- 150g/5½oz watercress
- 150ml/5fl oz rapeseed oil
- sea salt
- 4 x 110g/4oz turbot fillets
- 300ml/10½fl oz rapeseed oil
- 300ml/10½fl oz sunflower oil
- 20ml/¾fl oz rapeseed oil
- 40g/1½oz shallot, finely chopped
- 50ml/2fl oz cider
- 15g/½oz dried whitebait
- ¼ garlic clove, chopped
- 250ml/9fl oz double cream
- 4 stalks purple sprouting broccoli
- 4 stalks kale
- vegetable oil, for deep frying
- For the watercress oil, bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the watercress for 15 seconds. Drain and refresh immediately in cold water.
- Put the watercress into a muslin cloth and squeeze out as much water as possible.
- Place in a blender with the rapeseed oil and a pinch of salt . Blend for five minutes, or until the colour of the oil changes to dark green.
- Put a sieve lined with muslin over a bowl. Add the oil and leave to stand for an hour, or overnight.
- For the fish, put the rapeseed oil in a pan and heat to 50C/120F.
- Poach the fish for 8-10 minutes then remove and place on a wire rack to drain.
- Leave the fish in a warm place for 5-10 minutes and finish by charring the skin with a chef’s blowtorch.
- For the cider sauce, heat the oil in a saucepan and gently fry the shallot without browning it.
- Add half the cider, the whitebait and garlic and heat until the volume of liquid has reduced by half.
- Add the double cream and bring to a simmer for five minutes.
- Let the sauce cool slightly then pulse in a blender and pass the sauce through a fine sieve.
- For the greens, steam the purple sprouting broccoli in a steamer for 4-5 minutes until tender.
- Trim the kale into large pieces.
- Fill a deep-fat fryer or a large, deep, heavy-bottomed pan two-thirds full with vegetable oil. Heat the oil to 160C/320F (use a probe thermometer to check the temperature if you're not using a deep-fat fryer). (CAUTION: Hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended)
- Add the kale to the fryer and fry until crisp (make sure you cover the fryer with lid when cooking the kale as it may spit).
- Drain the kale on a tray lined with kitchen paper and season with sea salt.
- Put the kale crisps in an oven set to the lowest possible temperature to keep warm until ready to serve.
- Just before serving, add the remaining cider to the sauce and season, to taste, with salt.
- Ladle the sauce into the middle of serving bowls. Drizzle with watercress oil. Place the fish in the centre. Finish with the purple sprouting broccoli and kale crisps.