NEIL'S RECIPES: GREY MULLET, HERITAGE POTATOES, RADISHES AND ASPARAGUS
This is a brilliantly easy dish. If grey mullet isn’t for you, or you can't find it, then sea trout will work a treat. I use Carroll’s heritage potatoes as they go to huge efforts to keep these wonderful old varieties of tatties alive. Choose their Pink Fir Apples or Sharpe’s Express and keep the skin on (just give them a wee scrub).
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
4 grey mullet fillets, skin on, pin-boned and scaled
8 or so heritage potatoes, gently scrubbed
1 handful of halved fresh radishes, I prefer the French Breakfast variety
8 to 12 spears of asparagus
50ml cold-pressed rapeseed oil
Lemon juice to taste
A knob of butter
Sea salt and black pepper
A few fresh herbs, curly parsley or chives
METHOD
Gently scrub the potatoes, leaving the skin on, then cook in salted water on a low simmer until just soft (about half an hour). Drain and allow them to cool slightly before slicing.
Next, remove the woody ends of the asparagus and drop into boiling salted water for 1 to 2 minutes, depending on their thickness. Refresh in cold water.
Gently heat half the oil in a frying pan on the hob. Fry the fish skin-side down for about 4 to 6 minutes until golden brown. Remove from pan and keep warm.
Add a knob of butter to the same frying pan and add the asparagus, potatoes and radishes. Season with salt, pepper, a little lemon juice and a few chopped herbs.
Divide this mix between 4 warmed plates, placing the fish on top. Add a final season of salt, a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of rapeseed oil to each dish and serve.