• About

Catherine Evans

~ Creative Artist and Food & Lifestyle Blogger

Catherine Evans

Tag Archives: Butter

Brill with lemon butter, samphire and foraged sea beet

03 Friday Jul 2020

Posted by catherineevans63 in Food and Drink

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Brill, Brill fish, Broadstairs, Butter, Cannons Fishmongers, Catherine Evans, Fish, Fishing, foraging, Fresh fish, Fruits de Mer, Fruits de Mer Broadstairs, Lemon, Pan fried brill, Ramsgate, Samphire, Sea beet, Thanet, Turbot, Wild spinach

undefined

There is nothing quite as wonderful as fish at its freshest; bright clear eyes, firm flesh with lovely shimmery scales, bright red gills covered with clear slime and a fresh odour, and belly walls intact. Fish is packed with essential vitamins and minerals and prepared and served simply, perhaps with a salad and some new potatoes, it makes a healthy, delicious and nutritious lunch or supper. Fresh fish is also very versatile – marinate it and serve it raw in sushi or ceviche, poach it, roast it, stuff the belly with herbs and grill or bake it, steam it, barbecue it, curry it, pan fry it, the possibilities are endless

In Ramsgate and Broadstairs, where I live, fresh fish from the fishmongers is high quality, competitively priced compared to the supermarkets with a good variety to choose from despite all the bureaucracy, fish quotas and declining fish stocks which have battered the British fishing industry over the decades; let’s not get on to the politics of that here just yet, suffice to say that UK fishing rights are currently taking centre stage in negotiations with the EU regarding any Brexit deal we might strike and the future of our fishermen’s livelihood, and that of the fish that swim in our seas, are being fought for tooth and nail.

I shop mostly at the two remaining local fishmongers, either Fruit de Mer of 10 The Broadway, Broadstairs who have 15 or 16 day boats, or Cannons stall on a Friday or Saturday at Ramsgate Harbour. At one time, fishmongers in Thanet were plentiful – in Ramsgate alone, there used to be 8 wet fish shops – but one by one they shut up shop as the once-buoyant industry became ever more unpredictable and constrained by red tape, fishing quotas and climate change and, more generally in the economic stakes, Thanet got left behind.

Owned by Jason Llewellyn, Fruits de Mer are the last remaining fishmongers in Broadstairs. Jason began working there at the age of 11 and when he was 17 he bought out the business. Fruits de Mer are renowned suppliers of high-quality fresh fish and shellfish in the south-east of England and are one of the finest in the country. They source sashimi-grade fresh fish and shellfish daily from the clear waters around the Thanet coastline. Their catch is sourced and landed in an ethical and sustainable way and arrives within hours at the shop where the high quality lobsters and crabs are prepared, cooked and dressed to order.

All their fishing boats are under 10 metres and each boat fishes either single-handedly or with only one extra crew member. Dedicated potting boats target the local shellfish, while the netting and lining boats target the array of fish including bass, turbot, brill, skate and gurnard, the focus always being on what species are in season.

Fruits de Mer supply some 200 fine dining establishments and public houses throughout Kent, as well as Michelin-starred restaurants, with the most amazing fish including line-caught bass, turbot, brill and Dover sole. They have also supplied Buckingham Palace and major international events, including The Monte Carlo Grand Prix, and various television programmes such as The Great British Menu. However, what isn’t reserved for the shop and its regular customers will often land on European tables every day.

Situated opposite the Clock Tower and often served by Michael Penn (who himself once owned a fish shop), Cannons Fishmongers and Seafood Stall on Ramsgate Harbour Parade are a family-owned business established in the late 1880s and are the only remaining fishmongers in Ramsgate. They sell quality fresh local fish and shellfish and offer pre-ordered shellfish platters for £30 comprising whole lobster, dressed crab, oysters, langoustines, crevettes and shell-on prawns, and are proud to supply many of the businesses in the area. Specialities on the stall include local lobsters and crabs, but the locally caught fish including sea bass, cod, skate and haddock I also highly recommend. Again, a fresh and sustainably-sourced catch is key and arrives on the stall within hours of being landed. Now in his mid-seventies, Michael has been a fishmonger for over 40 years and went to work at Cannon’s 14 years ago when his own shop closed. He once told me that he could not contemplate retirement as he would get bored and selling fish keeps him feeling young at heart.

