To make a kob steak and mustard mashed potatoes for four, you will need:
4 middlecut fillets of kob
1 clove of garlic
1 lemon
Extra-virgin olive oil
Butter
100g white flour
4 to 8 potatoes
Wholegrain mustard
A few whole capers
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Starting from the top, prepare your tools and workspace. You’re going to need a square metre of clean kitchen counter plus a heavy-bottomed frying pan. Inspect the fish steaks and remove any bones. Pour the flour onto the counter and coat the steaks with the flour on all sides.
While this is a pleasant, hands-on, TV-celebrity-chef sort of thing to do, the cleaning up process is fairly extensive. So if this is an issue, use this alternative, no-mess procedure – take a large Ziploc bag, pour in the 100g of flour, add the fish steaks, zip and shake it all about until the fish is dusted all over with flour. Removed the steaks and discard the bag of fishy flour. It’s that simple.
Next, comes a big decision – are we going to go exclusively for olive oil, or shall we hit the hedonism button big-time and indulge in butter? Butter – and lots of it – is one the reasons good restaurant food tastes better than the homemade stuff. But butter and high heat don’t go too well together, as the fats burn, producing a bad taste and an even worse smell. The answer is to use a mixture of equal proportions of butter and extra-virgin olive oil. This allows the cooking temperature to reach the appropriate sizzle level without the butter burning.
Crush and peel the clove of garlic, then chop it very finely. Add it to the pan and stir-fry for a minute or two to lightly flavour the oil and remove with a slotted spoon.
Add the steaks to the hot olive oil and butter mixture and fry on medium heat for two minutes per side, or until done to your liking. Lightly season the cooked fish with a little salt and some coarsely ground black pepper and garnish with a couple of capers and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
Serve this five-star food experience immediately, accompanied by freshly mashed potatoes. Add a teaspoon of coarse Dijon mustard to each serving of mash, or alternatively, mix the mustard into the mash before dishing up.
A well-chilled Chenin Blanc is the perfect beverage with which to pair this dish. – David Basckin |fw
