Breaded Halibut with Spring Greens and Yoghurt

As with any fish, try and buy local and sustainably sourced

Ingredients:

For the fish

4 fillets of halibut

1 egg

100g flour or thereabouts (enough to coat each bit of fish)

100g breadcrumbs (homemade is nicer but any will do)

Few stems of parsley (optional)

1-2 clove of garlic

Salt & pepper

Mild olive or other oil such as rapeseed

For the greens

1 bunch green asparagus

1 bunch of wild garlic with their buds or flowers

250g plain yoghurt

1 tsp Dijon mustard (optional)

1-2tsp lemon juice

Cooking Method:

Cut each fillet in half, sprinkle them with a little salt, the chopped parsley and the sliced garlic. Cover and leave in a cool room or the fridge for an hour or longer. If you don’t have time for this, just leave them for as long as you need to do the next bit.

Meanwhile, prepare three shallow bowls; one with the beaten egg, the other holding the flour and the final one with the breadcrumbs.  When that is done, chop the asparagus and wild garlic. Boil a pot of water and when it is boiled add the chopped asparagus.  Turn the heat off and put the lid on and this. This should just sort of blanch them as you don’t want them overcooked. Basically, they are perfect when they are a bright richer green but before they go pale again. This will vary in time so keep an eye on them and if they look done, take them out of the hot water, rinse them with cold water and leave to one side again to heat up with the wild garlic in a bit.

Slowly heat one large and one smaller non-stick shallow pan with some oil. The larger pan can be on a slightly higher heat than the smaller one depending on your cooker. As they are heating, place each fillet of fish (one by one is easier) in the flour to coat all over lightly, then dip in the egg, again to coat fully, then coat each one with a thin layer of breadcrumbs. Gently place each one so that it fits flat in the pan and fry on both sides until it is browned all over. This should cook the fish inside nicely. When the first few fish go in the pan and are gently frying,  put all of the greens into the smaller pan and gently fry. You may find that they heat quite quickly in which case if they look done, just turn the heat off and put a lid on them to keep them warm until the fish pieces are all ready.  If you are worried about the fish pieces getting cold (which might happen if you are cooking for a larger number of people) either cover the done ones too or keep them warm in a low to medium hot oven.  Remember that they will keep on cooking in the oven so if you are cooking for a larger number than 2 to 4 people, fry them a little less so that they don’t overcook when you then give them some time in the oven.

Mix the mustard into the yoghurt and season if you’d like.

Serve the fish with the greens and yoghurt and a slice of any leftover lemon.