Brill (scophthalmus rhombus)is a flat fish in the turbot family but without the fancy turbot prices and is often found in deeper waters in the English Channel. Similar in taste and appearance to turbot, brill has a distinctive light brown skin with white, black and grey speckles all over the body and beautiful creamy white flesh on the underside. It has a sweet taste and firm texture and is amazing either pan fried or grilled. Brill will feed on fish but mostly prawns, crustaceans and marine worms and can reach up to 3ft long and 20 lb in weight.

During the spring, fully-grown brill do venture into shallower water to spawn in sandy or muddy ground and may also live on shingle seabeds. They are not fussy eaters and will interchange between scavenging and hunting. They will search the seabed for any marine worms, invertebrates, lobsters, crabs, prawns and will also hunt any low-lying fish and sand eels. Because of their likeness to turbot, the two species are often confused, however turbot have a rounder body shape and rougher skin whereas brill are more elongated and are smoother. Often trawled, brill are a species on the IUCN list of Least Concern as the commercial pressure on this sea fish is not regarded as a cause for worry.

The best time to target brill is in the spring when it is in season, although boat anglers are able to catch the fish pretty often because of the deeper, offshore water they prefer, anything from 10 metres to 100 metres deep. Most shore anglers will only catch brill during the spring breeding season when they are in range at a distance over sandy or shingle sea beds. The best way to maximise the distance of casts is by using clipped down rigs with hooks 1/0 – 2/0 in size to enable larger specimens to be caught, but smaller brill are still able to fit the hook into their mouth, tempted by a bait of mackerel strip, peeler crab, squid and worm when the fish is present and feeding.

The brill I used for my recipe comprised two large fillets from Fruits de Mer in Broadstairs. which I bought and cooked in early May along with a good handful of samphire from the same place, plus a side of wilted sea beet (wild spinach) foraged from Pegwell Bay.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 2)

  • 2 large local fillets of brill, skin on
  • Handful of Samphire
  • Sea beet or spinach
  • Unsalted butter
  • Zest and juice of half a lemon
  • Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper

Rinse the fillets of brill in clean, cold running water and pat dry on kitchen paper. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and set aside.

Meanwhile pick the tough stalks off the foraged sea beet, or alternatively a regular bag of spinach, place in a colander and wash well under cold running water. Shake well and set aside.

Place the bunch of samphire in a colander and rinse well under cold running water. Shake well and set aside.

Place a skillet on a medium heat, add a generous knob of butter and a little olive oil to the pan. The olive oil will prevent the butter from burning. When the butter has melted and starts to sizzle, place the brill fillets in the skillet one by one, skin side down, holding each fillet by the tail and placing it gently in the pan away from you to avoid splashes and scalding. Cook the fillets for 2-3 minutes on each side, flipping over when the skin side down starts to look crispy and the flesh opaque. To check, gently ease a fish slice or palette knife underneath the fillet, turn the fillet over and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove the brill fillets from the skillet and place on absorbent kitchen paper or a j-cloth while you make the sauce.

Meanwhile place a saucepan or skillet over a medium heat and then add a drop of salted water. Once it starts to simmer, add the spinach leaves and wilt down for about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.

To make the sauce for the fish, add more butter to the skillet and toss in the samphire turning quickly and add the zest and juice of half a lemon and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss the samphire again and remove from the heat.

To plate up, remove the wilted spinach leaves from the pan and place some in the centre of each plate. Place a brill fillet on the spinach, skin side down, and then spoon the samphire and the lemon butter mixture over the top of the fish. Serve with buttered new potatoes or a generous spoon of creamy mashed potatoes.

NOTES – Brill is also delicious served with a lobster sauce or gremolata or baked whole with green pesto.

Buttered Asparagus with Poached Eggs and Wild Fennel

22 Monday Jun 2020

Posted by catherineevans63 in Food and Drink

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Anglo-Saxon, Asparagus, brunch, Butter, Eggs, foraging, history, Hollandaise Sauce, Kent, local history, madame de pompadour, Poached eggs, Ramsgate, Roman, Rose Farm Shop, Seasonal vegetables, Sevenscore Asparagus Farm, Spring Vegetables, Thanet, Wild Fennel

Asparagus is a tasty and versatile spring vegetable that can be prepared and served in a number of ways. Although it is now possible to source the vegetable in the supermarkets throughout the year, traditionally the asparagus season is a short one and in the United Kingdom is at its best during the month of May.

