Crispy skin blue morwong, lemon butter sauce and roasted fennel (serves 2)

Thanks Chef Jai Gibbons

Ingredients

  • 1 medium sized blue morwong, scaled, filleted skin on, pin boned.
  • 80g butter unsalted
  • 2 heads of fennel
  • 1 small lemon (zested and kept for fennel)
  • 1/2 bunch of chives finely sliced
  • 30ml olive oil
  • 50ml white wine (optional)
  • 30ml veg oil
  • Fennel seeds
  • Tablespoon of flour.
  • salt

Method

Fennel

Cut each head of fennel in half length ways and each half into 3 wedges and lay them in a baking dish, add white wine, olive oil, salt, lemon zest and fennel seeds over the top of the fennel. Cover with foil and bake for about 15 minutes on 180c. Remove the foil and continue to bake them until coloured on top and the fennel is tender.

Fish sauce

Preheat a heavy based pan or cast iron pan to a high heat. Lightly season your portions of blue morwong with salt and coat the skin with flour, dust off any excess flour and add the veg oil to the pan. Place the morwong skin side down into the pan and apply a light pressure on the back of the fish with a fish flip/spatula. Reduce the heat to a medium heat and continue to cook until the skin becomes golden and the fish is about 70% cooked. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan and the flip the fish and baste with the butter until the skin looks delicious and crisp. Remove the fish from the pan and place on your serving dish or plate.

Add the remaining butter to the pan and cook until the butter is foaming and just starting to colour. Squeeze the lemon juice into the butter and remove from the heat. Add the chives and about 30-50mls of water to the pan and swirl the pan until the sauce thickens slightly.

Spoon the sauce onto the plate with the fish but not over the skin as it will make it less crisp.

Serve with the roasted fennel and a light salad. Rocket would go nicely.