Cod tower

Ingredients

For the cod tower

• 1 large leek, sliced
• 12 new potatoes, sliced
• 500 ml fish stock
• 500 ml full fat milk
• 1 sprigs thyme 
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns, crushed
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 x 500 g skinless cod fillets
• 250 ml double cream
• 1 small handful chanterelle mushroom

For the sauce

• 500 ml poaching liquid
• 2 tbsp whipped cream
• 2 sprigs tarragon

To serve

• vine cherry tomatoes, confit in olive oil
• sekura salad

1. Preheat the oven to 150C/130 fan/gas 2.

2. For the cod tower: blanch the leeks and new potatoes in salted boiling water for 5 minutes, then refresh in cold water. Drain, and set aside.

3. In a medium saucepan, pour in the fish stock and the milk, then add the thyme, crushed garlic and crushed peppercorns and sea salt. Poach the cod fillet in the liquid over a medium heat for 5 minutes.

4. Bring the poaching mixture to the boil and cook for 1 minute, then check to see if the fish is cooked (it should flake easily). Remove the pan from the heat and allow the fish to sit in the poaching liquid for 5 minutes.

5. Remove the cod from the pan and flake the fish into a bowl.

6. Pour the double cream into a small saucepan, reduce by half over a medium heat and season to taste with salt and pepper. Fold in the blanched leeks and half of the chanterelle mushrooms.

7. Using a chefs’ ring on a small sheet of aluminium foil, spoon in a layer of blanched new potatoes, followed by a layer of creamed leeks and mushrooms, pressing down slightly. Spoon over a layer of cod flakes, then another layer of creamed leeks and mushrooms, finishing with a topping of potatoes.

8. Transfer the ring carefully (the foil on the bottom will help keep the filling in the ring) into a papillote made from aluminium foil, and place it in the oven for 6 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the sauce.

9. For the sauce: pour 500ml of the cod poaching liquid in a small saucepan, reducing by half over a high heat. Stir in the whipped cream, tarragon and the rest of the mushrooms.

10. Remove the ring from the oven and place in the middle of a plate. Carefully lift the ring away to reveal the layered cod tower, then pour around the sauce and serve with sekura salad and confit vine cherry tomatoes.