Waterford Castle's Favourite Recipes - Waterford Hotels, Castle Hotels Ireland, Luxury Hotels Ireland, Hotels in Waterford City - Waterford Castle Hotel Ireland

Waterford Castle's Favourite Recipes

  Waterford Castle Fish Soup

'This soup is based on the classical French fish soup recipe. I use fish heads and any white fish bones I can get my hands on. Just smile at your fish monger and ask him for fresh bones and heads and he will gladly give them to you. The secret to this dish is use fresh fish and fresh bones in fact the secret to any dish is to use fresh produce.'

Serves 8

Ingredients

2kg mixed fish heads and bones

Splash of olive oil

1ltr of water

1 large onion diced

2 carrots diced

2 heads of fennel diced

2 sticks of celery diced

4 cloves of garlic, chopped and crushed

4 x 400g of chopped tin tomatoes

Good splash of Pernod

350ml of dry white wine

Pinch of saffron

5 star anis

2 teaspoons of fennel seed

2 teaspoons of coriander seed

1 teaspoon of black peppercorns

Salt and sugar to taste

3 tablespoons of chopped flat Parsley

2tablespoons of chopped tarragon

Method

Give the fish heads and bones a wash by running cold water over them, pat dry with a tea cloth and place on a roasting tray, sprinkle the olive oil over them and put in a hot oven (200 degrees c) Roast the fish trimmings for 20 minutes or until they are nicely browned.

Mix all the other ingredients except the salt, sugar, parsley and tarragon in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables have softened.  Add the roasted fish trimmings and simmer for another 15 minutes. It is important not to boil the soup because it will spoil the finished taste.

Now pass the contents of the saucepan through a fine sieve. Using the back of a ladle press the fish trimmings through a sieve, to get every bit of flavour out of the bones.

Now season the soup with salt and sugar, just before you serve the soup add the parsley and tarragon.

 In a little bowls put the rouille, croutons and grated parmesan cheese and place on the table for your guests to help themselves.

This will make the difference between a great soup and a fantastic fish soup!

 

Rouille

'This is worth the effort in making, it makes the difference. I recently had a fish soup at the "good things café" in Durras Co. Cork and it was served with a fantastic rouille, I left the restaurant really impressed with a fantastic taste in my mouth. So go on and go the extra mile, it's worth it!'

 

Ingredients:

100ml of fish soup

Good pinch of saffron

1 piquillo pepper

1 tablespoon of mashed potato

2 egg yolks

1 clove of garlic

Pinch of dried chilli

225ml of olive oil

Squeeze of lemon juice

Method:

Reduce the fish soup by half to intensify the flavour, add the saffron and cool.

Using a hand blender, blitz together the potato, soup, egg yolks, piquillo pepper, garlic and chilli. Slowly pour in the olive oil bit by bit.

Add the lemon juice and a pinch of salt to taste. You should have a bright red paste with the consistency of mayonnaise.