Asparagus is an herbaceous, perennial plant growing to a height of 100-150cm (39”-59”) with thick stems and multi-branched, feathery foliage.  The asparagus plants native to Western Europe – from northern Spain to northwest Germany, Northern Ireland and Great Britain, are labelled Asparagus officinalis subspecies prostratus dumort and distinguished by their low-growing, often horizontal stems which grow to only 30-70 cm (12 -28”) tall. Sometimes it is treated as a distinct species, Asparagus prostratus Dumort.

Asparagus has a distinct flavour and a long history. It has been used for centuries both as a vegetable and in medicine due to its diuretic properties and reputation as an aphrodisiac. It is depicted as an offering on an Ancient Egyptian frieze dating to 3000BC and was also well-known in Syria and in Spain. The Ancient Greeks and Romans ate it fresh when in season and would also dry it for culinary use in winter. High up in the Alps Roman Epicureans froze asparagus spears for the Feast of Epicurus while the Emperor Augustus created an “Asparagus Fleet” for carrying the vegetable and introduced the term “faster than cooking asparagus” for quick action.

One of the oldest-surviving recipes for asparagus dates back to the third century BC in ancient Rome. In the second century BC, the highly-respected Greek physician Galen noted asparagus as a beneficial herb but its popularity waned with the demise of the Roman Empire until the 15th century when the Arabic author Muhammed Al-Nafzawi wrote about it in his erotic literature “The Perfumed Garden”, discussing the aphrodisiacal power of asparagus; meanwhile, the Indian sex-handbook “Ananga Ranga” mentions the “special phosphorous elements” of asparagus that help to overcome fatigue.

In Medieval times, French monasteries started cultivating asparagus by 1469, though the vegetable was overlooked in England until 1538 and in Germany until 1532. The asparagus tips, or points d’amour, were served as a delicacy to Madame de Pompadour, otherwise known as Jeanne Antionette Poisson or the Marquise de Pompadour. This lady of renowned beauty and influential patron of the arts was the official mistress and confidante of King Louis XV of France and led a colourful life during her 41 years, eventually consumed by tuberculosis.

The European settlers brought asparagus to the shores of North America circa 1655 when Adriaen van der Donck, a Dutchman who immigrated to New Netherland, mentions the vegetable in his account of Dutch farming practices in the New World. British immigrants also cultivated asparagus and in 1685 in Pennsylvania, William Penn advertised asparagus in a long list of crops that flourished in the North American climate.

I currently live in East Kent in the south-east of England and Kent itself is known as “the garden county of England” due to its abundance of fruit- and vegetable-growing, hop-gardens and vineyards and rich agricultural pasture that flourish in the temperate climate. Some 28% of the county forms two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, being the North Downs and the High Weald, whilst reaching out as far as the coast.

Our local asparagus farm is Sevenscore, near Ramsgate on the Isle of Thanet. Thanet is an island at the most easterly point of Kent approximately 30 miles from France, and was once separated from the English mainland by the 600m-wide Wantsum Channel which over the centuries gradually became silted up. Archeological evidence reveals that Thanet was inhabited by ancient peoples, including Bronze and Iron Age, who spoke a Celtic language. One original meaning of Tanet, as it was once known, is said to be Fire or Bright Island (tân meaning fire in Modern Welsh and tan in Breton), which suggests that an ancient beacon or lighthouse may once have stood.

Another theory explains Tanet as a common European construct of Celtic origin, based on the Celtic word tanno meaning “holm oak” (perhaps an amalgamation of the Breton word tan meaning “sort of oak” and the Cornish glastannen meaning “holm oak”) with the Celtic suffix etu,  meaning a “collection of trees”. Thanet would thus mean “place of the holm oaks”, for example the Northern French Thenney, Italian Tenado, and so forth. The common names tan, tanner and tannery, would also have the same Celtic root tanno in their origins.

In the 9th century AD, the Historia Brittonum written in Wales states that Tanet was the name given to the island by the legendary Anglo-Saxon brothers, Hengist and Horsa, who were said to have led the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in their invasion of Britain in the 5th century AD, and Hengist became the first Jutish King of Kent. These two brothers arrived in Ebbsfleet on the Isle of Thanet. To begin with, they served as mercinaries to King Vortigern of the Britons but they later turned against him in “the Treachery of the Long Knives”. Horsa was killed in combat with the Britons but Hengist succeeded in conquering Kent and became the forefather of its kings.

Sevenscore Asparagus Farm are vegetable producers in the hamlet of Sevenscore, near Ramsgate, on the B2048 secondary road about one mile east of Minster-in-Kent. The seasonal farm shop is open each year from the end of March to the middle of June, selling their home grown asparagus, Kentish cauliflowers and purple sprouting broccoli.

