Grilled Kingklip with Braised Peas and Lettuce

This dish highlights lettuce and is paired with grilled kingklip and braised peas. Cooked lettuce is not something you include in many dishes but it is delicious in this one. Lettuce is a cool season crop, so many gardeners will be harvesting and have it in excess in the winter months. In honour of this, Chef Andy’s dish for this issue includes cooked iceberg lettuce.

Ingredients

• 4 x kingklip fillets
• 3 tsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 head of iceberg lettuce, stalk removed and quartered
• 200 ml vegetable or fish stock
• 300 g fresh or frozen peas
• 120 ml cream

Method

Season kingklip fillets with lemon juice, salt and pepper, then fry in a pan, skin side down, with the olive oil and half the butter. Turn over after a few minutes and brown. Move to a baking tray and place under the grill for 10 to 12 minutes. Put the rest of the butter in a saucepan and fry the onions until soft. Add the lettuce and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Pour in the vegetable stock, cook for 3 minutes and then add the peas and the cream and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the kingklip.