Our head chef Joe Simmonds has very kindly shared his recipe for a delicious and hearty dish that’s guaranteed to impress dinner guests: spiced hake fillet with roast artichokes. This hake recipe serves four people and would make a great meal to enjoy in the colder months of autumn and winter.

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Hake Recipe

Ingredients:

4 fillets of hake

1 tablespoon of cumin

1 tablespoon of ground ginger

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

500g Jerusalem artichokes

1 pack of cooked flatpack chestnuts (you can normally buy these in most supermarkets around Christmas)

200g of Brussel sprouts

100g of smoked streaky bacon or pancetta

200g of clams (or you can substitute for another shellfish)

2 medium sized shallots

1 sprig of thyme

2 cloves of garlic

500ml of chicken stock

1 large baking potato, diced

100ml of double cream

Vegetable oil

Knob of butter

Crispy kale (optional)

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Method:

• Lightly toast the cumin, cinnamon and ginger in a dry pan, for 2-3 minutes until it smells aromatic. Leave to cool.
• For the artichoke and clam chowder, dice one onion. Sweat that off with a knob of butter in a heavy base pan for about 5 minutes. Then add one sprig of thyme, two cloves of garlic, 50g of the Jerusalem artichokes and the potato. Cook those off for another 5 minutes together.
• Cut the streaky bacon into small strips and add to the pan.
• Add 500ml of chicken stock. Preferably fresh, from a supermarket or you can make your own. Bring to boil and then turn to simmer, until the potatoes and artichokes are cooked. Put this to one side.
• With the remaining artichokes, wash and cut in half. Put them face down on a baking tray with a little bit of oil, roast them in the oven for about 30/40 minutes until tender and a nice golden colour on base.
• For Brussel sprouts, boil in a pan for 5 minutes. Put into ice water.
• Return to chowder, add 100ml of cream and then blitz in a liquidiser until smooth and season to taste.
• Place the hake fillets flesh side down in the cooled spices. Heat a non-stick frying pan, with a tiny dash of oil.
• Shake off any excess spice from the hake fillets and place skin-side down in the pan, holding it so the skin stays flat and goes crispy. Cook for 2 minutes and then turn over, and add knob of butter, and pop it in the oven for 8 minutes.
• Reheat the chowder with 200g of clams until they open. Put the chowder in a large soup bowl and then place artichokes, sprouts and chestnuts around. Place the hake fillet in the middle, and garnish with crispy kale if you like.