TEENY-WEENY CREAMY FISH SAMMIES
SERVES 4 / PREPARATION 30 MINUTES / COOKING 15 MINUTES
This is how we use up fish trimmings at the restaurant – skin and all! The sandwich filling is a mix of larger and smaller pieces of fish, bound with a generous creamy sauce.
200g firm white fish, skin on, cut into
2.5cm pieces
¼ cup plain flour
60g butter, plus extra for frying sammies
150ml milk
1 tablespoon chopped tarragon
1 tablespoon finely sliced chives juice and zest of 1 lemon pinch cayenne pepper
8 slices good soft white bread or brioche
3 eggs
150ml cream dill pickles, to serve (we use Mcclure’s)
Toss the fish in the flour and season well with salt. Set a wide frying pan over a medium to high heat, add the butter and, once sizzling, add the fish pieces in a single layer. Fry until golden on one side then turn each piece with tongs. Add any residual flour from the bowl and stir to coat fish, turning down the heat so as not to burn it. Now add about one third of the milk, stirring, then the next third, then the final third.
Use a spoon to flake the fish apart (some varieties are harder to flake than others). Off the heat add the herbs, lemon zest and most of the juice and the cayenne. Season to taste with salt. Set the mixture aside in a bowl to cool for about an hour. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Spread the cooled filling over four slices of bread, right to the edges, making sure the filling isn’t thicker than the slice of bread. Cover with the remaining four slices, press down lightly then halve on the diagonal.
Whisk the eggs and cream together, season well with salt and pepper, pour into a tray. Soak the sandwiches for 2 minutes on each side in the cream/egg mix.
Heat an ovenproof frying pan on medium, add a knob of butter and, once it starts to bubble, add the sammies. Leave enough room to turn them over; don’t overload the pan. Colour lightly on one side, flip over then put into the preheated oven for 4-5 minutes or until heated through. Drain on paper towel, cut in half again and serve hot with dill pickles on the side.