I Bloody Love Brill

I'm always asked 'what is your favourite fish to eat?'. Well that's always a tough one as halibut, wild sea trout and wild gilt head bream are always strong favourites, however, brill always tickles my taste buds. Brill is a fabulous fish to look at, to talk about, to work with, to cook with and of course to eat. My very favourite brill recipe involves cooking with red wine *eye lids raised*. Yes I know its not 'correct' to cook white fish in rouge but a robust red adds colour and richness and really does work.

Fillets of Brill in Red Wine

My good friends at Newlyn Fish Company were kind enough to send me a fantastic 900grm brill, a good size for two, and after much hacking I managed to get two acceptable fillets from the fish (scaled first).

Ingredients (serves 2) Preheat oven at 180c/gas mark 4

2 Fillets of brill
100ml Fish stock
100ml Red Wine
75grm Butter
60grm sliced Shallots
salt and pepper

For this you need a nice big flame-proof dish in which the fillets will not overlap. Grease the dish with butter, lay in the shallots, season the fillets well and lay them on the shallots. You can either have the fillets skinned or have the skin scaled depending on if you are partial to skin or not. Pour in the red wine and fish stock, cover and bring to just below boiling point.

Once the liquid has reached just below boiling point remove from stove and place into the top of the pre heated oven for 6-8 minutes until the brill is just cooked.

Remove the fillets and shallots gently onto warmed plates and return the flame proof dish to the hob and boil the remaining liquid rapidly until reduced by half. Whisk in a few small pieces of diced butter until you have a smooth shiny sauce. Split all evenly and maybe serve with some Jersey royals and seasonal veg.

Ok my presentation is much but taste wise its a beautiful dish and well worth a try.