Jane Grigson's Fish Book - Jane Grigson [88]
Put half of this paste over the base of the baking dish and arrange the halibut on top. Spread the rest of the paste over it. Pour on the rest of the butter.
Bake for about 20 minutes, or until cooked. Check after 15 minutes. Complete the browning under a preheated grill.
This is a good dish for lunchtime, early in the summer when broad beans come in or some of the first slightly bitter salads, endive and rocket (or arugula) for instance.
WRAPPED HALIBUT WITH CORIANDER
A light bitterness seems to me to go well with fish, particularly when there is a butter sauce to go with it. With some of us, coriander can become a passion, others hate it. There is no point in trying to overcome this hatred: I understand that to some people it tastes like soap which must indeed be vile. This is a chemical effect, and cannot be changed. For such people, I would suggest using dill or fennel instead of coriander.
Serves 4
4 halibut steaks, each about 150 g (5 oz)
salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice
4 tablespoons chopped shallot or onion
½ clove garlic, finely chopped
2–3 tablespoons butter
400 g (14 oz) piece of flaky or puff pastry
12 sprigs coriander, each about 10 cm (4 inches)
beaten egg or light cream to glaze
GARNISH
2 bitter gourds, each about 8 cm (3 inches) long
12-cm (5-inch) piece cucumber, peeled, sliced across
3 small-to-medium tomatoes, skinned
2–3 tablespoons butter
4 sprigs coriander
Season the fish with salt, pepper, cayenne and a few drops of lemon juice. Set aside.
Stew the shallot or onion and garlic in half the butter in a non-stick pan until it becomes yellow and tender. Scoop it into a bowl with a slotted spoon, and leave to cool. Add the rest of the butter to the juices in the pan and, over a higher temperature, colour the halibut lightly on both sides. Cool to barely lukewarm.
Switch on the oven to gas 8, 230 °C (450 °F).
Divide the pastry into four and roll out each piece until it is large enough to enclose a halibut steak. In the middle of each, spread an island of cooked shallot or onion, using half the quantity. Lay two sprigs of coriander across each island, and put the halibut on top. Spread the remaining shallot or onion over the fish and top with the remaining four coriander sprigs.
Using some of the egg or cream as glue, wrap the pastry round the halibut, fastening it firmly and cutting away lumpy surplus dough. Turn the four packages over on to a baking sheet, smooth side up. Brush over with egg or cream. Make a discreet decoration, if you like, with the dough trimmings, and brush them with egg or cream too. Make small central slits and bake for 15 minutes, or until the pastry is nicely browned and the fish inside tender.
Serve on warm, not very hot plates with the garnish.
TO PREPARE THE GARNISH Scrape the skin from the bitter gourds with a knife, to remove the majority of the bumpiness. Then slice them in quarters downwards and remove the seeds and pulp with a spoon. Boil them in salted water for 3 minutes, then drain. This reduces the bitterness to an agreeable level: taste a little bit if you are not used to bitter gourds, but also bear in mind that it is being eaten more as a flavouring than as a vegetable in this particular dish. Complete the cooking in a little butter with a scrap of garlic.
Push out the central seeds of the cucumber. Cook briefly in a little salted water, and drain.
Skin the tomatoes, quarter them into wedges and scoop out the centre part (use up in another dish). Cook the pieces in butter until they are tender and season them.
Trim the coriander sprigs.
† HERRING
Clupea harengus
I remember as a child listening to my father’s tales of going out with herring boats from South Shields or Tynemouth. He talked about the cold and the fierce seas, the sudden energy required and the cups of strong sweet tea that kept them going. When the nets were hauled in – great walls, I suppose,