"Dave’s extra special tartare sauce

[CarlRak]

From The Chief (who likes writing about himself in the 3rd person):

"You’d better appreciate this, took me half an hour to write.

Dave’s extra special tartare sauce. A rich and sensuous mayonnaisy treat that is as good on fish as it is eaten with a spoon.

This is one of Dave's favourites. Works equally well with firm, oily fish or beer-battered fish and chips, and even salmon and the like.

You’ll need a food processor or blender (the type that is like a mini food processor that you use with your stick blender is best), some eggs, some decent quality olive oil (preferably not extra virgin), white anchovy fillets (available from good delis or fish shops), sea salt, white pepper, cornichons (Always Fresh brand is best), capers (preferably baby capers, and the type in salt are best), a lemon, and some chervil or tarragon (chervil is milder). If you don’t like that aniseed taste, you could use flat leaf parsley instead. In fact, if you’re cooking something earthy like trout, you could even use a more robust herb like thyme.

First, you have to cook the egg whites, but not the yolks. Use the larger size eggs (60-65g). Also try to use free range eggs, if not because they taste better, then because they barely cost more, and we should really treat our chickens better. Get a pan of water boiling (don’t use a small pan, even if you’re only cooking one or two eggs), then stick your eggs in it for EXACTLY 5 mins and not one second more if they’ve just come out of the fridge, or 4 mins 30 secs if they’re at room temperature, then run them under cold water to halt the cooking process. If they’re the really big eggs (70g), add 30 seconds to cooking time. Let them sit in cold water for a few minutes more, then peel them. The yolks should be completely runny and not cooked at all, and the egg whites almost completely but not quite cooked.

Split them over your blender and pour the yolks in, scooping out all the yolk with a spoon, and slowly add some olive oil, a bit at a time while beating/whisking, so that it all emulsifies into a mayonnaise. You’ll want to use around 50mL of oil per egg yolk, depending on desired consistency. Throw in the egg whites as well once everything is coming along nicely. Four eggs worth of this mixture will give enough sauce for four people.

Aside: This ‘cooked whole egg mayonnaise’ tastes great on its own, and goes unbelievably well with roast chicken. It can also be made into a variety of sauces and salad dressings with a little creativity. Try blending a whole bunch of basil into it, then mixing with some white wine vinegar and using it as a dressing for a potato salad – put it on while the potatoes are hot and let it sit. If you’re using it for salads, feel free to use extra virgin olive oil, or a combination of it and regular olive oil. You can even use other oils like hazelnut if you’re doing something very special.

Finely chop the chervil or whatever you’re using, then put this in the mixture. I like to use quite a bit – maybe half a bunch in a four egg batch. The other half I use to coat the fish before cooking. Also roughly chop the white anchovy fillets (around 2 fillets per egg used, more or less depending on taste), and add them as well. Blend it up until the chervil is mostly incorporated – the mixture will turn green, and the anchovies should help emulsify it further.

At any stage up until now, you can add more oil if the mixture is too solid (or even more eggs or anchovies if it’s too runny). It should look and feel like a thick mayonnaise.

Get the mixture out of the blender and into a bowl. Finely chop some cornichons – and I mean finely chop, like nice little uniform cubes around 1mm wide. Get a ruler to see how wide 1mm actually is before beginning. You’ll want a few tablespoons of these, and just add them a bit at a time to taste and stir in with a spoon. If you’re using baby capers, rinse and dry them, then add to taste. If you’re using the bigger ones, chop them up a bit after you’ve rinsed and dried them. Add some white pepper to taste, and some sea salt. Add the salt last, because there are a lot of salty things in it already, like the capers, anchovies, cornichons. Make sure you mix everything well with a spoon before tasting each time.

When ready to serve, squeeze a bit of lemon juice in (not too much, maybe a teaspoon per egg used) and stir through, and dollop onto or next to a piece of fish, add a small sprig of chervil on top or a light sprinkling of chervil leaves, a slice of lemon next to it, and you’re done.

To store any leftover sauce, put it in a bowl and cover with cling film, pressing the cling film into the surface of the sauce so that no air touches it. Will keep for at least a week in the fridge."

Cheers

Carl

[redpump]

Thanks Nibbles!

