Dover Sole With Shredded Buttered Cabbage And Roasted Potatoes

A nice little seasonal fish dish, with a white wine, lemon, butter, caper sauce.

Recipe for two:
4 small dover sole fillets
2 shallots finely chopped
2 cups cabbage finely shredded
4 small potatoes peeled
4 T duck or goose fat
1 T capers
2 T butter
3 T olive oil
1 cup white wine
Juice of one lemon
Flour for fish

First thing to do here is to get your oven nice and hot, set at 350*  Peel the potatoes and cut in half, now boil them in salted water until they start to get soft in the middle when a knife is inserted.  Then drain and place them in a roasting pan with the duck or goose fat, and place in the oven.

Now get a saute pan nice and hot over medium heat with the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter.  When the butter has melted add shallots and shake the pan to coat the shallots.  When they start to change color and get soft, lower the heat to low and add the cabbage and stir or mix with the shallots, season with salt and pepper.

In another pan place the rest of the olive oil and heat the pan over medium high heat.  While the oil is getting hot, season the fish with salt and pepper and dust with flour.  Making sure the oil is really hot, add the fish while moving the pan back and fourth to avoid the fish from sticking.  When the fillets are brown, turn and cook a little more, then finish in the oven.

Now make the sauce.  Using the same pan you cooked the fish in, scrape out any bits and wipe out any oil.  Over high heat, add the wine and lemon juice, and reduce the volume of liquid until you have about 2 tablespoons.  Then add the capers and turn off the heat, now add the butter and shake the pan back and fourth until you have a nice shine on the sauce.

Using warm plates plate your potatoes on the side, and the cabbage in the middle, then place the fillets on top of the cabbage and then add the sauce.

Bon Appetit!

Oven Toasts with Salmon Gravlax, Creme Fraiche, Capers and Red Onion

This is a Bristol little treat for the holidays, when you're having guests over for a glass of cheer!

Oven toasted slices of a rye baguette, if you can get it, otherwise use sourdough or farm house white, at 325* for 20 minutes, turning after 10 minutes.  Be sure to brush with a good amount of olive oil.
When they're ready, apply a little creme fraiche and capers.  Then lay some thinly sliced gravlax on, and garnish with thinly sliced red onion.  Now drizzle a little hot sweet mustard all over, and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Yum!

Bon Appetit!

Rock Cod with a White Wine Butter Caper Sauce

Don't be afraid of cooking fish -- the secret is having a good, heavy, shallow pan, and having the oil or butter hot!


Recipe for two:
Two 1/3 pound pieces of fresh rock cod, skin removed
A good pinch or two of salt and pepper
1/2 cup all purpose flour
About two tablespoons olive oil for cooking

Sauce:
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup vegetable, chicken or fish stock
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and dried
1 tablespoon butter

With fish already cut, cleaned, floured and seasoned, get your pan and oil nice and hot. Then add the fish, presentation (nice) side down, and shake it back and forth to keep it from sticking. Once it's seared the chances of it sticking are slight.

When it's cooked half way though, turn the fish with a good, wide, steel spatula and cook until it's almost done, then remove from pan, place on an oven plate, and finish in the oven.

Now wipe and/or scrape out your pan so it's free from bits of cooked fish, return pan to high heat. When pan is hot, add wine and cook until liquid is reduced by half, then add the stock and repeat the same steps. When you're happy with the amount of liquid, turn the heat off and add capers and butter, once again shaking the pan back and forth until the sauce has a nice shine. Do not add any heat otherwise the sauce will break.

Bon Appetit!