Pan-fried brill with cockles and oxtail
Pan-fried brill served with meltingly tender red wine–braised oxtail and sweet cockles. With fresh monk’s beard and a silky sauce to bring it all together, it’s a rich but balanced take on surf and turf.
From Saturday Kitchen
Ingredients
For the oxtail
- 1kg/2lb 4oz Welsh black-beef oxtail
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
- 1 bay leaves
- 200ml/7fl oz red wine
- 20g/¾oz plain flour
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 400ml/14fl oz chicken stock
- pinch fresh nutmeg
- ½ lemon, juice only
- 50g/1¾oz unsalted butter
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the cockles
- 400g/14oz cockles in the shell
- 125ml/4fl oz white wine
- 2 tbsp crème fraîche
- 350g/12oz monk’s beard
- pinch whole nutmeg, grated
- ½ lemon, juiced
For the brill
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 x 120g/4¼oz brill fillets
- 50g/1¾oz knob butter
Method
To make the oxtail, place the oxtail, onion, carrot, bay leaves and red wine in a large, heavy-based saucepan and set aside to marinate for 24 hours.
Remove the oxtail and vegetables from the marinade using a slotted spoon and transfer to two separate plates.
Place the red wine marinade in the saucepan over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Cook until reduced by three quarters left in the pan. Skim off any scum or foam that rises to the surface. Set aside.
Season the flour with salt and pepper in a bowl. Dust the marinated oxtail with the seasoned flour.
Heat the oil in a heavy-based casserole over a medium heat. Cook the oxtail pieces in the casserole until golden brown all over. You may have to do this in batches to avoid the meat steaming instead of browning. Remove and set aside.
Add the marinated vegetables to the casserole and fry until golden brown.
Add the red wine marinade and deglaze the casserole, bubbling to reduce the liquid by half.
Preheat the oven to 140C/120C Fan/Gas 1.
Add the oxtail to the casserole again. Cover with the stock and bring to the boil. Skim again, removing any excess fat or scum.
Cook in the oven for 2½ hours, or until the meat is coming off the bone. Set aside to cool down in the liquid.
When completely cooled, remove the oxtail and pick the meat from the bones, trying to keep the meat in large pieces.
Strain the liquid through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer and reduce by half. Keep warm.
To make the cockles, give the cockles a rinse to wash away any sand or dirt. If any of the cockle shells are open, tap them against a hard surface to encourage them to close. If the shell remains open, then discard the cockle.
Place a large saucepan over a medium heat to warm. Add the cockles and white wine to the pan, immediately cover with a lid and cook over a high heat for 1–2 minutes, or until the shells have opened. Discard any that remain closed.
Strain the cockles through a colander, reserving the cooking liquor. Pick most the cockles from their shells, saving a few of them in their shells for decoration. Set aside and keep warm.
Warm some olive oil in a deep pan and add the monk’s beard. Season with salt, pepper, nutmeg and a squeeze of lemon. Cook for 30 seconds and remove from the heat.
To make the brill, heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Cook the fish until browned on one side. Turn the fish over and lower the heat. Add the butter and fry until cooked through.
To assemble the dish, place the wilted monk’s beard on each plate. Arrange the cockles and picked oxtail around the monk’s beard. Drizzle with the oxtail jus. Position the brill on top of the monk’s beard.
Bring the cockle cooking liquor to the boil and whisk in the crème fraîche. Pour this immediately over each plate and serve.