I'll need some anchovies to do this recipe, but I got the rest of the ingredients! Looking forward to using this tartare sauce with my (future) calamari rings

[spaners]

From The Chief (who likes writing about himself in the 3rd person):

"You’d better appreciate this, took me half an hour to write.

Dave’s extra special tartare sauce. A rich and sensuous mayonnaisy treat that is as good on fish as it is eaten with a spoon.

This is one of Dave's favourites. Works equally well with firm, oily fish or beer-battered fish and chips, and even salmon and the like.

You’ll need a food processor or blender (the type that is like a mini food processor that you use with your stick blender is best), some eggs, some decent quality olive oil (preferably not extra virgin), white anchovy fillets (available from good delis or fish shops), sea salt, white pepper, cornichons (Always Fresh brand is best), capers (preferably baby capers, and the type in salt are best), a lemon, and some chervil or tarragon (chervil is milder). If you don’t like that aniseed taste, you could use flat leaf parsley instead. In fact, if you’re cooking something earthy like trout, you could even use a more robust herb like thyme.

First, you have to cook the egg whites, but not the yolks. Use the larger size eggs (60-65g). Also try to use free range eggs, if not because they taste better, then because they barely cost more, and we should really treat our chickens better. Get a pan of water boiling (don’t use a small pan, even if you’re only cooking one or two eggs), then stick your eggs in it for EXACTLY 5 mins and not one second more if they’ve just come out of the fridge, or 4 mins 30 secs if they’re at room temperature, then run them under cold water to halt the cooking process. If they’re the really big eggs (70g), add 30 seconds to cooking time. Let them sit in cold water for a few minutes more, then peel them. The yolks should be completely runny and not cooked at all, and the egg whites almost completely but not quite cooked.

Split them over your blender and pour the yolks in, scooping out all the yolk with a spoon, and slowly add some olive oil, a bit at a time while beating/whisking, so that it all emulsifies into a mayonnaise. You’ll want to use around 50mL of oil per egg yolk, depending on desired consistency. Throw in the egg whites as well once everything is coming along nicely. Four eggs worth of this mixture will give enough sauce for four people.

Aside: This ‘cooked whole egg mayonnaise’ tastes great on its own, and goes unbelievably well with roast chicken. It can also be made into a variety of sauces and salad dressings with a little creativity. Try blending a whole bunch of basil into it, then mixing with some white wine vinegar and using it as a dressing for a potato salad – put it on while the potatoes are hot and let it sit. If you’re using it for salads, feel free to use extra virgin olive oil, or a combination of it and regular olive oil. You can even use other oils like hazelnut if you’re doing something very special.

Finely chop the chervil or whatever you’re using, then put this in the mixture. I like to use quite a bit – maybe half a bunch in a four egg batch. The other half I use to coat the fish before cooking. Also roughly chop the white anchovy fillets (around 2 fillets per egg used, more or less depending on taste), and add them as well. Blend it up until the chervil is mostly incorporated – the mixture will turn green, and the anchovies should help emulsify it further.

At any stage up until now, you can add more oil if the mixture is too solid (or even more eggs or anchovies if it’s too runny). It should look and feel like a thick mayonnaise.

Get the mixture out of the blender and into a bowl. Finely chop some cornichons – and I mean finely chop, like nice little uniform cubes around 1mm wide. Get a ruler to see how wide 1mm actually is before beginning. You’ll want a few tablespoons of these, and just add them a bit at a time to taste and stir in with a spoon. If you’re using baby capers, rinse and dry them, then add to taste. If you’re using the bigger ones, chop them up a bit after you’ve rinsed and dried them. Add some white pepper to taste, and some sea salt. Add the salt last, because there are a lot of salty things in it already, like the capers, anchovies, cornichons. Make sure you mix everything well with a spoon before tasting each time.

When ready to serve, squeeze a bit of lemon juice in (not too much, maybe a teaspoon per egg used) and stir through, and dollop onto or next to a piece of fish, add a small sprig of chervil on top or a light sprinkling of chervil leaves, a slice of lemon next to it, and you’re done.

To store any leftover sauce, put it in a bowl and cover with cling film, pressing the cling film into the surface of the sauce so that no air touches it. Will keep for at least a week in the fridge."

Cheers

Carl

If I catch anything tomorrow ill give it a go.

Regards Spanners

[Devil Ray]

Sounds like i am goin shopping