Читать книгу Simple Beginnings: Beading - Aiden Byrne - Страница 17

SERVES 4

1 litre whole milk

1 garlic clove, halved

4 large sprigs of thyme

1 kg cod fillet

75 ml fish stock (see page 200)

100 ml double cream

2 kg watercress

1 large potato, peeled and finely sliced

1 large onion, peeled and finely sliced

25 g butter

1.5 litres boiling vegetable stock (see page 198)

4 large organic hens’ eggs

75 ml white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped chives

salt

cracked pepper

BEFORE YOU START have a large bowl of iced water ready with another large bowl (preferably stainless steel) sitting on top of it so that you can chill the sieved soup immediately and keep its freshness and colour. Fill your deepest saucepan with water and bring to a high boil.

HEAT THE MILK with the garlic and thyme sprigs, remove from the heat and leave to infuse. Meanwhile, season the cod with salt and cracked pepper. After 15 minutes return the milk to the heat, put the cod in the milk and allow it to cook slowly for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave the cod until the milk cools. Remove the fish from the milk and flake it onto a plate. Set aside.

PUT THE FISH stock in a saucepan and heat to reduce by half. Add half the double cream, reduce the liquid again by half and keep warm.

PICK THE LEAVES from the watercress stalks. Sweat the onion and potato together in the butter in a covered, heavy-bottomed pan, making sure that they do not colour. If the potato sticks add a little vegetable stock and remove the stuck potato with a wooden spoon. Cook until the potato is soft. Add two-thirds of the watercress leaves and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the hot vegetable stock and return to the boil. Add the rest of the cream and reboil. Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend in batches until smooth. Add the remaining watercress as you blend; this will give a fresher soup, in both flavour and colour. Pass the soup through your finest sieve into the bowl set on iced water then immediately transfer to the refrigerator.

CRACK THE EGGS into four separate cups and turn down the boiling water to a low simmer. Add the vinegar and drop the eggs in one by one. (I don’t whisk the water, because if you have enough water the eggs should form teardrop shapes on their own.) Cook the eggs for 1½ minutes and plunge them into iced water to stop cooking.

TO SERVE, gently reheat the soup. Reheat the cod flakes in the fish cream and add the chopped chives. Reheat the poached egg in hot water. Put the soup in four bowls, spoon in the creamed cod and top with a poached egg.

This is a perfect vegetarian starter that would also serve two as a light lunch. It’s quite a substantial dish and has a very strong flavour.