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Ocean Parcels with Green Peppercorn Sauce
Recipe by Harry Butterfield
Re-create this deliciously succulent dish from the ocean with a peppercorn sauce
- Steps
- Ingredients
Steps
- Pre-heat oven to 200°C.
- For the Rough Puff, place flour and salt in a large bowl and mix to combine. Add butter to the dry mix and crumble with fingers until you have a mixture of both chunks and rice grain size pieces.
- Add water and roughly combine. Do not over mix at this stage, to prevent the butter and flour from completely incorporating. The butter pockets are what allows the pastry to have the desired puffy texture. Pull the pastry together and flatten into a disc. Wrap in cling wrap and chill in the freezer for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the freezer. Prepare a floured bench and roll out the pastry using small and controlled strokes to form a rectangular shape. Complete a letter fold into thirds and then turn counter-clockwise. Repeat 6 times. When pastry is prepared, wrap in cling wrap and place back into the freezer for a further 20 minutes for final assembly.
- For the Sauce, add butter and oil to a frypan over a medium heat. Once the butter bubbles, add the green peppercorns and sauté, being careful not to burn. Once the peppercorns are fragrant and softened slightly, add fish stock, white wine and vinegar. Continue to simmer until reduced by half.
- When reduced and thickened slightly, add the cream, and continue to reduce further on a low heat. Continue stirring occasionally whilst preparing other elements, to ensure that the sauce doesn't split or burn.
- For the Filling, add prawn and scallop meat to a small food processor with egg white, reserving yolk for egg wash. Blend until you have a paste and season to taste. Transfer the mousse to a piping bag and keep in the fridge until ready to use.
- To assemble, remove prepared pastry from the freezer and roll out to a rectangle that is 40cm x 30cm and 2-3mm thickness. Cut into strips that are the 40cm long and the width of each piece of fish.
- Place a piece of fish 2cm from the end of each strip of pastry. Top with fennel fronds and a small sliver of butter. Pipe the mousse on top, roughly 1cm depth, ensuring even coverage.
- Fold the pastry over the top of the fish and seal the ends with a fork. If necessary, trim the side edges. Score a diagonal lattice pattern on the top of the pastry and brush with whisked egg yolk.
- Cook for 15-20 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and fish is cooked through. Test with a skewer - a perfectly cooked fish should show no resistance when inserting the skewer.
- When ready to serve, add freshly chopped basil to the sauce and season to taste. Pour into a serving jug. Place fish on the plate and garnish with society garlic flowers or micro-herb garnish of choice.
