Fish fresh from Mersey could be the new Scouse

May 7 2008 by Mike Chapple, Liverpool Daily Post

Chef Paul Askew (158)

The six shortlisted dishes for a new dish for Liverpool are:

Fruites Dee Mersey Ingredients (Royal Court)

Roast fillet of line caught wild seabass caught off Formby Point;
Formby asparagus spears;
Ribbons of seasonal vegetables;
Parkgate shrimp butter.

Serves 4
4  5/6oz fillets of Sea bass, skin on, scaled and bones removed
6oz Parkgate shrimps
20 stems of Formby asparagus
2 new season carrots
2 new season courgettes
2oz samphire well washed
Olive oil for shallow frying
4oz butter
Picked chervil for garnish

Shrimp butter
2oz butter
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of mace
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Shrimp foam
6 fl oz semi skimmed milk
2 fl oz shrimp stock

Shrimp stock
8 oz shrimp shells or prawn shells if not available
Stick celery chopped
½ onion sliced
1 carrot sliced
White of a leek chopped
tspn tomato puree
Glass dry white wine
1 pint fish stock

Method
1 Wash the carrots and peel, wash the courgettes and then slice on a mandolin about a 1/8 inch thick. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook separately until tender, about 2/3 minutes, drain and refresh in iced water, and drain again. Set aside
2 Trim the ends of the asparagus at an angle and peel away any woody bits. Plunge into boiling salted water and cook for 2 minutes, drain and refresh in iced water, drain again. Set aside
3 Pick the roots off the samphire and blanch the stems in boiling water for 1 minute, drain and refresh in iced water, drain again. Set aside
4 For the shrimp butter gently melt the butter with all the ingredients except the shrimps and salt and pepper, allow to infuse and keep warm.
5 To make the shrimp stock, sauté the shells in a little olive oil, add the vegetables and cook for about 5 minutes, add the tomato puree, white wine and cook down by half. Add the fish stock simmer for 20 minutes, skimming off any residue, strain and reduce by boiling rapidly to a quarter, add the milk and season. Leave to infuse.
6 Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, just big enough to reheat the vegetables in, with 2 oz of the butter, set aside.
7 Drop the shrimps into the butter and season with salt and pepper to taste, gently reheat.
8 To make the foam, use a hand blender on high speed until you get a cappuccino like consistency, leave to one side.
9 In a non-stick pan heat the olive oil, season the sea bass and fry gently skin side down for 2 minutes or until the skin crisps up. Drop the remaining 2 oz of butter into the pan which will melt and foam straight away, turn the fish over and cook for 1 minute, remove from the heat and let the fish carry on cooking in the pan.
10 Drop the carrots, courgettes and samphire into the pan of water to heat through, drain and arrange in the middle of 4 warm plates, place each piece of sea bass on top of the vegetables, heat the asparagus through and arrange 5 spears per plate around the fish, spoon the shrimp butter around the plate and spoon the foam over the fish, garnish with sprigs of chervil and serve.
 
Saul’s Mutton Backstrap (Delfonseca)

Cumbrian Herdwick Mutton Backstrap (loin fillet) hung for 28 days produced by Farmer Sharp
Cheshire Dry Cider – Eddisbury Fruit Farm, Kelsell
Delamere Farmhouse Goats Cheese – Delamere Dairy, Cheshire 
Smoked Streaky –  Cheshire Smokehouse, Wilmslow
Root vegetables from  Lancashire
(when in season Cox’s Apples – Eddisbury Fruit Farm)

A Snapshot of the Pool (London Carriageworks)
200g natural smoked haddock (skinned and boned and trimmed)
150g pearl barley (blanched)
50g baby leaf spinach
50g of fresh peas
50g Kirkham’s mature Lancashire grated
One pot of James Peet’s potted shrimp
1 large banana shallot, peeled and diced
Sunflower oil – splash
Butter to taste
Freshly grated nutmeg
One lemon
6 cherry tomatoes
6 sticks of asparagus
Fish stock, half pint
Two tbl crème fraiche
Bunch of chives
Pea shoots and watercress, half of bunch of each for salad garnish
Cider vinegar and olive oil to dress leaves
Maldon seasalt
Cracked black pepper
Sprig of fresh thyme

Seabass Duglere 2008 (The Olive Press)
Line Caught Seabass (sous vide),
Scarisbrick wild mushroom cannelloni,
Southport tomato fondue,
salt and vinegar butter sauce

A Fish Medley Across The Mersey (Sheldrakes)
Pan seared River Dee Bass with mace Parkgate potted shrimp,
Cheshire potatos,
hot smoked trout pate,
watercess and asparagus salad with horse radish dressing.

Uday’s Patrini Machichi (seabass) with Tandoori Chaat  (Mayur Restaurant)

One whole seabass,
One banana leaf,
Malt vinegar,
Garlic paste,
Fresh coriander,
Coconut powder
Cumin seeds