Emily's fish course

Fight Them On The Beaches

Grilled scallops, smoked cockle broth, seaweeds and morels

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the fish stock

1 bulb fennel, finely sliced

½ head celery, finely sliced

½ large onion, finely sliced

1 carrot, finely sliced

1.5kg/3½lb fish bones (prepped weight)

½ lemon

½ head garlic

½ bunch parsley stalks

1 bay leaf

For the cockles and smoked cockle broth

2.5kg/6lb cockles

Vegetable oil

225g/8oz shallot, sliced

150ml/5fl oz verjus

1½/2½ pints litres fish stock

50g/2oz red dulse

3 egg whites

90g/3oz smoked cockle meat

9g lecithin per 500ml broth

For the seaweed ‘tobacco’

50g/2oz fresh nori

6 For the braised morels

60g/1oz dried morels

40g/1½oz unsalted butter

3 sprigs thyme

150ml/5fl oz fish stock

For the sea aster and purslane

200g/7oz sea aster

50g/2oz sea purslane

For the caramelised sea lettuce

100g/2oz sea lettuce

25g/1oz unsalted butter

25g/1oz caster sugar

For the scallops

1 very large scallop per person in its shell

Olive oil

Salt

1 lemon

Method

1. For the fish stock, soften the finely sliced vegetables until aromatic. Add the fish bones and continue to cook. Cover with water, bring to the boil, and simmer for 20 minutes, skimming all the time. Add the lemon, garlic and herbs, leave to stand for 1 hour then pass the stock through a chinois or fine sieve.

2. To open the cockles, place a large frying pan on a high heat. Add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil to the pan and heat until smoking. Add the cockles in batches and flambé all the cockles until they are open, shaking the pan continuously. Reserve 30 plump ones for serving and pick 90g cockle meat for the clarification. Use the remaining cockles and all of the shells for the broth.

3. For the smoked cockle broth, cook the shallots right down until sweet. Add the verjus and reduce until it just covers the shallots. Add the fish stock and bring to the boil. Pour the cockles and all of the shells into the broth. Add the dulse. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Pass the stock through muslin and chill to fridge temperature. When cool, pour the stock back into a pan. Place the egg whites and the reserved 90g cockle meat into a food processor and blitz until incorporated. Mix the egg white and cockle meat mixture into the broth, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Scoop off the protein that rises to the top then pass the broth through muslin. Blitz in the lecithin.

4. For the seaweed ‘tobacco’, thoroughly wash the fresh nori. Place in the dehydrator, or a very low oven, to dry for 2 hours. Crumble into ‘tobacco’ for seasoning.

5. For the braised morels, soak the morels in water. Use a turning knife to remove the base. Wash the morels thoroughly, with at least 8 changes of water, to remove all the grit. Foam the butter with the thyme in a pan. Sauté the morels in the foaming butter then add the fish stock to finish cooking. Reserve some braised morels for garnish.

6. For the sea aster and purslane, prep the leaves. Wash and set aside until ready to serve. To serve, braise the sea aster and purslane in a fish stock and butter emulsion.

7. For the caramelised sea lettuce, thoroughly wash the sea lettuce and pat dry. Foam the butter in a pan, add the sugar and then the seaweed to caramelise. Place on parchment to crisp.

8. For the scallops, prep the scallops. Heat a griddle pan until smoking. Place the scallops in a bowl with a little oil and salt. Cook on the griddle pan for about 2 minutes on each side to give a charred pattern. Finish cooking for a couple of minutes in the oven if necessary. Finish with lemon juice.

9. To serve, foam the smoked cockle broth with a hand blender. Pour into the flask and use a smoking gun to ‘smoke’ the top before closing. Place the nori tobacco in separate tin. Place the scallop in the centre of the dish and arrange the cockles, seaweeds and braised morels all around. Serve the nori tobacco and the smoked cockle broth on the side.