Hake, Clams and Chorizo in Broth with Paella Rice

 

BROTH

 

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small shallot, thinly sliced

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds

Pinch of saffron threads

2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth

24 manila clams or cockles, scrubbed

3 ounces Spanish chorizo, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1/2 tablespoon minced garlic

Salt

Pepper 

 

FISH

Four 5-ounce skinless hake fillets
Salt
Pepper
Smoked sweet paprika
All-purpose flour, for dusting
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Paella Rice, for serving

MAKE THE BROTH 
 In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the shallot, bay leaf, fennel seeds and saffron and cook until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Cover, remove from the heat and let steep for 10 minutes.

Return the broth to a boil and add the clams, chorizo and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, cover and cook over high heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until the clams just open, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and keep the broth warm.

MEANWHILE, COOK THE FISH 
 Season the hake fillets with salt, pepper and smoked paprika and dust with flour. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the fish and cook over moderately high heat, turning once, until golden and just cooked through, about 6 minutes.

Transfer the fish to shallow bowls. Spoon the clams, chorizo and broth around the fish and serve with Paella Rice.

Guinness Butter Dipping Sauce

A hopped up dipping sauce for your lobster that is sweet and salty thanks to Guinness.
YIELD 1 pint
PREP TIME  30 minutes
COOK TIME 10 minutes
CATEGORIES Guinness, dipping sauce
DIFFICULTY LEVEL Very easy and a good arm workout!

INGREDIENTS

Main Components

Guinness draught  4 Tbsp
Butter, cubed  1 lb
Roasted Garlic, minced   2 cloves
Salt and FGWP    t.t.

METHOD

Main Components

Preheat your oven to 425 Degrees.
Split a whole head of garlic in half lengthwise and toss with oil, salt and pepper.
Wrap the garlic fully in foil and place into the oven for 25-30 minutes until it has become golden brown and soft. Let the garlic cool before squeezing it out and chopping it.
In a small pot over medium heat bring the Guinness to a bubbling simmer.
Add in 1 small cube of butter and whisk until the butter begins to emulsify with the beer.
Slowly add in a cube at a time and continue whisking to melt and emulsify. As you add go along you can starts to add more cubes at a time.
This technique is a little tricky because you do not want to let the mix to get too cold or too hot because it will break. If it does break and starts to look a little greasy add in a tsp of warm water and whisk.
Once you have emulsified all of the butter in and you have a nice creamy dipping sauce whisk in the roasted garlic and season with salt and freshly ground white pepper.
Hold warm and serve as a dipping sauce in place of draw butter for your freshly cooked lobster or crab!

EQUIPMENT

·         Baking sheet
·         Foil
·         Whisk
·         Small pot

PRO TIPS

·         This butter can be used as a sauce for tossing cooked vegetables in or even mixing into mashed potatoes. If you have left over sauce you can cool it and then use it like you would clarified butter.

·         Get crazy and make a large batch and slowly butter poach your lobster in it!