Flounder, Smoked Potato Purée, Spinach, Lemon, Capers, and Brown Butter

Adapted by StarChefs.com
November 2014
Yield: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

Smoked Potato Butter
6 large Yukon Gold potatoes, skin-on, cut into 1/8-inch round slices
200 grams butter
Hot vegetable stock
sea salt
black pepper
Brown Butter Solids
100 grams whole butter
45 grams non-fat milk powder
To Assemble and Serve
Blended oil
4 flounder fillets
sea salt
black pepper
3 sprigs thyme
3 cloves garlic, 2 smashed and peeled, 1 thinly sliced
45 grams butter
3 bunches spinach, rinsed and stemmed
Zest and supremes of 1 Meyer lemon
capers, rinsed
Italian parsley chiffonade

METHOD:

Smoked Potato Butter

Prepare and heat smoker with hickory wood chips. On a half sheet tray with a wire rack, arrange potatoes. Smoke on high for 20 minutes. To a medium pot, transfer potatoes and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until potatoes are tender. Drain and transfer potatoes to a blender with butter and enough vegetable stock to cover three-quarters of the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper; and purée. Reserve warm.

Brown Butter Solids

In a medium sauté pan over medium heat, melt butter. Add milk powder, stirring often with a rubber spatula, until milk solids turn golden brown. Strain through a chinois and cool.

To Assemble and Serve

In a large sauté pan over medium-high flame, heat a thin layer of oil until very hot. Season flounder with salt and pepper, and sear on presentation side until golden brown. Flip flounder, and add thyme, smashed garlic, and 30 grams butter. When butter starts to foam, baste fish and remove pan from heat before fully cooked. Top flounder with some Brown Butter Solids and keep warm. In a separate pan over medium-high flame, heat a thin layer of oil and sauté sliced garlic until lightly brown and aromatic. Add spinach, and cook, stirring often, until wilted. Drain off any excess liquid, and season spinach with salt, pepper, zest, and remaining butter. Toss to combine. Onto a serving plate, spoon a dollop of Smoked Potato Butter, add spinach, and top with flounder. Garnish with lemon supremes, capers, and parsley. Drizzle with Brown Butter Solids to finish.