Gurnard Fillet cooked in Butter with Lemon and Parsley

A treat for us on the market in Brixham is to grab a fish from the morning’s market and when it was there we used to have it cooked for breakfast by Christine and her team at the local Fishermen’s Mission, sadly though that has now shut down. This simple recipe keeps the flesh wonderfully moist and you can’t beat a bit of fresh fish cooked in butter even though the health police will tell you otherwise, I’m sure its ok once in a while.

You will need - Serves 2

2 Gurnard fillets about 200 g 

Flour for dusting

100 g butter

Small handful parsley

1 Lemon

Salt and pepper

To Make

Season the fish and lightly flour. 

Melt ¾ of the butter in a frying pan and wait until it just bubbles, turn the heat down and add the fish; in this recipe you are not trying to sear the fish but cook it gently in the butter, keep basting the fish with butter from the pan and cook for 6 or 7 minutes then turn it over, it should be wonderfully golden.  Continue to cook and baste for a further 4 – 5 minutes. 

Remove the fish and put on a plate, add the remaining butter and turn up the heat a little until the pan starts bubble and smell nutty then add the parsley and a good squeeze of lemon and spoon over the fish. 

I love to eat this with boiled potatoes and cabbage, the butter, the veg and the fish are wonderful together.