Eating In: Blue Hill Stone Barns Citrus Skate

Cooking Our Favorite Restaurant Dishes at Home

Gothamist is the type to play a favorite new album to death until completely sick of it. At restaurants, Gothamist also gets in the habit of continually ordering an ingredient until it’s time to find a new one.

The order of the month has been skate. Gothamist couldn’t figure out the best we’ve had (the classic caper brown butter version at August, a browned crispy version at Savoy) until we made a trip Upstate to Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

Blue Hill in the city has always been a Gothamist favorite, but the farm-to-plate vision that created Blue Hill Stone Barns is worth the trek. In fact, it was certainly one of the best meals we’ve had in a while.

Of course, Gothamist ordered the skate. Rather than the rich, buttery preparations we’ve come to love, Blue Hill Stone Barns used a fruity but acidic citrus sauce with the skate. The citrus sauce also came spiked with a tangy mustard, which we thought would be an odd combination. Yet the mustard added a depth to the fruit that made it work.

Rather than adding mustard to the citrus sauce, Gothamist dusted the skate with ground mustard to help create a crispy crust. Add a couple of blood oranges and toasted sesame seeds and you have a thirty minute Gothamist Recipe.

This is a relatively simple dish that you can get together in less than a half hour. Add a simple side salad, vegetable or maybe some rice or couscous and you’ll have a great meal without a lot of stress.

Ingredient Shopping List
Recipe serves two people.

1.5 lb of skate fillet (on the bone is a good thing, see below)
olive oil
2 blood oranges
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Unsalted butter
3/4 cup of orange juice
1 tablespoon sugar
bag of toasted sesame seeds

Estimated cost of ingredients: $14 at Fairway

Notes on Buying Skate

You’ll most likely get a whole skate wing for two people. You can fillet it by slicing into two pieces very easily. This is also simple to do if you buy the skate with a bone. Your knife can easily cut right through it when making the fillets. It’s actually very easy and enjoyable to eat it off the bone as well.

Make Blood Orange Sauce

With a sharp pairing knife, slice the orange in quarters. Segment about half of the whole fruit and set aside for garnish. Peel the rest of the oranges and chop into small pieces.

Add chopped oranges, juices and a few of the remaining rinds to a small pan. Add ½ cup of orange juice to pan and bring to a boil. Add one tblsp of sugar, stir and reduce on medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Reduce to half its original volume. The liquid should still be viscous and loose. Strain into a small bowl with a strainer. Set aside.

Make the Skate

Slice your skate into two fillets. Dry both pieces with paper towels thoroughly. Season one side of the fillets with salt, pepper and one tablespoon of the mustard powder per fillet. Spread and cover each evenly with the seasoning. Do the same for the other side of the fish.

Add about 1 tbls of olive oil to a non stick pan. Place heat on high. Add a small pat of butter. After about a minute when the butter begins to foam, add the skate to the pan. Brown on one side for about 2 minutes, until charred and brown but not burned. Do the same for the other side.

Put oven on broil.

Add ¼ cup of orange juice to the hot pan and turn down the heat to medium. After two minutes, take the pan off the heat and place into the oven under the broiler. Let skate broil for 3-4 minutes. Turn the oven off and put a cover on the skate, letting it rest for another two minutes.

Finish the Dish

Rough chop the remaining blood orange segments, leaving a few whole. While you wait for the skate to finish cooking, place a few tablespoon of the warm sauce on the plate. Place blood orange pieces around the plate. Take the skate out of the oven and place on top of the sauce. Sprinkle sesame seeds on the fillets. Salt and pepper the skate again. Add more of the sauce on the skate and serve immediately.