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Pollock (singular)

ISSUE 11 ARCHIVE - COOKING THE CATCH

Andrew Maxwell

Spiced Pollock with Lentil & Smoked Bacon Salsa and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Don't be put off by the number of ingredients there are in this dish. It is actually mostly a question of throwing it all together, and is well worth the effort. When buying pollock, make sure you are buying wild Alaskan pollock. It is the most sustainably sourced pollock and the Alaskans are doing a fantastic job of ensuring that their fishing is being carried out in a manner which is not detrimental to global fish stocks.

For the Salsa:

  • 100g puy lentils
  • 30ml olive oil
  • 50g red pepper, finely diced
  • 50g green pepper, finely diced
  • 50g red onion, finely diced
  • 3 spring onions finely sliced
  • 1 red chilli, de seeded and finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 3 ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, de seeded, diced
  • 120ml tomato juice
  • 25ml red wine vinegar
  • 1 bunch of coriander, chopped
  • 100g smoked streaky bacon, diced and cooked

Surf And Turf Safaris
Put the lentils in a pan with enough water to cover, bring to the boil and simmer gently until tender. (Do not boil them as they will go mushy.)

Drain the lentils well and mix with all the remaining ingredients. Chill until required. This may be made a day in advance.

For the red pepper sauce:

  • 1 small onion
  • 2 red peppers
  • 2 shallots
  • 1 leek, white part only
  • 2 sticks celery
  • 50g butter
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 sprig thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Pinch of sugar
  • 385ml tomato juice
Dice all the vegetables.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the vegetables, garlic and herbs. Cook very slowly until tender. Season with salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

Add the tomato juice and continue to simmer until the peppers breakdown.

Liquidise, then pass through a fine sieve. Add water if necessary to adjust the consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Be sure not to let the lentils boil as they will turn mushy.
O'Three

For the spiced Pollock:

  • 1tsp cumin seeds
  • 1tsp coriander seeds
  • 8 juniper berries
  • 1 star anise
  • 4 green cardamom pods/li>
  • 3 strips orange zest
  • 10g plain flour
  • 4 x 180g pollock fillets, skin on
  • 50ml olive oil
  • 30g unsalted butter

To garnish:

  • 100g rocket
  • Sea salt
  • 20ml olive oil plus extra for drizzling
Heat a frying pan, add the spices and dry roast until they release their fragrance and the seeds start to pop.

Remove from the heat, leave to cool and grind in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar with the orange zest and flour to a fine powder.

Season the pollock with salt and sprinkle with the spice mix, keep any spare mix in a jar.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the butter and fry the pollock skin side down. Cook over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes until golden, turn and cook for a minute longer. Keep warm.

To serve

Toss the rocket in a little olive oil and sea salt.

Place some salsa in the middle of each serving plate and arrange the rocket on top. Drizzle a little sauce on the plate and place the pollock on top, skin side up.
The Underwater Channel

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