Gurnard fillet, almonds, grapes & brown butter

This week’s recipe from Arron Ballantyne at Hopgood’s is for Gurnard fillet, almonds, grapes & brown butter. Aaron says “it’s a perfect dish for the home cook who wants to impress but is also really easy to prepare. You can buy some wonderful fresh seafood in Nelson and gurnard is readily available. While skin-on fillets let you get a crispy skin it isn’t essential, just cook the fish a little less”

Gurnard fillet, almonds, grapes & brown butter

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 x 150g Gurnard fillets, skin on, pin bones removed

2 tbsp. olive oil

20g butter, diced

Juice of ½ a lemon

75g butter, diced

2 tbsp. white wine

2 tbsp. sherry vinegar

24 seedless grapes, peeled

¼ cup toasted almond, chopped

1 small bunch Italian parsley, chopped

Sea salt & pepper

Method

1. For the almond, grape and brown butter dressing, heat the 75g butter over a high heat. Cook until golden and nut brown in colour.
2. Remove from the heat, add the white wine and sherry vinegar to deglaze, add the grapes, almonds and parsley. Lightly season with salt and pepper and set aside to warm through.
3. Meanwhile cook the gurnard by heating the olive oil in a non-stick heavy based frying pan.

4. Lightly season the gurnard fillets with sea salt, then pan-fry skin side down, for 3-4 minutes or until the skin is crisp and golden.

5. Turn-over and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add the 20g of butter and lemon juice then baste the fish with the pan juices. Remove from the heat.

6. To serve, place gurnard fillets onto the centre of warm serving plates. Spoon over the warm almond, grape and brown butter dressing and serve.

Serving suggestion – try this dish on a bed of mash potato with roast garlic cloves, a crisp green salad and aioli on the side.