Pan-fried turbot with sauce blanquette and soft sweet onions

Recipe for butter-fried turbot with sauce blanquette and soft, sweet onions.

Course Lunch, Main course, Starter

Cuisine Danish, French

Nøgleord Entertaining, Fish, New Year's Eve food, New Year's Eve menu, Starter

Total Time 25

Servings people

Calories 678kcal

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and cook the onions over a medium heat until translucent and soft.
Add the sugar and let it melt and caramelise the onions.
Once the onions are lightly golden, turn the heat down low so they simply keep warm.

Sprinkle the fish with a little salt and sugar and leave the pieces to stand for 10 minutes.
If the pieces are very thin, make a shallow cut across the middle of each piece without cutting all the way through – the fish can then be folded over to make a thicker piece.
Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a frying pan until crisp, then leave it to drain on a piece of kitchen paper. Chop finely and set aside.
Pour boiling water over the peas with a little salt and leave them to stand until thawed. Then drain off the liquid.
If you are using fresh peas, they simply need podding.
Melt a good knob of clarified butter, or heat the oil, in a frying pan.
Pat the excess salt and sugar off the turbot with a little kitchen paper and fry the pieces over a medium heat for about 3-4 minutes on one side – depending on thickness.
Turn the fish, switch off the heat and let the pieces finish cooking through on the other side in the residual heat. Season with a little salt and pepper.

If you can, take the eggs and crème fraîche out of the fridge about 20 minutes beforehand.
Melt the butter with the stock in a saucepan and heat it through thoroughly. Switch off the heat and let the mixture stand for a moment. Ideally it should reach about 80°C.
Whisk the egg, egg yolks, crème fraîche and lemon juice together in another small saucepan.
Then add the butter mixture in a thin stream while blending the sauce constantly with a stick blender. Continue until all of the butter and stock mixture has been used, blending constantly as you slowly pour it in.
Tilt the pan if needed, so the blender gets hold of the sauce straight away.
Season the sauce to taste with more lemon juice, salt and freshly ground pepper and give it a thorough final blend.

Pour the sauce into the bottom of 4 deep plates.
Divide the soft onions between the plates, lay the fish on top of the onions and scatter over the peas and bacon.
Finish the fish with fresh herbs, freshly ground pepper and pickled mustard seeds, if using.