Arctic char with beurre blanc, Savoyard lake tradition

Ingredients

• 4 pieces fresh skin-on Arctic char fillets
• 800 g waxy Charlotte potatoes
• 220 g pasteurized unsalted butter, 82% butterfat
• 3 pieces fresh shallots
• 15 cl dry Savoie white wine, AOP Apremont
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar, 6% acidity
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 pinch ground white pepper
• 4 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley

Method

1. Wash and peel the Charlotte potatoes, then submerge them in a saucepan of cold salted water. Bring to a boil and cook at a moderate simmer for twenty to twenty-five minutes, until the tip of a knife slides in like butter, then drain them and keep warm.
2. Peel and finely mince the fresh shallots to ensure an even extraction of juices without large chunks. Cut almost all the unsalted butter into small, even cubes and immediately place them in the refrigerator so they are very cold when it is time to mount the sauce.
3. In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour in the dry Savoie white wine, white wine vinegar and minced shallots.
4. Reduce over steady medium heat until only a thin syrupy layer of translucent, softened shallots remains, without any browning.
5. Lower the heat to the absolute minimum. Incorporate the ice-cold unsalted butter cubes piece by piece, whisking vigorously and continuously in circular motions to create a velvety, satiny emulsion that coats the back of a spoon.
6. Season the beurre blanc with fine sea salt and ground white pepper. Remove the saucepan from the heat and set the sauce aside in a warm corner of the kitchen, giving it a whisk from time to time to maintain its stability.
7. Gently run your finger over the Arctic char fillets to ensure no pin bones remain, then remove any you find with fish bone tweezers. Carefully pat the skin dry with paper towels to ensure it gets crispy, then lightly salt the flesh.
8. In a large nonstick skillet, melt the remaining reserved unsalted butter over medium heat. As soon as it begins to foam gently without browning, place the Arctic char fillets skin side down in the skillet.
9. Cook the fillets on the skin side without moving them for four to five minutes. Watch the heat progress up the side of the fillets: as soon as two thirds of the flesh turns an opaque pale pink and the skin becomes golden, the timing is perfect.
10. Carefully flip the fillets flesh side down using a flexible spatula, immediately turn off the heat and let the flesh gently warm for one minute in the residual heat to keep the center meltingly tender.
11. Plate the hot Arctic char fillets skin side up to preserve the crispiness, arrange the halved potatoes sprinkled with freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley, then generously coat the bottom of the plate with the rich beurre blanc.

Nutrition

Per serving

Energy

643.3 kcal

Protein

9.6 g

Carbohydrate

38.3 g

Fat

48.04 g

Fibre

4.65 g

Calcium

15.67 mg

Iron

0.22 mg

Magnesium

6.11 mg