Seaweed & Salted Lemon Bread:
NOTE: It is recommended to make the bread with a standing-mixer and hook
attachment. Kneading the dough by hand can also be done, but will just take a little
longer.
Utilizing a standing-mixer, combine all the ingredients except for the sea lettuce,
red dulse and salted lemon in the mixing bowl.
Knead the dough for 7 minutes at low speed (setting #1), and then increase to a
medium speed (setting #2) for a further 2 minutes.
Once the time has elapsed, and the dough has come together, add the finely
chopped sea lettuce and the brunoise of salted lemon skin and mix these into the
dough.
Once thoroughly incorporated, leave the dough to rest in the bowl for 20 minutes
covered with a cloth.
When the dough has rested, knead it on a clean lightly floured surface into a
round shape.
Allow the dough to rest and rise for 30 minutes preferably in a warmer area of
the kitchen.
Bake the loaf in a deck oven at 240˚C on top, and 180˚C on the bottom for about
40 minutes. If using a convection oven, the temperature should be 240˚C for 35
– 40 minutes.
Once the time is over, and the bread is nicely browned, remove the loaf from the
oven, and leave to cool on a cooling rack.
Oyster jus:
Roughly chop the Cumberland sausage and using a high-sided sauce pan, sweat
the sausage in olive oil.
Add in the diced onion and gently roast, and then add the thinly sliced
mushrooms and black peppercorns. Continue to roast lightly.
Deglaze the pan with white wine and reduce this by half.
Once the white wine has reduced by half, add the oyster water and ¾ of the
seaweed, and cover this with water and cook for 20 minutes to infuse the
flavours into the jus.
Meanwhile, marinate the finely diced Roscoff onions in Sherry vinegar and
with a handheld blender, blitz the mixture by pulsing twice. Set the mixture aside
to use later.
Using a fine sieve, strain the jus into a clean sauce pan, and bring this to a boil.
Once boiling, add the flesh of 6 oysters and a few pieces of roughly chopped
seaweed.
Blitz the mixture in the pan with a handheld blender.
Season with lemon juice and ground white pepper.
To serve, add a teaspoon of the marinated Roscoff onions to the bottom of a
serving container, and top off with the oyster jus.
Stuffing:
Finely chop the Cumberland sausage, oyster, and Roscoff onion and combine in a
bowl with the other ingredients.
Flatten the stuffing between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper until it is 2mm thick.
Keep chilled until ready to use.
Smoked eel emulsion:
Sweat the sliced shallots in olive oil, add the eel, the black pepper and deglaze
with white wine.
Add water to cover the ingredients.
Cook for 20 minutes, and strain through a fine sieve.
In another pan, reduce the cream, and combine the same quantity of reduced cream with the same quantity of eel stock.
Buckwheat crisps:
Combine flour, warm water, salt and whole egg into a bowl and mix to create a
batter.
In a pan, melt the butter until it browns (“beurre noisette”) and cool it down
slightly (keeping it a fluid consistency).
Add the cooled beurre noisette to the batter, and mix.
Leave the batter to rest in a fridge for approximately 20 minutes.
Once 20 minutes has passed, melt a small cube of butter in a hot sauté pan and
ladle a thin layer of the mixture into the centre as if making a crepe.
Cook until crisp and then flip it onto the other side, leaving it to cook for a few
seconds.
Remove the buckwheat crepe from the pan and leave it to rest in a 140˚C oven
for 5 minutes until fully dried.
Break the buckwheat crisp into pieces to later garnish the plate.
Garnish:
Peel and cut the onion into 1cm thick rings and caramelize them in a hot pan with
olive oil.
Set aside on a paper towel to remove any excess oil.
Halibut fillet:
Cover the halibut with coarse sea salt for 10 minutes, and then wash away the
salt.
Portion the halibut in nice pavé pieces.
Slice the seaweed bread into 1cm thick slices, and toast it in between 2 trays
until completely dry.
Cut the stuffing into a square larger than the bread, and sear it in a pan between
2 pieces of greaseproof paper to keep it intact.
Poach the halibut for 1 minute in fish stock or lightly salted water and then roast
it in a pan.
When the fish is almost done, place the stuffing on top of the bread, and lay the
fish on top of the stuffing – creating 3 stacked layers.
Continue cooking the stacked layers in the pan with butter, continually basting
until the fish is cooked.
Remove the stacked layers from the pan and cut the bread to the same size as
the fish.
Just before plating, warm the oyster in its own juices for a few seconds.
Plating the dish:
Lay the layered fish and bread onto the plate.
Add 5 caramelized onion rings, 4 pieces of smoked eel, a few pieces of green sea
lettuce, a sprinkle of the dried pepper dulse, the oyster leaf and heated oyster.
Top the fish with some broken shards of the buckwheat crisp.
Finish the dish with the eel emulsion.
Serve.