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In the Kitchen

Skate with Chanterelles

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ¾ pound chanterelle mushrooms, roughly chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 small shallot, sliced thin
  • 1½ cups chicken stock
  • 1 teaspoon Sherry vinegar
  • Fine sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon chopped chives
  • 4 (6-ounce) skate fillets
  • ½ cup hot water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in a large cast-iron pan set over medium heat. Add mushrooms. Sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and shallot. Cook until garlic and shallot soften, about 1 minute. Add stock and bring to a simmer. Cook until reduced by about half and slightly viscous, about 5 minutes. Add vinegar and cook another 30 seconds. Season with salt. Remove from heat and stir in chives.

2. Lightly season skate with salt. Place fish in a large roasting pan with water (or stock). Bake until flesh just turns white throughout, about 10 minutes.

3. To serve: Distribute skate fillets among four dishes and spoon one-fourth of warm ragout over each fillet. Serve immediately.

“Beauty has a way of lingering in the memory” – Eric Ripert, co-owner of Le Bernardin, arguably the best restaurant in Manhattan. This recipe is Eric Ripert’s creation.

It was featured in the WSJ this Saturday and, no doubt, inspired many budding chefs as I picked up the last 2 pieces of Skate at Citarella on Sunday.

This is a simple paring of chanterelles (delicate and aromatic mushrooms), chives, shallots and Skate. Skate is a low mercury fish, whose flesh is sweet and tender.

This is the first time I have cooked Skate and the poaching worked extremely well. Admittedly, I omitted the butter and replaced the water with chicken stock to enhance the flavor. I also replaced Ripert’s canola oil with olive oil as most canola oil is genetically modified (watch the video on GMO’s here). Not that I’d want to interfere with a three star Michelin chef’s recipe but some minor tweaks for health are unlikely to distract from the success of the meal.

I served this with black kale sautéed in chicken stock and topped with chili and lemon zest. Enjoy!

 

Photo Credit: Justin Walker for The Wall Street Journal,
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