This week, with Valentine’s Day just around the corner I thought I’d try out a recipe recommended for two; white pepper crusted skate wings accompanied by layered potatoes with spring onion buttered peas.

I followed a Jamie Oliver recipe for this, changing one or two things and adding the layered potatoes myself, but you can find the original recipe here.

With the key flavour coming through in this dish being the white pepper, I tried a Machherndl Grüner Veltliner, 2012 as a wine match.  Again this was one where drinking with and without the food offered a very different tasting experience.  On its own, the wine is refreshingly full of tangy, appley flavours whilst still spicy with the white pepper element to it.  When enjoying the wine with the ray wings, the white pepper & fennel crust blended so well alongside it that the other flavours mellowed and became much more subtle, leaving room for a big squeeze of lemon over the food for that final tangy burst of flavour – clearly a wine designed for this type of dish!

See how to make the dish yourself below:

Ingredients

Method

- Slice the potatoes as finely as you can and layer in a small baking tray.  Boil ½ pint of stock, and pour over potatoes to cover them, sprinkling the sliced garlic clove on top.  Place in the oven at about 180°C for 30 mins.  Half way through, carefully remove tray and drain excess liquid from the potatoes, then continue to bake.

- In a medium sized pan on a medium heat, add a knob of butter and a splash of oil. Add the finely sliced spring onions and cook for 1-2 minutes until softened. Add the frozen peas and leave to cook for 5-6 mins with the lid on.  Add a bit of water if the mixture seems to be drying out.

- Use scissors to trim the outer edges (skirt) of the wings, and use a knife to cut off the backbone.  See how it's done here.

- Grind the fennel seeds and peppercorns in a pestle and mortar or a liquidizer until you've got a fine powder, and put aside.  To save time you can use ready-ground ingredients.

- Tip the flour on to one large plate and the beaten egg on to another. Sprinkle, rub and pat the peppery mixture all over each skate wing, then quickly dip each one into the egg to coat really well on both sides. Let any excess egg drip off, then put each wing straight into the plate of flour and pat and coat really well on both sides until you have a good covering.

- Put a large non-stick frying pan, big enough to hold both the wings on a high heat. Once hot, add oil, a knob of butter and the skate wings. Cook for roughly 3 minutes on each side, then an extra minute on each side to finish them off, until the meat comes off the bone at the thickest part of the fish and you've got a nice golden crust.

- To serve, cut your potatoes into a rectangular slither (they can be slippery so be careful). Sprinkle your spring onion peas around the dish, and place the ray wings on top.  Add a squeeze of lemon juice and a crunch of salt and pepper to finish.

NB – The bones made this is trickier to eat than I thought, but definitely a dish worth the effort!

Have you tried and tested any food and wine matches lately? Tweet us @GreatWestnWine and let us know!

Machherndl Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Kollmutz Wachau 2012

By Olivia Moore