Page 363 - YC Cooking School

with a lovely flaky texture. It’s just perfect to mix with homemade mayonnaise to top the
crostini. Baste with a splash of oil, and season it just before you cook it. The oil will help the

seasoning to stick. Turn it two or three times until you get a nice golden colour on each side.

Know when the fish is done
Poke the fish to test its firmness. Pull it apart gently to see whether the centre is still
translucent. When you press down on it, it should flake or separate naturally. Once it’s

cooled, go through it with your fingers to make sure there are no bones.

Keep all components cold
For this recipe, it’s important that all ingredients are at room temperature. After cooking the
fish, pop it into the fridge to cool off completely.

Turn the avocado into a paste
To test an avocado for ripeness, press down onto it gently with your finger. It should feel a
bit soft, like a cooked potato. Add lemon juice or vinegar to your cut avocado to give it
flavour and prevent the avo from going brown. Instead of a fork, use a whisk to turn your

avocado into a puree – you’ll get a superbly smooth result.

Add a little zest
Use a microplane to capture the essence of the grapefruit without getting any bitterness
from the pith. To segment the grapefruit, cut off the skin, removing all the white pith, then

cut carefully between the lines to remove neat little segments.

Assemble a masterpiece
Use the inside of the spoon to round the avocado paste onto the bread base, giving it a fine
finish. To shape the fish-and-mayonnaise mixture into a quenelle, pass it between two

equal-sized spoons, rounding and shaping it as you go. Dip your spoons in water
beforehand to help the quenelle slide off the spoon more easily. Adorn your canapés with
half segments of grapefruit, and sprinkle a little sugar on the grapefruit right at the end so
the fruit stays juicy and flavoursome.

A quick tip for always-crunchy toasted baguettes
When making canapés, you must remember that they can't be assembled long in advance,
especially if you’re using a wet mixture as a topping, as they’ll get soggy. A way around this is
to isolate the wet mixture from the toast with, for example, a salad leaf or basil leaf.

Countless combinations of flavours

The combinations of toppings to go on a small slice of toasted bread are infinite! When
picking your toppings, opt for options that are naturally small, such as quail eggs, shrimp,
mussels, oysters and cherry tomatoes.

Add a little flair

When you’re entertaining, it’s fun to get creative with styling and put together something
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