape you make.
Place the pan on a gentle heat until the potatoes turn golden on each side.
Parsnip Puree
Peel and evenly chop the parsnips to allow even cooking.
Combine the stock and water in a pot along with the parsnip, seasoning and thyme. Simmer for 20 - 30 minutes, until the liquid reduces to a thick yellowish color and the parsnip are falling apart.
Add all the mix to a food blender and blend until smooth.
It's a good idea to "pass" this mix through a fine sieve. If it appears a little to runny now that's good, it gives you a little room for reheating when the liquid will further reduce, if not don't worry, you can always add a little more cream!!
Teal
As Teal are in season at the moment it should be relatively easy to find them fresh and whole. If you cannot find them whole you should have no problem finding the pre prepared breasts, which make a fine substitute.
To prepare the whole Teal you will need to remove the legs followed by the breast, ordinarily we would use the bones for stock but if your only serving 3 or 4 it's not going to be worth it so you can bin the carcass.
The Teal breast cooks very quickly so should be done at the moment of serving, " A La Minute".
Season the breast and place them skin side down on a hot pan but not smoking! Brown on each side for about 1 minute each and add the honey turning up the heat so as to quickly caramelize and add the pistachios to finish turning the breast to be sure and cover them in the glaze.
Allow to rest for a moment before slicing for presentation.
Presentation
To present the dish spoon some puree on to the plate and use the back of the spoon to smear it across the plate, a very " now" way of platting dishes " Random" is the key word. Place the pomme maxime to one side and place the sliced breast on top. Spoon the sauce over the top and drizzle around.
Pan Fried Fillets of Sole With Pied Bleu Mushrooms & Muscat Vinaigrette
2 Portion
Ingredients
Sole
. 4 Large Fillets of Sole, Lemon or Black
. 1Squeeze of Lemon Juice
. 50ml Olive Oil
. 10g Clarified Butter
. Seasoning
Pied Bleu Mushrooms
. 100g Pied Bleu Mushrooms
. 10g Clarified Butter
. 50ml Olive Oil
. Finely Chopped Shallot
. Finely Chopped Chives
. Seasoning
Muscat Vinagrette
. 200ml Muscat Wine, or Sweet Wine
. 100ml Olive Oil
. 100ml Chicken Stock
. 100g Blond Raisins
. 50g Unsalted Butter
. 1Finely chopped Shallot
. 1Finely chopped Chives
. Seasoning
Potato Foam
. 100g Dry Mashed Potato
. 100ml Milk
. 1Dash Truffle Oil
. Seasoning
Method
Muscat Vinaigrette
Soak the blond raisins and half the Muscat wine over night.
In a pot sweat the shallots in a little oil.
Add the remainder of the Muscat wine and reduce by half.
Add the chicken stock and reduce by half again.
Add the raisins and olive oil, this should split the sauce making a vinaigrette so don't worry if it appears to have separated, this is the desired affect.
Check the seasoning; it should be sharp but sweet.
Add a few chopped chives and it's ready for serving
Potato Foam
Use cold mashed potatoes for this but make sure there is nothing else added to it.
In a pot heat the milk and add the potato to make a soup consistency.
Add a little truffle oil and Season.
Pour this mix into a cream charger and add 2 gas cylinders for best results. If you don't have a cream charger adding a little whipped cream to the mix just before serving will give almost the same result.
Sole
Any one of the Sole family can be used in this dish.
Lemon Sole or Black/Dover Sole suit best.
Ask your fish monger to fillet the fish and skin it if possible. It's a good idea to trim the ends on each fillet so as to give even cooking through out the fish.
Simply season with a little salt and pepper and place in a hot oiled pan for 2 minutes on the first side.
Turn the fish over and add the butter and cook for a further 1 minute before squeezing a little lemon over the fish.
Remove from the pan immediately
Pied Bleu Mushrooms
These Mushrooms are very easy to prepare.
Simply trim the ends and quarter. In a hot pan pour a little olive oil and a knob of butter.
Add the mushroom and toss quickly in the pan.
Season well and add shallots. The mushroom will take 3 minutes cooking.
Add a few chopped chives and remove from pan.
Presentation
To present the dish spoon some mushroom around the plate and place the fish fillets on top. Drizzle with plenty of the vinaigrette. Pour the potato foam around randomly and garnish with a few pea shoots.
