Serves four
- 4 fillets John Dory 200g each
- 2 large Victoria potatoes peeled washed, diced and blanched (cook the trimmings in a little cream and fish stock to make a sauce)
- 8 baby leeks, peeled washed and chopped
- 4 rashers dry cured bacon, finely shredded
- 1 bunch chives 100g unsalted butter
- Vegetable oil for pan roasting
- 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced
- 1 vanilla pod
- 100g caster sugar purple cress for garnish olive oil for garnish
- Maldon salt and freshly milled white pepper to taste
Take the apple, most of the sugar and scraped vanilla pod with a little water and cook until a puree, blitz with a stick blender. Adjust the taste of the puree so that it isn’t too sweet allowing a little of the acidity to remain. Cool and put the puree into a plastic bottle for dressing.
Heat a small sauté pan with a splash of vegetable oil and add the bacon, cook lightly then add the potatoes cubes, leeks a knob of butter, white pepper and chives and cook for 2 minutes.
While this is cooking heat a splash of vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan. When hot add the seasoned fillets of John Dory, shin side down and fry until the colour of autumn leaves.
Turn down the heat and add some butter. Allow to finish cooking in the pan for 2 more minutes and then plate as in the photograph.
The potato cream and fish stock just needs seasoning and blitzing as before until a loose sauce like puree. Dress as shown in photograph.