Choucroute de la mer, sea sauerkraut (a recipe from “le club” Saint Pourcain)

Choucroute de la mer, sea sauerkraut (a recipe from “le club” Saint Pourcain)

Shopping (serves 6):

1 kilo of sauerkraut, 300 g salmon and 300 g white fish (cod loin, fillet…) 2 haddock loins (smoked haddock), maybe not easy to get in the Netherlands, so mackerel will do too, garlic, 1 kg mussels, 300 g prawns, 18 large gamba, 250 g butter, 25 cl crème fraîche, 18 small potatoes, onions, thyme, bay leaf, pepper, salt, flour and balsamic, and of course a bottle (or two) of Riesling, or even better, Gewürztraminer.

Method:

Wash the mussels and the prawns (cooked ones are fine too). Boil the potatoes for 20 minutes. Brown the salmon and the white fish for 5 minutes in a pan with a little butter, then salt and pepper them and finish them in the oven for 10 minutes (setting 7-8). Steam the mussels in a mix of white wine (a glass), thyme, bay leaf and garlic. After cooking, take them out of the shells and keep about 12 shells to fill and garnish. Warm the sauerkraut on low heat in a large pan with a little butter and a splash of white wine. Add the prawns, the mussels and the pieces of haddock so they warm through too.

In a pan with butter, sweat the sliced onions until translucent, then add a good glass of white wine and let it reduce gently. Then add the cooking liquor from the mussels and a splash of balsamic, and reduce to one third. Then add a little flour, the crème fraîche and the rest of the butter. Stir well, and best warm it au bain-marie so the butter doesn’t split! Put the sauerkraut on a serving dish and pour half the sauce over it, then place the potatoes and the warmed fish on the dish with the mussel shells filled with a mussel. Serve the rest of the sauce on the side. And of course, open the other (well-chilled) bottle too! Finally; of course you can also add other shellfish and fish.

*better*