Salt ling with boxty
Salt ling
Ingredients:
4 x 175g ling fillets (use cod or hake if you can’t source ling)
2 tablespoons kelp seasalt (2 tablespoons salt with 2 teaspoons dried kelp added)
2 tablespoons oil
Method:
Rub the salt all over the ling fillets. Cover and chill for a couple of hours. Run under cold water to wash off the salt and pat dry with kitchen paper.
Heat the oil in a non stick pan until hot and add the fish. Cook for about 3 minutes (depending on thickness) and then flip over. Cook for 30 seconds and turn off the heat.
Boxty
Ingredients:
125g grated raw potatoes
125g mashed potato
75g plain flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
125ml buttermilk
Butter for cooking
Method:
Mix the raw and mashed potato with the flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk to a thick batter consistency.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of butter in a frying pan and add 4 good dollops of the batter to the pan when butter is foaming. Cook gently for about 3 minutes each side or until golden brown and firm to touch.
Poached Leeks
Ingredients:
2 large leeks
350ml vegetable stock
Method:
Cut the green from the leeks and use for something else.
Slice the firm white part of the leeks into 1 and half cm rings and place in a pan. Cover with the stock and cook gently until soft – about 15 minutes. Drain. Use the remaining stock for soup or where you’d use stock.
Bacon and parsley crumb
Ingredients:
2 rashers of streaky bacon
2 tablespoons picked parsley
Method:
Cook the bacon in a pan until crisp and golden and chop with the parsley.
Elderberry caper butter sauce
Elderberry Capers
Ingredients:
6 heads of green elderberries, washed and patted dry
Rock salt
100ml cider vinegar
100ml water
50g sugar
Method:
Submerge the elderberries in the salt and place in the fridge for 2 weeks.
Remove salt and discard. Rinse in cold water and pat dry.
Simmer the vinegar, water and sugar until the sugar has dissolved.
Cool. Place elderberries in a clean jar and pour over the pickle.
Seal and leave for a couple of days before using.
Ingredients:
1 shallot, finely chopped
250ml dry local cider
1 tablespoon cream
150g cold butter
2 teaspoons chopped elderberry capers
1 tablespoon oil mixed with 2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives
Method:
Place the shallot and cider in a pan and cook until all but a tablespoon of the liquid has evaporated. Add the cream and lower the heat. Whisk the butter in a tablespoon at a time until fully incorporated and emulsified. Add the chopped capers and oil.
To assemble:
Place 4 pieces of the fish on plates and the boxty on the side.
Top the boxty with the poached leeks and the crumble on top.
Spoon the sauce over the ling and serve.
