Crushed Jersey Royals with wing of skate, caper and gherkin butter and crispy croutons

Skate with Jersey royals

Ingredients

• 4 x 7oz portions of skate wings
• 120g picked white crab meat
• 1lb of freshly cooked Jersey Royals
• Juice of one lemon
• ½lb fresh baby spinach
• Knob butter
• 10g chopped chives
• 100g baby gherkins
• 100g baby capers
• 2 slices of brown bread (for croutons)
• Handful of baby cress
• Flour (for dusting)
• 30ml olive oil
• Salt and pepper (for seasoning)

Method

• To cook the Jersey Royals, bring the water to the boil and season well with salt. Carefully add the Jersey Royals and bring back to the boil, lower the heat so that they simmer and leave to cook for approx 20 mins depending on their size.
• Place a sauté pan on the heat and add a few drops of olive oil. Season the skate wings with salt and dust with the flour, tapping off the excess. Place in the sauté pan and fry until golden brown on either side. Put them onto a tray into a pre-heated oven at medium heat for 5-6 minutes.
• Remove the crusts from the slices of bread and cut into cubes. Heat 1-2 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan. Fry for 30 seconds. Add the cubes and fry until crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper.
• Place the Jersey Royals into a bowl with the white crab meat, lemon juice and half the chopped chives. Crush with a fork, check the seasoning and mix together.
• Place four cutters into the centre of four plates and fill them with the Jersey Royal mix. Add a small amount of the baby spinach, which will be cooked by the heat of the Jersey Royals and the skate. Remove the cutters.
• Heat the butter in a small pan until it becomes golden brown then add the capers, gherkins, the rest of the chopped chives, and a little lemon juice.
• Remove the skate from the oven and place on the spinach, pour over the caper and gherkin butter and garnish with the baby cress.
• Serve straight away.