Pan-fried red mullet, baked pink fir potato, crab and saffron aioli
Pan-fried fish, fluffy potatoes. garlicky saffron mayonnaise and a flavoursome sauce. A perfect fish supper for two.
Ingredients
For the potatoes
- 2 pink fir potatoes
- 1 lemon, juice only
- olive oil, for drizzling
- 2 cooked crab claws, meat picked, shells discarded
- 1 tbsp finely chopped sea parsley
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the sauce
- mullet bones, from 2 red mullets (ask your fishmonger)
- 3 tomatoes deseeded
- 75²µ/2½´Ç³ú butter
- 1 sprig tarragon
- 150ml/5fl oz red wine
- 400ml/14fl oz chicken stock
For the aioli
- 2 free-range egg yolks
- 1 tbsp English mustard
- 25ml/1fl oz white wine vinegar
- 250ml/9fl oz veg oil
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- pinch saffron, soaked in warm water
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the red mullet
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 red mullet fillets, pin-boned
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.
Season the potatoes with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until cooked through. Allow to cool, cut a criss-cross on the top of the potato, add the lemon juice, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Top with the crab meat and sprinkle with sea parsley.
To make the sauce, roast the mullet bones in the oven for 3–5 minutes. Transfer to a saucepan, add the tomato, butter, tarragon, wine and stock and bring to the boil. Blend in a food processor and then pass through a fine sieve into a clean pan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5–8, until the volume of the liquid has reduced by half.
To make the aioli, place the yolks, mustard and vinegar into the bowl of a clean food processor. Use the whisk attachment to whisk together for a minute, then gradually add the oil. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add the garlic and saffron and mix well.
To make the mullet, heat the oil in a frying pan and pan-fry the red mullet skin-side down for 2 minutes. Turn the fish over and cook for a further minute. Season with salt and pepper.
To serve, place the warm potato on a plate, place the mullet fillets to the side, spoon some of the aioli onto the plate and finish with the sauce.