Brill or turbot with cous cous and beurre blanc

When buying whole fish such as brill or turbot allow 450g per person allowing for wastage of head, bones and skin. So to serve four we need a four pound whole fish. Fillet and skin the fish. Make fish stock from the bones.

For the sauce:

200 ml / 7 fl oz fish stock
100 ml / 3 fl oz dry white wine
1 tsp Dijon mustard
110g / 4 oz unsalted butter
1 tbsp double cream
Salt pepper



For the cous cous

175g / 6 oz cous cous
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
175 ml / 6 fl oz boiling water

To make the cous cous, pour the boiling water onto the cous cous, then add the other ingredients. As the cous cous absorbs the water just keep fluffing it occasionally with a fork to separate the grains.

Place the fillets of fish in a shallow dish, season them and pour over half the white wine. Cover with a lid or tin foil and cook in the oven (gas mark 5 / 190 C) for about 10 - 15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. While the fish is cooking you can make the sauce. Put the rest of the wine in a pan with the fish stock and reduce to half its volume. Whisk in the mustard and the cream. When the mixture is boiling again add the butter a bit at a time, shaking and stirring the pan as it melts and thickens the sauce. To serve spoon the cous cous onto warmed plates (or for more elegant presentation place into suitable moulds and turn out onto the plates). Pour the cooking liquor from the fish into the sauce and return it to the heat. Spoon the sauce onto the plates next to the cous cous and then lay the fillets of fish on the sauce. Garnish with a spray of parsley, some fronds of dill or finely chopped chive.