Stuffed plaice with prawn sauce

I made this dish recently when friends came to lunch. It isn't as difficult as it sounds and most of it can be prepared in advance. I made the egg whites in to a meringue with some whipped cream and raspberries for pudding. It was a lovely meal!

Ingredients

4 medium plaice fillets, skinned
4 medium sized mushrooms
2 large slices of wholemeal bread
2 egg yolks
1 tsp freshly chopped parsley
1 heaped tsp fresh chopped dill
1 tsp fresh tarragon
1/2 tsp powdered fennel
1 medium sized onion
1 packet prawns
1/2 lemon
1 rounded tbsp cornflour
2 oz butter or margarine
2 tbsp white wine (or if not, 1 tbsp white wine vinegar or cider vinegar with 1tbsp water)
1 cup of water
1 fish stock cube
A little salt and pepper
1/4 pint milk

Method

Make the fish stock by mixing the water, lemon juice and its skin with the skins from the plaice.  (To skin them, take a sharp knife and holding the tail end slide the knife towards the top.  The edges of the fish will stay on the skin.)

Put the skins in a saucepan and add the wine and fennel seeds.  Bring to the boil and then simmer for a while until it has reduced by half.

Make the stuffing by crumbling the bread to crumbs and adding all the herbs, finely chopped mushrooms and the chopped onion.  Stir in the egg yolks. If you have a mixer it's much easier. 

Then take the plaice fillets, cut them in half long ways and spread with the stuffing and a couple of prawns chopped up for each fillet.

Roll them up and secure with a cocktail stick.

Butter a casserole dish with a little butter and pour a little of the fish stock in and place the fish in it.  Cook in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes.

Make a white sauce with the remaining stock and the milk with the cornflour and butter.

Stir in the rest of the prawns, bring to the boil until thickened.

Pour over the stuffed fish and serve with new potatoes and spinach or broccoli  or peas.