If you really want to impress with your barbecue then the scientific cooking of Heston Blumenthal will be right up your alley. Here he explains a delicious recipe for barbecue lemon sole served with shrimp and cucumber sauce, taken from his column in The Times:
Serves 4
This is a great dish with which to impress your friends. The trick is to prepare the cucumber early, and make sure you have all the sauce ingredients to hand. It takes just a few minutes to whisk up the sauce while the fish sizzles on the barbie. You can also do this dish with sea bass.
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 80g cucumber, peeled
- 200g butter
- Juice of half a lemon
- 4g garam masala
- 120g brown shrimps
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2g chives
For the fish
- 1 whole lemon sole (ask your fishmonger to trim and skin both sides, but leave it on the bone)
- A little olive oil Salt and pepper
Method
Cut the cucumber in half lengthways and remove the seeds. Using a mandolin or knife, cut into 1mm slices. Have a bowl of iced water ready. Blanch the slices in boiling water for 10 seconds, then refresh briefly in the iced water. Drain the cucumber, cover and refrigerate until needed.
Brush the fish with a little olive oil and season. Place straight onto a medium-hot barbecue. A good way to test the heat is to see if you can bear to hold your hand 15cm away from the coals for 3 seconds — if so, it should be good for cooking fish. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side. The fish is done when the flesh comes away from the bone.
To make the sauce, gently warm the butter and lemon juice in a pan. Add the garam masala and cook over a very low heat for 1 minute, taking care not to let it boil. Add the refrigerated cucumber and shrimps, and again warm gently without boiling. Season to taste with salt, pepper and a little lemon juice. Finish with a few chives, pour over the sole and serve.
Credit: The Times