The family-run farm was established in 2005 but the farmhouse and outbuildings are at least 17th century or older. Each day the asparagus is cut by hand to ensure freshness and quality before being quickly brought to the cutting room and shop where it is carefully washed, graded and prepared for sale. The farm also supplies many of the best hotels and restaurants in the area as well as a number of top London restaurants and the main markets in New Covent Garden.

My husband Dan and I visited the Asparagus Farm one Saturday in April during Lockdown and there was a wide range of asparagus from the Kitchen Asparagus suitable for general purpose, to Salad Asparagus in 6mm spears; from Select Asparagus with 10-16mm spears to Jumbo Asparagus with spears of at least 20mm in diameter. Prices are based on per kilo and width of spear, and 5 kg boxes of asparagus are also available.

The asparagus is sold loose in the Farm Shop, allowing customers to select as much or as little as they like, although banded bundles may be ordered in advance for a 50 pence surcharge. We bought a little over 500g of loose Kitchen Asparagus at £5.80 per kilo for just £2.72.

When preparing asparagus, wash carefully and chop off the tough, fibrous woody end of each spear and reserve for stock. For my recipe, use fresh free-range eggs, local if possible. I used local free-range eggs with a deep yellow yolk from Rose’s Farm Shop, Ramsgate, and local fennel tops we foraged from Pegwell Bay. If you store your eggs in the refrigerator, remove them about 30 minutes before you plan to use them to achieve best results. It is also important not to season the eggs until the very end of the cooking process, otherwise they will turn grey and watery and unappetising.

My recipe is a healthier one, stirring a knob of good unsalted butter through the asparagus rather than serving the dish with hollandaise sauce, although for an indulgent brunch or light lunch or supper you can serve it with hollandaise or as well butter if you prefer.

INGREDIENTS (Serves two)

250g Asparagus

2 Local Free-Range Eggs

White wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

Unsalted Butter

Fennel tops

Set a lidded skillet half fill with water and a dash of white wine or apple cider vinegar on the stove on a medium heat and bring to a steady simmer.

Meanwhile, carefully wash and prepare asparagus spears, cutting off the woody part of the stems. Set the spears aside, then wrap the stems in clean newspaper and reserve for the stockpot in a cool, dry place.

Put a medium saucepan on a good heat and, at the same time, boil a kettle of fresh water, pour in a teacupful of boiling water and a good pinch of sea salt and put the lid on the pan.

Just before the skillet of water comes to the boil, remove the lid and carefully crack in the eggs without breaking the yolks, turn down the heat to a gentle simmer and replace the lid. After 30 seconds turn off the heat and allow the eggs to poach in the residual heat of the poaching water. They should be ready within 5 minutes, depending on how soft or hard you like your eggs.

While the eggs are poaching, place the prepared asparagus spears in the saucepan, return the lid  and steam the asparagus for about 2 minutes. This method will ensure you retain more of the nutrients.

Remove the saucepan from the heat, drain the remaining cooking water into a teacup to reserve for stock, soups or stews, return the asparagus to the heat and add a good knob of unsalted butter, a squeeze of lemon juice if liked, and a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper, stirring through quickly to combine.

Remove the asparagus from the saucepan and divide between two warmed plates.

Carefully remove the poached eggs from the skillet and place one on each plate, season with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper and dress with sprigs of foraged fennel tops. Serve with a slice of fresh artisan sourdough bread and butter.

Bon appetit!

COOKS TIPS

For an indulgent brunch or light lunch or supper dish, serve with a good shop-bought or homemade hollandaise. To make hollandaise, melt 125g unsalted butter and skim off any white solids from the surface. Keep butter warm. Place 2 egg yolks, ½ tsp white wine vinegar, a pinch of salt and a drizzle of ice-cold water in a metal or heat-proof glass bowl and whisk for a few minutes before placing the bowl over a small pan of just-simmering water and continue whisking for another few minutes until pale and thick. Remove from heat and gradually whisk in the melted butter until it is all incorporated and has a smooth, creamy texture. If it is too thick add a dash of cold water. Season with a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of paprika or cayenne pepper. Spoon warm over eggs.

For a more substantial meal, allow two eggs each, place each egg on half a toasted English muffin or crumpet and garnish with fresh watercress.

Donate with PayPal

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Catherine Evans
    • Join 286 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Catherine Evans
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...