Cornish Cod with Cockles, Samphire and Seaweed Beurre Blanc

⏱ 50 min · Serves 4

A plate that tastes like a rock pool at high tide: thick loins of Cornish cod roasted until just pearly, sweet cockles popped open in cider, salty samphire and a glossy beurre blanc humming with toasted dulse. Restaurant-level, but all doable in under an hour.

Per serving: 682 kcal · 42.0g protein · 6.0g carbs · 54.0g fat

Ingredients

• 4 x 160g thick-cut Cornish cod loin fillets, skin on, pin-boned
• 1 tbsp fine sea salt (for brining)
• 500g live cockles, rinsed in several changes of cold water
• 150ml dry Cornish cider
• 200g samphire, woody ends picked off
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 30g unsalted butter, for frying the cod
• 1 lemon
• For the seaweed beurre blanc:
• 2 banana shallots, very finely diced
• 100ml dry white wine
• 50ml white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp double cream
• 200g cold unsalted butter, diced
• 5g dried dulse or nori flakes, lightly toasted and crumbled
• Pinch of caster sugar
• White pepper
• To finish: 2 tbsp chopped chives, few sprigs sea purslane or dill (optional)

Method

1. Sprinkle the cod fillets all over with the fine sea salt, leave for 10 minutes, then rinse and pat very dry. This firms the flesh so it stays in neat flakes. Leave uncovered on kitchen paper in the fridge.
2. Put the cockles in a wide pan with the cider, cover and cook over a high heat for 2-3 minutes, shaking, until they open. Tip into a colander set over a bowl to catch the liquor. Pick most of the cockles from their shells, keeping a dozen in shell for garnish. Strain the liquor through muslin and reserve.
3. Start the beurre blanc: put shallots, white wine and vinegar in a small heavy pan and simmer until reduced to about 2 tablespoons of syrupy liquid. Add 3 tbsp of the reserved cockle liquor and reduce again briefly, then stir in the cream and bring to a bare simmer.
4. Over a low heat, whisk in the cold butter a few cubes at a time, never letting it boil, until you have a glossy, spoon-coating sauce. Whisk in the crumbled seaweed, a pinch of sugar, white pepper and a squeeze of lemon. Taste - the cockle liquor is salty, so add salt only if needed. Keep barely warm off the heat.
5. Blanch the samphire in unsalted boiling water for 60 seconds, then drain well.
6. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Lay the cod in skin-side down, press flat for 20 seconds, and cook for 4-5 minutes until the skin is crisp. Add the butter, flip the fish, baste for 1-2 minutes, then rest 2 minutes off the heat - the centre should be just barely opaque.
7. Toss the samphire and shelled cockles through a spoonful of the warm sauce to heat them.
8. Spoon the samphire and cockles into the centre of warm plates, sit the cod on top skin-side up, pour the seaweed beurre blanc around and finish with the reserved cockles in shell, chives and sea purslane.