4. Halibut with Wild Mushrooms and Celeriac
There is an abundance of whitefish in Scotland, including halibut, haddock, cod, saithe (also known as coley), whiting, hake, and monkfish.
Without a doubt, Scotland’s favourite whitefish is haddock. Caught in the North Sea and off the west coast of Scotland, haddock is a sweet-flavored fish with medium to large flakes. Like many other fish from Scotland’s waters, Scottish haddock has been certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.
Cod is another of Scotland’s popular whitefish species. A sweet-flavored fish, its large, succulent white flakes lend itself to a great variety of filleting options and cooking methods. If you order fish and chips in most of England, it’ll likely be cod. In Scotland and the north of England, however, it’ll likely be haddock. Both are delicious, of course – especially when they’re premium Scottish whitefish.
While haddock and cod are the most well-known and popular of Scotland’s many whitefish, halibut is another great option. While cod has a lighter, flakier texture, halibut is a bit more firm and can be used in a number of different recipes.
Halibut with Wild Mushrooms and Celeriac (serves 4)
Ingredients:
- 4 Halibut portions (about 150g each)
- Pinch Sea salt
- Pinch White pepper
- 25ml Rapeseed oil
- 20g Unsalted butter
- ½ Lemon
- 10g Micro arugula leaves
For the Mushrooms:
- 20g Butter
- ½ Shallot (finely diced)
- 1 Garlic clove (finely diced)
- 250g Wild mushrooms - preference is Girolles (Chanterelle) when in season
- 10ml PX Sherry vinegar
- 10g Flat parsley (finely chopped)
For the celeriac puree:
- 400g Celeriac (Celery Root) (peeled and diced)
- 500ml Chicken stock
- 50g Unsalted butter
- 100ml Double cream
- Pinch Sea salt
- Pinch Ground white pepper
Method:
- For the celeriac puree, place the celeriac and chicken stock into a sauce pan and simmer gently until the celeriac is cooked through and tender. Drain off the chicken stock and place the celeriac in a liquidizer and blitz until smooth then add the butter, cream, salt and pepper and blitz again until you have a smooth velvet-like puree. Set aside and keep warm until required.
- To prepare the mushrooms, in a frying pan melt the butter and gently fry the shallot and garlic until softened, add the wild mushrooms and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the sherry vinegar and cook until the vinegar has reduced then add the chopped parsley and set aside while you cook the halibut.
- For the halibut, season both sides with salt and pepper. In a frying pan, heat the rapeseed oil and place the halibut into the hot oil, cook on one side for 3 minutes then gently turn the fish over being careful not to break up the fish. Continue to cook for a further 1 minute then add the butter to the pan. Once the butter melts and starts to foam, baste the halibut with the hot butter. Remove the halibut from the pan and season with a squeeze of lemon.
- To plate, spread the base of a warm plate with the celeriac puree then place the halibut on top. Carefully top the halibut with the wild mushrooms and garnish with some micro arugula leaves.
