1. Score and season the hake fillets and place in the fridge to rest.
2. Pick and blanch the kale until soft, allow to drain then set aside.
3. For the cauliflower purée, caramelise the onions in the butter, add the cauliflower and again caramelise. Add the vegetable nage and simmer until cooked. Pass out the veg and keep separate, return the cauliflower stock to the stove, add the cream and reduce by half. Blitz the veg, adding enough liquid to make a good purée, pass through a chinois and season.
4. To make the fennel croquettes, bake the potatoes in the oven until soft and fluffy in the centre. Scoop out the flesh into a bowl, sweat the shallot and diced fennel in a little oil and butter until soft with a good pinch of fennel seeds. Add this to the potato with chopped parsley and season well. Roll out the mix into 20g balls and lightly roll in plain flour, then in beaten egg and finally in panko breadcrumbs. Place in the fryer for four minutes when you are beginning to plate the dish.
5. To make the lemon vinaigrette, blitz white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, lemon balm, garlic, salt and black pepper together. Slowly stream olive oil into the vinegar mixture while blitzing with the lemon juice. Adjust with seasoning if needed.
6. Pan fry the hake fillets skin side down in a hot pan with some oil for a few minutes. Then add 50g of butter and allow cooking for one minute. Turn the hake over and allow cooking for another few minutes until cooked, and keep basting the butter over it.
7. Remove the hake from the pan and allow to rest for a minute. In the same pan, begin to fry off the kale until it starts to crisp. Mix with some of the lemon vinaigrette, drain the kale and blow torch until crispy.
8. Begin to plate the dish by placing some cauliflower purée on the plate so you can sit the croquette on at 9 o’clock. Next place the blow torched kale at 12 o’clock and the pan fried hake sitting just behind the kale at 6 o’clock. Dot some more cauliflower purée around the plate and finish with a drizzle of vinaigrette and lemon balm.