Jane Grigson's Fish Book - Jane Grigson [82]
Serves 6
6–12 slices of hake, according to size
salt, lemon juice, plain flour
olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, halved
125 ml (4 fl oz) light stock or water
6 tablespoons dry white wine
½ dried ñora or other sweet pepper
plenty of chopped parsley (see recipe)
Season the hake with salt and lemon juice and leave for at least an hour. Before cooking, drain, dry and turn in flour.
In a large earthenware pot, heat enough olive oil to cover the base comfortably and cook the garlic until it is golden brown. Remove it and put in the hake, adding the stock or water, the wine, pepper and about 3 tablespoons of chopped parsley. If you like, you can crush the garlic to a paste and add it to the pot, otherwise discard it.
As the fish cooks – turn it once – shake the pot so that a sauce forms, pushing it to and fro so that it never loses contact with the heat but the liquid keeps moving.
Just before serving, add extra parsley to refresh the colour and put asparagus or peas round the dish, with potatoes.
HAKE ON THE PLATE (Merluza al plato)
This is a Spanish way of cooking hake that is simple, quick and most delicious to eat. Indeed, it is a recipe that I came back to again and again, especially with fish of the cod family though it also works well with flounders and steaks of turbot and brill. The balance of crispness, smoothness, richness and the savoury hints of garlic and lemon seem to me exactly right.
Serves 6
6–12 slices of hake, according to size
salt, lemon juice
olive oil
3 slices of bread, wholemeal, wheatmeal or white
leaves of 1 small bunch of parsley
3 large cloves garlic, quartered
mayonnaise made with light olive oil and lemon juice*
Salt the hake, allowing a ¼ teaspoon for the large steaks, less for the smaller ones. Sprinkle with a little lemon juice. Leave for an hour or longer.
Preheat the oven to gas 7, 220°C (425°F).
Choose a baking dish that will accommodate the fish in a single layer, fairly closely but not jammed together. Brush it out generously with oil. Cut the hardest crusts from the bread. Reduce parsley and garlic to a crumble in the processor, adding the bread gradually.
To cook, turn the steaks in the olive oil in the dish and range them tidily. Put the crumble mixture on top and drip a little oil over each one. Bake for about 15 minutes. Test the thickest slice and be prepared to allow a little longer if it is still pink. Quite often it is enough to shut the oven door, turn off the heat and leave for 5 minutes.
Serve with the mayonnaise or with two sauces as in the next recipe, and, if it is the season, small new potatoes.
HAKE WITH TWO SAUCES (Merluza con mahonesa y salsa de pimientos)
A variation of the salsa verde dish, but here the hake is cooked in one piece. I have adapted the recipe from one given in Spanish Cooking by Maite Manjón and Catherine O’Brien. It is a dish for high summer, when the asparagus accompaniment to hake is no longer possible.
Serves 6
1½ kg (3 lb) piece of hake on the bone, cleaned
salt
olive oil
125 g (4 oz) chopped onion
175 ml (6 fl oz) dry white wine
leaves of 1 medium-sized bunch of parsley
1 clove garlic, crushed, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped shallot
3 large red peppers, quartered, seeded, grilled, skinned
375 ml (12 fl oz) mayonnaise made with light olive oil and lemon juice*
cayenne pepper
Rub the hake over with a little salt and leave for an hour. Choose a dish that will accommodate it nicely. Switch on the oven to gas 7, 220°C (425°F).
Put a thin layer of oil into the dish. Scatter the onion over it, pour on white wine and sprinkle with a light chopping of parsley leaves and the garlic. Put the fish on top and brush it over with oil. Bake until cooked, about 25 minutes, but start testing after 20.
Meanwhile, make the pepper sauce by simmering the shallot in a little oil under tender. Do not colour it. Strain in the juices from the fish when it is cooked (discard the onion etc. in