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Pan Seared Whiting, Avogolemono, Basil Oil and Nectarines
Recipe by Conor Curran
Avgolemono is a traditional Greek soup which features eggs and lemon. Conor has paired his take on the dish with delicious King George Whiting fish and a Basil Oil.
- Steps
- Ingredients
Steps
- Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and prepare an ice bath in a medium bowl.
- Fillet the whiting, pin bone and set fillets aside in the fridge.
- Discard heads from whiting then place frames into a saucepan with 3L cold water.
- Add spinach stalks, carrots, onion, lemon peel and peppercorns into the waters and place over high heat. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 50 minutes. Skim surface occasionally with a slotted spoon. Strain through a fine sieve into a saucepan and keep hot. Remove 1 ladle of broth to cool slightly.
- For Basil Oil, blanch basil and spinach leaves in boiling water for 10 seconds. Transfer to an ice bath and allow to cool. Drain well and squeeze out excess water with paper towel.
- Place the basil, spinach leaves and grapeseed oil into a blender and process until mixture is bright green. Pour through a muslin lined sieve and set aside to strain.
- Once the broth has been strained, place lemon juice into a bowl along with one egg and whisk vigorously to incorporate thoroughly. Gradually whisk in the slightly cooled broth until thickened.
- Transfer lemon and egg mixture to a saucepan and place on the lowest heat. Add hot broth, a ladle at a time, whisking continuously until 10-15 ladles of stock have been added and a creamy consistency is achieved, with a heavy foam on top. Remove from the heat and skim foam from the surface. Cover to keep warm.
- For King George Whiting, place a large non-stick frypan with butter and oil over medium heat. When melted, add whiting, skin side down. Press down on the fish with a spatula for 30 seconds to prevent fillets from curling. Lift the fish off the pan slightly, so that the butter coats the skin and it crisps evenly. When fish is 80% cooked, remove from pan and place on wire rack to rest.
- To serve, arrange paper thin slices of nectarine onto a plate. Top with a fillet of King George whiting. Pour avgolemono around fish, enough to just to cover each plate and finish with a drizzle of Basil Oil.
