Dab with celery & mussels

Ingredients

1 fresh dab, skinned

1 stick of celery

1 clove of garlic, thinly sliced

Handful of mussels

1 tbsp olive oil

Pinch of tarragon

Chunk of butter

Squeeze of lemon juice

Method

To start making the sauce, heat up a frying pan and add about a tablespoon of olive oil. Peel the outside off the stick of celery to remove any stringy parts and slice into chunks on the diagonal. Add the celery and garlic to the hot pan and gently cook. You just want to soften the celery, not add any colour. 

Pour about 2cm of boiling water into a saucepan, add the mussels and put the lid on. Take them off the heat after about 4-5 minutes and leave to cool slightly before removing the shells. Save the water from the pan to be used as stock.

Remove the head from the fish and add to the frying pan with the celery and garlic. Pour over that lovely salty stock from the mussels and add a little water so that there is 5cm across the bottom on the pan. Cover with the lid to steam and poach the fish. After 4 or 5 minutes the fish should be cooked so lift it out and continue on the sauce.

Turn the heat up on the frying pan to reduce the liquids and add some tarragon. Once it has reduced down and quite sticky add the mussels. Stir in a nice chunk of butter to thicken.

To serve, simply pour the sauce over the fish and add a squeeze of lemon.