HALIBUT SOUP WITH CREAM, APPLE AND DILL

Preparation 20 minutes Cooking about 30 minutes Serves 4 This is not a dish to cook every day, but it is worth putting in the effort, even down to the dill oil. Feel free to use fish other than halibut, although sustainable Pacific halibut is available in the UK and it is possible to buy the farmed variety, too. I suggest hake or even Pacific cod as a substitute.

2 tbsp vegetable oil 2 banana shallots, sliced 3 bay leaves 4 sprigs thyme 2½ tbsp butter 100ml white wine 200ml fish stock pinch of pink peppercorns 1 Bramley apple

1 tbsp dill oil (see above) 200ml single cream juice ½ lemon 125g unsalted butter 250g halibut fillet, skinned and cut into small chunks 4 tbsp chopped mixed raisins and dates

1 Heat the vegetable oil in a pan over a medium heat, add the shallots and soften for a few minutes. Add the bay leaves, thyme, butter and white wine and reduce by half. Pour in the stock and cook for 5 minutes, then add the peppercorns.

2 Peel the apple and add the peel to the soup. Chop the apple flesh, put in a bowl and cover it with dill oil.

3 Continue to cook the soup for a further 10 minutes, then pour in the single cream and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Pass through a sieve, return to a clean or rinsed-out pan, season with salt and lemon juice, and whisk in the butter.

4 Add the halibut to the creamy soup and cook for a few minutes until opaque.

5 In each bowl put a tablespoon of the chopped raisins and dates. Divide the apple in dill oil between the bowls, then spoon the fish and its soup on top. Serve straightaway.