This dish of rich cockle chowder with roast Cornish cod from chef Ben Boeynaems is balanced with some refreshing compressed cucumber and vibrant cucumber oil. It's garnished with a variety of sea vegetables, including sea aster and rock samphire.
The day before serving, brine the cod and make the cucumber oil. First, bring the water, salt and kombu to a simmer then take it off the heat. Set aside to chill
Brine the cod fillet in the kombu stock for 12 hours
For the cucumber oil, first prepare an ice bath
Heat the grapeseed oil to 60°C, then remove from the heat
Blend the oil for 4 minutes with the spinach at full speed in a liquidiser
Transfer the oil to a sous-vide bag, and submerge into the ice bath. Once cool, strain out the spinach
Freeze the oil for around 2 hours, so that any liquid left in the oil sticks to the tray. Once frozen, pour off the oil and pass through a fine sieve
Blend the cucumber skins together with 400g chlorophyll oil, and then infuse in the fridge for 24 hours
The next day, strain the cucumber oil through a fine mesh sieve
Dry the brined cod and portion it to 140g. Wrap in cling film
Cook for a few minutes until they all open, and then strain the stock. Keep the stock and the cockles, and chill both quickly
Pick all the cockles from their shells
For the cockle velouté, add 700g cockle stock to a pan and reduce to 200ml. Add the double cream, crème fraîche and Maldon salt to taste
Blend the butter into the velouté, and then add lemon juice and black pepper to taste
For the potatoes, bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Cook the potatoes for 6 minutes, then drain
For the cucumber, compress the cucumber rounds with some of the cucumber oil, reserving some for finishing the chowder
Grill the cucumbers on one side, and then set aside
Blanch all the sea vegetables in a pot of salted water. Dress with olive oil and lemon juice to taste
To assemble the dish, first preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4
Pan-fry the cod portions in a little olive oil. Once golden, transfer to the oven and bake for 4-6 minutes or until cooked through
Add the diced blanched shallots, 100g of the Charlotte potatoes, 300g cockle velouté and the chopped chives to a pan. Gently warm the chowder, and add 100g of the picked cockles at the last minute, to prevent them from becoming tough
Split the chowder with some cucumber oil, and then spoon the chowder onto 4 plates. Add the cod and grilled cucumbers, and then finish the dish with the dressed sea vegetables and freshly opened cockles
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