What better way to start the day than with a bottle of Guinness. No, really ... Foreign Extra, no less!
Better have some food with that, eh?
Okay, remember yesterday? I made some potato croutons for my Loch Trout dish and had some trimmings leftover.
I diced those potato pieces into small, perhaps half centimetre cubes and started to cook them through and colour up in goose fat.
Meanwhile, I turned my attention to the John Dory ...
John Dory, also known as St Peter's Fish, has a cool method of capturing its prey - it shoots its mouth out and withdraws the catch. You can play about with the mouth and weird out your Mrs if you like, or just get on with it.
John Dory is a squat fish, half of it head. It also has a row of spines/spikes all around it and several more on top.
My filleting method is to cut around the fish, removing all the spikes and spines, and the head. I'm left then with just a bit of gut which can easily be pulled out and cleaned up. The fillets removed by simply sliding the tip of the knife into the fish along the bone until the middle is reached. That's one side. Next, do the same from the other side. Flip and repeat. Two fillets.
With the potatoes now cooked through and colouring up well, I added some spinach, spring onions and garlic. Colcannon is usually made from mashed potato and cabbage, but it is a dish which comes in many forms and with many names the world over: Bubble & Squeak, Stampot, Pyttipanna, Hash, the list goes on.
Serve out, fry an egg and in the still hot pan, warm the John Dory through. Not too much; this is a fish that is great just warmed.
Complete the plate with some superfluous greens, wasabi greens in my case, and a little bowl of pickled beetroot alongside.
Sláinte!
