John Dory fillet served with red and white grapes

Here at OBG, we call our John Dory, Johnny. In many cultures, he is also known as St Pierre or St Peter. The John Dory is not just a fish to put on a plate and serve; for us, it is something special. There are many legends about how Johnny got the dark spots on his side. Some say the spots are the fingerprints of God Sometime, during Creation, God pointed to John Dory with His holy finger, and said: “Eh, Johnny, you are not so pretty, but you will be the best!!!” After trying this recipe, you will totally agree.

Ingredients (serves 4)

John Dory (8 x 150 gr fillets)
Red grapes (400 gr)
White grapes (200 gr)
Olive oil (4 tbsp)
Celery (1 stalk)
Carrots (1 large)
Bell peppers (1 red, 1 yellow, 1green)
Celery root (1 small)
Chives (1 tbsp chopped)
Potatoes (2 large)
Butter (60 gr)
Parsley for garnish
Chicken stock (1 lt)
Red wine (5 cl merlot)
Cream (1 dl)
Salt
Pepper

Method

We trim the fillets, removing the skin and season with salt, pepper and 3 spoons of olive oil. We then keep cool.
After washing half of the red grapes and all of the white ones, we cut them into quarters and keep cool.
We then wash the celery, peel the carrot and the celery root, trim the bell peppers and cut all of them into a very fine julienne. We put the vegetables in a large container with a generous amount of water and 1 kg of ice cubes, keeping them in the fridge for one hour until they are crisp and curly.
In a pot, we bring the chicken stock to the boil, reduce it to half, adding the last of the red grapes and the red wine. We boil for 5 minutes before adding the cream and bringing it back to the boil. We then reduce to half and check the taste before blending, and then straining with a chinoise. Again, we keep it warm.
We peel the potatoes and cut them into 2cm x 2cm cubes, blanch them in salted water, strain and finish them off by cooking in a pan with the butter until they will are soft and golden. Again, we check the taste.
We then heat a grill. We strain the vegetables from the iced water, season with salt pepper, chives and 1 spoon of olive oil. We sear the fillet of John Dory and, very quickly, add the diced potatoes in the middle of a plate, surround them with sauce and put the fillets on top, garnishing with the grapes, vegetables and parsley.

Tips:

Difficulty: medium
Preparation: 100 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

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