Mark McEwan: Dover sole with toasted hazelnuts looks good and tastes better

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This article was published 25/09/2021 (1870 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Every Saturday, Chef Mark McEwan, one of Canada’s most celebrated chefs, serves up everything you need for a special weekend meal, including a recipe and expert at-home cooking tips.

Dover sole is one of the very best fish to eat: delicious, firm and flavourful. The toasted hazelnuts in this dish add richness and full nutty flavour, while the crispy parsley provides additional texture. I’d recommend serving this dish with roasted beets, and starting the meal with a consommé. Since the fish dish is butter-rich, the broth will whet your appetite but remain light. A Chablis is a perfectly balanced wine pairing.

Chef tips:

A combination of stovetop and oven is best for cooking Dover sole. Make sure it’s cooked through, but don’t overcook. When the fish is done, the flesh should just pull away from spine. To fillet the sole, place the cooked fish on the cutting board. With your knife edge, pull the side fins off and discard them. The main spine line is your guide to loosen the fillets. Gently slide the spine to the side and place the top fillets on a warm plate. Once the top fillets are off, pull the spine off which should release the bottom two fillets. A well-organized prep is the key to a good meal. I always work with a list in the order that I imagine them taking the most amount of time. I am right-handed so I work left to right and finish each job before I start the next.

Dover Sole with Orange Segments, Hazelnuts and Brown Butter

1/2 cup (125 mL) hazelnuts

1 medium navel orange

Flour for dredging

Salt and pepper

2 Dover sole, about 1 lb (450 g) each, cleaned, dark skin peeled but white skin left on

1 tbsp (15 mL) basic marinade

1/4 cup (50 mL) clarified butter

1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil

3 tbsp (45 mL) butter

Dash each of Tabasco and Worcestershire

2 tsp (10 mL) lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1 tsp (5 mL) sage, thyme, and parsley, chopped and combined

Crispy parsley

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast for 7 or 8 minutes. Transfer to a clean kitchen cloth; rub them together to remove skins. Chop the cleaned nuts coarsely and set aside. Leave the oven on.

Preheat grill — or grill pan — on high. Cut orange into slices about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick. Sprinkle lightly with some of the olive oil and char quickly. When cool, cut out orange segments; set aside.

Combine flour, salt and pepper. Rub each cleaned sole with marinade; dredge in seasoned flour. In two small pans or an ovenproof non-stick skillet large enough to accommodate both fish, heat the clarified butter and remaining olive oil over medium heat. Fry fish white skin side down until edges get brown and crisp, about 4 minutes. Flip fish and transfer pan to oven until fish is cooked through, about 12 minutes. Let fish rest 3 or 4 minutes, then fillet each one into three (the side with skin attached will become a double fillet). Plate reassembled fish skin side up. Cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

Prepare brown butter. Heat a skillet over high heat until it’s very hot. Add butter, scald for 15 seconds; move from heat. Swirl in Tabasco, Worcestershire and lemon juice. Scatter hazelnuts and orange segments over the fish, then pour brown butter over top. Finish with fresh herbs and crispy parsley. Serves 2.

Crispy parsley

1 cup (250 mL) vegetable or olive oil

Parsley leaves

In a small skillet, heat oil until it is nearly smoking. Drop leaves right in, 1 small batch at a time. When they darken and shrivel, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on towels.

Basic marinade

1 cup (250 mL) olive oil

1 tbsp (15 mL) rosemary, sage, thyme, and parsley, all chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

Combine all ingredients and let steep for at least an hour. Marinade will keep, refrigerated, for up to a week.

Roasted beets

1 lb (450 g) young, variegated beets (golden, cane, white, red cylinder, etc.)

2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil

3 cloves garlic, smashed

3 or 4 sprigs thyme

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Scrub beets well — do not trim, peel, or halve them or colours will bleed. Spread a sheet of foil on a work surface. Cluster beets in a single layer at the centre. Drizzle with olive oil. Scatter garlic and thyme over top and season well. Create an envelope with the foil, seal it tightly, and wrap in a second layer of foil. Roast until the beets are tender —anywhere from 45 minutes for a 2-inch (5 cm) beet to nearer 2 hours for large ones (to test, protect your hand with an oven mitt or kitchen cloth and give them a squeeze through the foil).

Let beets cool for 10 minutes before unwrapping the package. As soon as the beets have cooled enough touch, peel them (the skin will come off like wet paper). Trim, and cut or slice as desired. Serves 4.

Chef Mark McEwan is a Toronto-based chef, entrepreneur, mentor and writer of best-selling cookbooks. He is a freelance contributor for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @chef_MarkMcEwan