Halibut, Charred Melon, Hundred Hills Sparkling Wine and Dill

Adam Jackson

Adam Jackson

6th February 2024
Adam Jackson

Halibut, Charred Melon, Hundred Hills Sparkling Wine and Dill

210 min

A dish from The Old Deanery

Ingredients

Fish

  • 1x 6/8 kg farmed halibut
  • Malden sea salt to cure

Sauce

  • 2 litre double cream
  • 200ml Hundred Hills sparkling wine
  • 60ml lemon juice
  • 125ml Kikkoman gluten free soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp mara dried smoked dulse flakes
  • 100g fresh mixed seaweed (sea lettuce and red dulse)
  • 4x shallots, diced
  • 1x fennel bulb
  • 2x celery sticks
  • 2x bay leaves
  • 20g dill storks
  • 20g chervil
  • 100g smoked butter
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 10ml Chardonnay vinegar
  • 40g dried wild mushrooms
  • Pinch of smoked paprika
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper

Dill Oil

  • 225g dill
  • 175ml rapeseed (vegetable) oil
  • Large pinch of salt

Dill Emulsion

  • 3x slow cooked eggs yolks
  • 3 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp Chardonnay vinegar
  • Dill oil

Fennel Puree (optional)

  • 4x fennel bulbs, sliced
  • 100ml Hundred Hills sparkling wine
  • 80g butter
  • 60ml olive oil
  • 60ml Kikkoman gluten free soy sauce
  • 125ml double cream
  • Pinch of smoked paprika
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper

Melon

  • 1x galia melon
  • 1x cantaloupe melon
  • Fennel salt
  • Dill oil

Garnish

  • Picked rock samphire
  • Sea lettuce dressed in Chardonnay vinegar
  • Picked fennel/dill flowers

Method

Fish

Fillet, skin and trim halibut.
Leave as much of the fat under the skin as possible.

Sauce

Add all ingredients apart from lemon juice and Chardonnay vinegar and bring to a simmer in a medium/large saucepan.
Add lemon juice and Chardonnay vinegar and stir well.
Simmer sauce for 20 minutes.
Pass sauce through a sieve onto the chervil and dill storks. Leave to infuse for 20 minutes.
Pass sauce through a fine sieve.

Dill Oil

Add all ingredients to Thermomix and blitz at full speed at 60 degrees for 5 minutes.
Pass it through cheese cloth and drain off any water.

Dill Emulsion

Slow cook the egg yolks in a water bath, cook at 67 degrees for 45 minutes.
Whisk together Dijon mustard, egg yolks, and vinegar.
Slowly incorporate dill oil until you have a mayonnaise consistency.
Add to a piping bag and it’s ready to use.
Reserve the surplus dill oil and add to a small squeeze bottle to use when plating.

Melon

Use a melon baller to achieve the round melon size.
Salt balled melon in fennel salt for 20 minutes.
Scorch the melons with a blowtorch and dress with dill oil.

Plate and Garnish

Take required quantity of sauce and heat to a simmer.
Then use a hand blender to add 5g of smoked butter to every 2x portions of sauce.
Finally add trout roe, diced kohlrabi and parsley just before plating.
Warm required amount of sauce, don’t allow it to boil.
Drain melons on a cloth.
Pan sear halibut, fat side down until golden. Add 50g of diced unsalted butter.
Flip the halibut and baste with butter. Check the temperature and when slightly under the desired temperature, remove halibut from the pan and allow to rest.
Plate melon, dill emulsion, optional fennel purée and garnishes in a half moon shape.
Place halibut on the left side of the garnish.
Add trout roe, kohlrabi and parsley to sauce. Spoon the sauce into the centre of the plate.
Finally drizzle with the surplus dill oil to finish.

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