Hi everyone. It has been a little while.
You know that hazy delight you feel after a good meal, tipsy, and rounder bellied than before you sat down at the table? That is my ideal feeling. I want you to know that feeling. I want you to finish a meal with loved ones, your shirt stained with a drop of sauce that fell from your lips as you were licking them in satisfaction. I want your belly to be full and warm and so you unbutton your jeans at the table, letting out a sigh of relief as they pop open. One by one the other guests follow your lead.
I love eating out at restaurants. I cook in one for a living, so I know the machinations quite well. I equally, however, love eating at home, usually more so when it is filled with interesting people that I get to cook for. Ashamedly, I do the latter less frequently than I would like.
Last week I had a craving to cook at home and for people to fill up my garden. The day was warm- I started it by flicking through Gabrielle Hamiltons cookbook, Prune, and writing notes while laying on the beach. I ended it outside at the table with friends, slightly tipsy, my jeans unbuttoned after filling ourselves on whole snapper that I grilled and covered in browned butter, beef jus and capers.
So that is why I wanted to write to you again. The holidays have approached and where I live every couple of days there is some summer sun and fresh fish to buy at the market. The juices of this fish are stirred with nutty browned butter and capers which are then deglazed with beef stock and a squeeze of lemon to leave you with a deeply savoury yet bright whole fish. You can leave out the beef stock if you prefer less fiddling around. No need to be deterred by cooking a whole fish. It is celebratory, a little dramatic, and easier than you would imagine.
Thank you for subscribing. Sending love and wishing you good food and full bellies.
A version of this recipe will be featured in my upcoming cookbook. You can preorder the book through this link.
Whole fish, browned butter, thyme and capers
When making this recently I remembered that sitting in my fridge was a dark beef stock I had made earlier that week. I froze most of the stock for another occasion, but took a ladle-full of it and left it to simmer with the browned butter. By the end of the simmer the pan was covered with an elegant, full-bodied sauce that I poured over the fish, bringing a more savoury flavour to the final dish. Always a squeeze of lemon juice at the end to brighten.
Serves 4
1 kg (2 lb 3 oz) whole snapper or sea bream, cleaned and gutted by your fishmonger (or 2 smaller fish with a combined weight of 1 kg)
small bunch fresh thyme
1/2 lemon, sliced into thin rounds
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing
1/3 cup baby capers, rinsed and squeezed dry
60 g (2 oz) unsalted butter, chilled
1 tablespoon lemon juice
60ml homemade or good quality beef stock
Rinse the fish well under cold running water, cleaning out any blood or veins inside the fish.
Pat the fish dry inside and out with paper towel and season it on both sides with a few generous pinches of flaky salt (about 1 teaspoon on each side).
Put a few sprigs of thyme into the cavity of the fish, then leave it to sit uncovered in your fridge overnight. This dries out the skin a little, which makes for crispier skin when you cook it. If you don’t have time to leave the fish overnight, move on to the next step.
Put the sliced lemons inside the cavity of the fish, along with the thyme.
Brush both sides of the fish with extra-virgin olive oil and season evenly with a little more salt as well as black pepper.
Bring the fish to room temperature before cooking.
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees celsius.
Place a heavy-based or cast-iron frying pan or grill pan that is big enough to fit the fish over a high heat and pour in the 3 tablespoons of olive oil, or enough to cover the pan in a thin layer – be generous.
When the oil is extremely hot (be patient – you’ll know it’s hot enough when the oil starts to shimmer and smoke slightly), confidently place the fish inside the pan, stand back and let it crackle. Fry for about 4 minutes per side. Do not move or lift the fish before the heat has set a good initial mark on it, or you will tear the skin. When the fish is ready to be flipped, the skin should easily lift away from the pan; if it is still sticking, it is not ready and you should leave it a little longer. When the fish is ready to turn over, do so gently so you don’t tear the flesh. Both sides should be golden after 8 minutes in the pan.
Put the pan straight in the oven. If you are working with fish that weighs 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) each, cook for a further 8–10 minutes; if you have one 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz) fish, cook for a further 12–15 minutes.
Check if the fish is ready by making a small incision with a knife near the spine – the flesh should flake easily and be white, not translucent, and firm but still juicy and soft. You can also tear a little bit off and taste it to see if it is ready.
Take the fish out of the oven and transfer it to an oval platter to rest.
Now put the pan with all the juices back on the stove over a low heat. Add the butter and gently heat it to about 180 degrees, or until it is frothy, smells nutty and has taken on a golden colour. Add the capers and let them toast in the hot oil for 2 minutes. At this point, if you have a good quality beef stock in the kitchen you can do the following (if not, just skip this step): deglaze the pan with about 60ml of the stock, stir and let it reduce for a couple of minutes.
Stir in the lemon juice and season with a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper. Season further to taste if needed, and add more lemon juice if you want more of an acidic hit.
Spoon the sauce over the fish and serve with extra cheeks of lemon.
You can serve this with crispy roasted potatoes or a bowl of baby potatoes, boiled and simply dressed with chopped green herbs (dill, parsley, tarragon), a spoonful of dijon, extra virgin olive oil, lemon, flaky salt and pepper. Also a big green salad.