Ingredients:
4 x 8oz (240g) skate wings (skinned and
wing one removed)
1/2 kilo sun ripened plum tomatoes
3 banana shallots, halved and finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
6 marinated (not salted) anchovy fillets
8 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
2 level tablespoons of caster sugar
1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil
1/2 cup of flat leaf parsley roughly chopped
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Poaching Liquid
2 pints (1.138 litres) of cold water
1/2 onion
1 carrot, chopped
1 leek, cleaned and chopped
6 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
To Serve
roughly chopped parsley
Method:
Poaching Liquor:Plum Tomato Confit:
Fry the shallots and garlic in olive oil on a low heat so as not to colour the
onion, but to soften. Then as the Thyme. Bay leafs, halved tomatoes, caster
sugar and coarsely chopped anchovy fillets, simmer gently on a low heat.
Skate:
Return the poaching liquid to a gently simmer (in a pan large enough to hold
the skate wings). At this point gently place your skate wings in the poaching
liquid. They should take about 6-8 minutes to cook, be careful not to over cook
the skate. Serve:
To Serve:
Remove the skate from liquor and place on the serving dishes. Remove the thyme
sprigs and bay leafs from the tomatoes confit, season to taste with a little sea
salt and ground pepper. Spoon the confit of tomatoes over the skate and finally
garnish with coarsely chopped parsley.
Chefs Tips:
Always make sure you cook skate soon as possible after purchasing as it does not
keep fresh for long.
Dutch tomatoes are usually grown in heated green houses and do not have the wonderful summery flavour of sun ripened tomatoes.
Spanish olive oil (of quality) is matured in oak casks so it has a wonderfully oaky flavour to it.
Marinated anchovies are readily available in most supermarkets and are much more subtle in flavour than the salted variety.
This recipe is from How To Cook Fish - http://www.howtocookfish.info