The method
- Heat up a non-stick pan until almost smoking hot.
- Add a drizzle of rapeseed oil.
- Place hake, skin side down in the pan and turn down the heat.
- Cook the hake slowly on its skin side until it is cooked halfway up the fish.
- Add a sprinkle of salt, the butter and lemon juice.
- Take the pan off the heat, turn the fish over and allow it to finish cooking in the residual heat.
- Heat up a heavy based pot.
- Add the mussels and white wine and cook until all of the mussels have opened.
- Drain the liquid off the mussels and pass this liquid through a fine muslin cloth.
- Pick all of the meat out of the mussels reserving 8 in half shells for garnish.
- Set the mussels aside.
- In the heavy based pot, add the fish stock, mussel stock and all of the vegetables except the spinach and cook until the vegetables are tender.
- Add the spinach and all of the mussels.
- Wilt the spinach and heat through the mussels.
- Pour the mussel and vegetable broth mixture between 4 bowls and top with the hake.
Mark Greenaway is the Chef Patron of Restaurant Mark Greenaway on North Castle Street and Bistro Moderne in Stockbridge.
Twitter: @markgreenaway / @bistromoderne