Hake and creamed potatoes with curried mussel sauce

Ben Rush and Sarah Norman work together at Milsoms in Dedham, both as head chefs. After just completing their busiest time of the year, it’s back to some of the most traditional dishes guests regularly flock to Milsoms for, including deep-fried, line-caught Icelandic cod in beer batter with chips and tartare sauce as well as Mr G’s shepherd’s pie made the proper way with roast leg and shoulder of lamb. Here Ben and Sarah share another popular recipe from the Milsoms cook book, RecrEATe

Ingredients

Serves 4

4 hake fillets (200-225g each)

75g of unsalted butter

White potatoes (peeled and chopped)

Splash of double cream

For the mussel sauce

500g of live mussels (scrubbed and debearded)

1 small onion

1 clove of garlic

100ml of dry white wine

1 teaspoon of madras curry powder

100ml of double cream

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Method

For the mash, boil your potatoes in a pan of salted water until soft. Drain the water and mash the potato back on the heat. Add the butter and the cream. Season and remove from heat.

To make the curried mussel sauce, discard any mussels with broken shells or that remain closed when tapped. Heat a large pan over a high heat and then add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and sauté your onion and garlic for 30 seconds. Add the mussels and wine, cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes, shaking the pan, or until the mussels are all open. Remove from heat. Spoon the mussels out of the pan and put to one side. Discard any that remain closed.

Pass the remaining liquid through a sieve, then return to the pan and boil until reduced by one quarter. Turn the heat down to medium and add the curry powder and cream and leave to simmer until the sauce is reduced by half taking, care not to boil. Meanwhile, remove all but 12 of the mussels from their shells and set aside. Discard the empty shells.

Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the fillets, skin side down, and fry for 8 minutes. Gently turn over and fry for a further 2 minutes or until the flesh flakes easily. Carefully remove the skin.

When ready to serve, reheat the sauce and stir in the mussels. Divide the potato among four bowls, place the hake on top (skinned side up) and spoon the sauce and shelled mussels around. Garnish with the mussels in their shells and serve immediately.

Get the Taste

Milsoms

Stratford Road

Dedham

Colchester

CO7 6HW

01206 322795