Recipes

I have recently had a wood fired pizza oven built in my back yard. As Soon as it was completed I had a cord of beautiful two year old Manuka delivered that is now stacked and sorted.  I fire the oven up as often as possible as I have found there is practically nothing that can't be cooked inside it. This dish exhibits a lot of the way that I like to entertain. A whole fish straight from the oven, and just plonked down on the table for everyone to slowly dissect.  A large turbot is a ideal fish to serve this way, as the bone structure allows for easy access to its delicious moist flesh and once the top fillet has been eaten, its just a case of removing the main skeletal configuration to reveal the under fillet. I serve crisp brushetta toasts, smeared with a type of green olive and caper tapenade that adds a slightly salty and sour flavor to the mix.

Step 1

Green Olive and Caper Tapenade

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. No food processor? Just chop the olives and capers as fine as possible then mix in the olive oil and lemon juice. Cover a store in the refrigerator until required.

Step 2

Brushetta Toasts.

Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees.  Cut the bread up into manageable pieces about a centimeter thick. Brush with olive oil on both sides and sprinkle over a little sea salt. Place on an oven tray and bake until just crisp. Remove, cool and store in a airtight container until serving.

Step 3

Marinating Turbot.

Take a small bowl and mix the oregano, chives, garlic, lemon zest, chili flakes and olive oil together into a paste like mix.

For the turbot , remove the guts if present and  scale  the light under belly of the fish. Then remove the top skin by working your thumb between the skin and the flesh by the tail of the fish. Once you get it started the skin will peel back easily  revealing the top fillet. Lay the turbot down  on a board and take a sharp knife and score the flesh of the fillet by making a dozen or so slices in herring bone pattern about ½ a centimeter deep.

Take the Oregano paste and smear liberally over the turbot, gently working it into the scored flesh. Marinate the turbot in a fridge for a couple of hours or more if you have the time.

Step 4

Cooking and Serving….

Pre heat your oven 180 degrees. Bring the turbot out of the fridge and season with a good amount of salt and pepper.  Place a suitable roasting pan that will fit the turbot in the oven to get searing hot.   Remove the roasting pan after 5 minutes add a little cooking oil in bottom and place in the turbot, belly side down. Quickly cover with tin foil and put in the oven.  Cook for 15 minutes then remove the foil and finish cooking for another 10 minutes or so until the flesh comes away easily from the bone.

While the turbot is cooking, smear the tapenade paste on the brushetta's and cut the lemons in half for squeezing.

Remove the roasted turbot from the oven, let it sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Either carefully remove the turbot from the pan onto a platter or do as I usually do, just serve it in the roasting pan with the olive and caper brushetta along side. Squeeze over the lemon  and place a palette knife nearby for the folks to help them selves by topping the brushetta with the sweet morsels of  turbot, while you get on to the next thing!