Seafood Made Simple: This wonderful substitute for turbot is much leaner on the pocket

There’s no dilly-dallying around with different-sized and shaped fillets in a pan just popped in an oven. Picture: Chani Anderson

The key to producing excellent seafood dishes is all about the procurement and handling of the fish. The preparation and treatment of the species beforehand is the most crucial part of the whole process. The cooking often being the quickest part of the operation.

It can be laborious when dealing with large quantities in professional kitchens, but I like to keep it as simple as possible when I’m cooking at home. Maximum flavour for minimum effort.

A whole baked fish fits this brief. For this weekend’s recipe, I’m using an often-overlooked flat fish; brill, which is in season now. A wonderful substitute for turbot, it’s sweet and subtle in flavour and much leaner on the pocket.

This method of baking whole fish also works with plaice, megrim, witch, and a lemon sole that’s on the larger side. The blood orange and chilli butter it’s served with has so many uses. It’s fabulous with irony brassicas like cavelo nero or purple sprouting broccoli. I also love adding a teaspoon of this butter to a shucked oyster and baking in a hot oven until blistered and bubbling, a delicious start to any meal.

Baking a fish whole has lots of perks, producing a moister and a deeper flavoured result, with better heat retention which is handy when you’re entertaining and worrying about keeping the food hot. There’s no dilly-dallying around with different-sized and shaped fillets in a pan just popped in an oven.

Removing the cooked opaque flesh from the bone is a breeze if you approach with a delicate hand, a knife and a spoon: use the frame and bone structure of the fish as a guide. The skin on brill can often be bitter so I’ll usually bake with skin on and remove after cooking.

Whole baked brill with blood orange chilli

recipe by:Aishling Moore

Brill is an often-overlooked flat fish.

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 35 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 2 blood oranges

• 2 red chillies

• 60g unsalted butter

• 1 tsp rapeseed oil

• 1x 600g-800g whole brill

• 1 bulb of fennel, shaved or finely sliced

• 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

• 200ml dry white wine

• Sea salt flakes

• Parsley, to finish

Method

1. To make the blood orange and chilli butter

2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl place the unsalted butter and the zest of both blood oranges.

3. Finely chop and mince the red chillies, add to the butter andorange zest. Mix well to combine. Season with salt to taste.

4. Set aside.

5. To prepare the brill

6. Preheat oven to 200°C. Place the whole fish on a well-secured chopping board.

7. Pat dry using some kitchen paper to remove excess moisture or any slime that might be present on the surface of the fish

8. Using a pair of sharp scissors remove the skirt of the fish, carefully working around the frame of the fish.

9. Remove the head of the fish using a sharp knife. At this point, pat dry again.

10. Using the rapeseed oil, grease a large roasting tray or dish that’s big enough to fit the whole fish comfortably.

11. Place the shaved fennel and finely sliced garlic on the tray.

12. Season the underside of the brill generously with sea salt and place on top of the fennel andgarlic, this will act as a trivet,preventing the fish from sticking to the tray.

13. Spread the blood orange and chilli butter all over the exposed surface area of the fish. Pour the white wine over the fish and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

14. Remove from the oven and baste with the white wine, flavoured butter and cooking juices released from the fish. Return to the oven and cook for a further 5 minutes. Until the fish is cooked through and the thickest part of the fish flakes when pressed with a fork.

15. Remove from the oven and rest for a couple of minutes before serving. Serve in the roasting tray and finish with some fresh-picked parsley leaves and blood orange segments.

Fish tales

Depending on how hot the chillies are, sometimes I will leave the seeds and pit in. It is important to taste the smallest little sliver of the chilli first to gauge the heat.

If you’d be more comfortable avoiding preparing the whole fish for baking, ask your fishmonger to do this for you.

Use a shallow fish for this process, it makes it much easier to access and remove the fish after cooking and will speed up cooking time.

I like to use a mandolin for shaving the fennel and garlic, you could use a food processor or a very sharp knife.

The best way to check that the fish is cooked through is by using a thermometer. Always insert into the thickest part of the fish.