Recipes

Whole baked turbot served with broccoli and hollandaise

Whole baked turbot. Photograph: Harry Weir

Paul Flynn's face
Paul Flynn
Sat Sep 16 2023 - 03:00
Serves: 6
Course: Dinner
Ingredients
  • 1 whole 3kg turbot
  • 200ml lightly salted water
  • A few twists of black pepper
  • For the hollandaise:
  • 4 free-range egg yolks
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • A pinch of caster sugar
  • Salt and white pepper
  • 300g melted warm butter
  • For the tenderstem broccoli:
  • 30ml olive oil
  • 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
  • A knob of butter
  • 2 packets tenderstem broccoli (400g)
  • 150ml water
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
  2. Get your fishmonger to trim the head and the skirt of the fish, then to make an incision along the outside of the fillets and across the tail. This allows the skin to be lifted easily when cooked, to expose the flesh.
  3. Pour the water into a large roasting tray then place the turbot on top. Add a few twists of pepper and bake for 20 minutes before checking.
  4. A smaller fish will take less time, don’t be afraid to check. The turbot is ready when the flesh is creamy white, and lifts from its central bone with ease. A slight touch of pink near the bone is expected and acceptable.
  5. For the hollandaise: Boil a saucepan of water then place it on a kitchen towel to stabilise it. Put the egg yolks into a largish bowl on top of the saucepan, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
  6. Add the lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper, then whisk over the steaming water for two to three minutes, until the egg yolks start to thicken.
  7. Slowly drizzle the melted butter into the egg little by little, making sure it amalgamates all the while. I like to add the milk solids from the butter, it’s full of flavour. Set the hollandaise aside, covered, in a warm place.
  8. For the broccoli: gently colour the garlic in the olive oil. When the garlic turns golden, add the butter to the oil to cool it down and stop the garlic getting brown and bitter. Add the broccoli and the water to the pan, season and cover. This can all be done ahead of time.
  9. When ready to serve, bring the broccoli to a rapid boil and cook for three minutes or so depending on the thickness of the broccoli stalks. The water will evaporate and cook down into a garlicky emulsion that will coat the broccoli like a dream.
Paul Flynn

Paul Flynn

Paul Flynn is a chef, restaurateur and contributor to The Irish Times. He and his wife, Máire, run the Tannery restaurant and cookery school in Dungarvan, Co Waterford

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