Pan-fried Mackerel

This is a flavoursome main dish. It is packed with flavour and is good for you too!

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 2 mackerel fillets
  • 250g new potatoes
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • Chopped parsley and dill
  • Cucumber, ribboned with a peeler lengthways
  • 1tbsp olive oil
  • 1tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1⁄2 tsp salt
  • 1-2 pickled beetroots, cubed or sliced
  • Watercress, roughly chopped
  • Apple, grated
  • Freshly grated horseradish to taste
  • Crème fraiche to bind
  • Pepper and salt

Method

First, parboil your potatoes in salted water.
When starting to soften, transfer them to an oven tray, drizzle generously with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and bake in a hot oven until golden brown
In the mean time, pickle your cucumber with the vinegar, olive oil and salt, keep to one side. Add watercress just before serving to avoid discolouration.
Mix the grated apple and horseradish together and add enough crème fraiche to bind together.
Heat oil in a pan until smoking, season your fish, the skin side and add to the pan (skin side down when hot).
Whilst you are waiting for the skin to crisp up (3-4 minutes), take your potatoes out of the oven and drizzle with the lemon juice.
Start arranging potatoes and salads on the plate.
Flip you fish and finish off on the other side for about a minute.
To check if the fish is cooked, check the flakes are defined, you do not want them to be falling apart, and the flesh is firm.
Arrange on a plate and quenelle your apple and horseradish mix.
NOTE: Pan has to be very hot or the fish will stick and the skin will not crisp up
Don’t be afraid to wait for the pan to actually produce smoke, as soon as you place food in the pan, the temperature will decrease and you will not start a fire