Daniel Clifford's red mullet recipe stuffs the fish with Spanish ham and the coastal herb sea purslane, binding the fish with meat glue. Other elements of this stunning dish include a green olive powder, Parmesan purée and caramelised artichokes. This seafood recipe scored a perfect 10 on Great British Menu 2012
Method
1.
Scale the red mullet into a bag to avoid mess and wash well. Fillet and pinbone the fish and wash the fillets again. Leave to dry under a cloth in the fridge for 1 hour
VideoVideo: Fillet a round fish
2.
Once fully dried, remove the skin from the tail end of each fillet up to the head, making sure not to cut all the fish away from the skin, but leaving it connected at the top
3.
Scoop the flesh and seeds out of the lemon and discard before finely dicing the peel. Lay the sea purslane, finely diced Ibérico ham and finely diced preserved lemon in the middle of the part-skinned fillets. Dust with the meat glue and fold back over. Leave to set for up to 2 hours in the fridge
4.
Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a pan. Place the olives in the boiling stock and cook for 8 minutes. Drain the olives, retaining some of the cooking liquor
5.
Blend until a smooth purée in a blender, using the liquor to achieve a smooth consistency. Pass through a sieve and chill in a heatproof container for 1 hour
6.
Peel and slice the potatoes. Place the potatoes in an oven tray with enough cold water to cover. Cook at 62°C in the oven for 1 hour. Refresh the potatoes in ice water then drain and dry
7.
Place the potato, grated Parmesan and crème fraîche in a blender and blend until smooth. Pass through a sieve and season with lemon juice to taste
8.
Peel the artichokes, crush the garlic and put into a small heatproof container with the oil, vinegar and thyme. Reduce the oven temperature to 110°C/Gas mark 1/2. Add the chicken stock and slowly cook in the oven for 25-35 minutes
9.
To make the dried olive powder, reduce the oven temperature again to very low heat, preferably around 60°C/Gas mark 1/4. Dice the olives and leave in the oven for 2 hours until they dry out and become crisp
10.
In a separate pan, warm the sherry vinegar and water
11.
Dissolve the agar agar in the liquid, stirring quickly. Place in small container to set in the fridge for 1 hour. Once set, cut into long ribbons and put aside to serve
12.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4. To cook the fish, place the fillets skin-side down in a pan for 2-4 minutes or until nice and crisp. Season the flesh side with some lemon juice and Maldon salt to keep the skin crispy and finish by cooking in the oven for a further 5 minutes.
13.
Arrange the stuffed mullet, skin-side up, on the plates. Place a small spoon of the rewarmed olive purée on each plate. Place a larger spoon of warm Parmesan purée next to it
14.
Heat the butter in a pan until it reaches a dark golden brown colour and has a nutty aroma. Garnish the fish with this beurre noisette and a squeeze of lemon juice
15.
Clean the artichoke and then thinly slice on the mandoline, keeping the slices in water with lemon juice to stop them going brown. Serve three slices per plate. Shred the Ibérico ham and scatter across the plate, along with some of the sea purslane. Add a slice of the reserved lemon, scatter some Parmesan, and finally, sprinkle the dried olive powder over the plate
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