Aishling Moore: How to cook John Dory fish with green olive salsa and roasted tomatoes

John Dory with olive salsa and roast tomato: Picture: Chani Anderson

A perfectly ripe cherry tomato, sliced in half and stuffed with basil and a nugget of West Cork mozzarella was what started a very special lunch at Ballymaloe House.

We, a gaggle of chefs and food producers, gathered to celebrate 40 years of Euro-Toques Ireland at the place where it began.

Myrtle Allen was one of the six founding chefs of the European Euro-Toques movement in 1986. The organisation was set up to protect regional culinary heritage, promote local and seasonal artisan food and act as an industry lobby group against standardised European food legislation.

We sat for lunch and were treated to the most beautiful plate of Ballymaloe canapés, with a handful of whole shrimp served with a dollop of mayonnaise, a dainty little lobster vol au vent, a terrine, pickled cucumber and a very moreish dolma.

The main event was served buffet-style by executive head chef Dervilla O’ Flynn and house manager Fern Allen. There was roasted Ballymaloe Farm pork with a plum and apple sauce and a roast sirloin of Frank Murphy’s beef with horseradish crème fraiche.

JR Ryall’s iconic Ballymaloe dessert trolley was then rolled into the dining room with sweet treats galore. There was Carrageen moss pudding; a sweetened cream set with the addition of seaweed; a chocolate meringue roulade;the last of the home grown peach sorbet and a stunning sweet geranium-scented salad of red, white and black currants and strawberries, all picked that morning from the nearby walled garden, completing an outstanding lunch.

A trip to Ballymaloe always reinforces to me that ingredients are paramount. Treat them with care, show them off, keep it simple and use what’s in your field and in the fields around you.

John Dory with Olive Salsa and Roasted Tomatoes

recipe by:Aishling Moore

I have roasted some fruity cherry tomatoes to serve with John Dory this weekend.

Servings

4

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• For the fish

• 4 x 120g fillets of John Dory

• 2TB rapeseed oil

• Fine sea salt

• For the salsa

• 100g green olives, drained and pitted

• 1 bunch flat leaf parsley

• 1 lemon juice and zest

• 2 tbsp golden rapeseed oil

• For the roasted tomatoes

• 150g cherry tomatoes

• 1 tbsp golden rapeseed oil

• 1 pinch of dried oregano

• Freshly ground black pepper

• Sea salt flakes

Method

1. To make the salsa

2. Finely chop the green olives and flat leaf parsley and place in a small mixing bowl.

3. Add the golden rapeseed oil and the zest and juice of one lemon. Mix well to combine, taste to adjust seasoning and set aside.

4. For the roasted tomatoes

5. Preheat an oven to 180°C.

6. Slice the tomatoes in half and place on a roasting tray.

7. Drizzle with the golden rapeseed oil, sprinkle with dried oregano, season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

8. Roast in the oven for 12 minutes.

9. Remove the tomatoes from the oven once they have burst from their skins and have caramelised.

10. Keep warm while preparing the fish.

11. For the fish

12. Remove the John Dory from the fridge 15 minutes before you are intending on cooking. Pat dry any excess moisture and season with fine sea salt.

13. Preheat your frying pan on a medium-high heat for 2 minutes.

14. Add the rapeseed oil before placing the fish in the pan, laying the fillet skin side down and away from you.

15. John Dory curls when heat is applied, so press down on the fish fillets using a fish slice or spatula for the first 30 seconds of cooking; after this time the fish will relax.

16. Remove the fish slice and allow the crust of caramelisation to develop evenly, approximately 3-4 minutes, until the fish is cooked 80 percent of the way. Using a fish slice, confidently flip the fish over and cook on the other side for 1 minute.

17. Serve on warm plates with the roasted cherry tomatoes and green olive salsa.

Fish Tales

Carbon steel frying pans are my preference for cooking fish. They are excellent conductors of heat and require very little upkeep.

Preheating your frying pan is the most crucial step in pan frying a piece of fish. The goal is to achieve an even temperature across the full
surface area of the pan. Cold pockets will cause your fish to stick.

No matter what piece of fish you are cooking, when removing from a pan always lift from the tail end of the fish. It causes less damage to the skin.

Make sure you’re using a pan that’s large enough for the number of portions you’re cooking. Avoid overcrowding the pan, each addition to a cooking surface reduces the temperature of the pan. Cook in batches if needs be.