Grilled Mackerel.
My attempt at a healthy supper after the indulgences of the last few weeks was to buy some fresh Mackerel and to grill it rather than pan fry. Mackerel is an oily fish and works very well without the addition of any extra oil or fat – in fact you can see some of the fish oil in my photo. I have some home-made pickled beetroot and some horseradish still to use up. Again, Mackerel is quite strong flavoured and rather better suited to vinegar based sauces than a little lemon. I love the pairing of pickled beet with cold mackerel, so I was keen to see if a warm pickled beet worked .
Here’s how I did it
Per person
1 filleted mackerel.
Half a teaspoon of caraway seeds and half a teaspoon of fennel seeds
2 slices of pickled beetroot
2 charlotte potatoes
A handful of green beans
For the home made horseradish
½ dessert spoon of grated horseradish in vinegar (I keep this in the fridge to use as needed)
1 dessertspoon of cream or crème fraiche
1 teaspoon of mustard
Mix all the horseradish ingredients together. You can keep the made up horseradish cream in a jar in the fridge for a few days.
Crush the caraway seeds and fennel seeds in a pestle and mortar. You are not looking for a powder, but for lightly crushed seeds to help release the flavour
Lay the mackerel skin side down out on a piece of foil on the grill . I didn’t add any oil, if you are worried about it sticking, you can oil the foil.
Scrub the potatoes and half or quarter. Put them in a pan of water and bring to the boil adding a pinch of salt. Simmer gently for about 8 minutes.
Chop the beetroot into neat cubes
Add the trimmed and halved beans in with the potatoes. It will take about 5 minutes more
Heat the grill for a few minutes.
Put the mackerel under the grill and cook for till the flesh is opaque through. About 3-4 minutes. You shouldn’t need to turn the fish if you have used fillets.
Drain the potatoes and beans and arrange on plates. Now, scatter the beetroot cubes through the mix.
Place the mackerel fillet on top
Serve with a good dollop of horseradish.
Very healthy, very tasty and very satisfying!
Just been to Belleau Kitchen for some liver which I love and hubby hates and now here we are with the dish he would choose and the one I would eat but prefer not to! I’ve never managed to love mackerel despite trying very very hard. I think your vinegary sauce and the horseradish might just do it for me though, so perhaps I should buy some and try it.
I really wanted to make soused mackerel, which I used to eat in huge quantities as a kid (I was brought up in a seaside town and we were brought fresh mackerel as gifts…!). But I had the beetroot and I thought that might be too much.
I think it’s *easier* if you have it filleted for you. I can fillet them (I once did 50 in a row when my mum bought a wholesale lot to freeze), but if you cook them unfilleted, they are quite bony and that can be off putting.
ps lucky you, did you get cooked for?
I love mackrel and also vinegary potato salads. I’m not keen on horseradish though but I’m sure it could easily be adapted.
I’ve never had home made horseradish till this winter when I discovered you could buy a root, grate it and store in vinegar. In a way, it turns out just a little more like a pickle that way…and you can choose your ‘cream’ depending on how strong or mild you like it (creme fraiche lets the horseradish taste through more).
Now I am a BIG mackerel lover Fiona, and I also LOVE caraway and fennel…..so, this is a wonderful recipe for me! A wonderful serving idea and I think you should have sent me some!
Karen
it was very good! As I said, it all came out of a yearning for soused mackerel, which I then thought would be too much with the beetroot. So…sometime soon I shall be sousing!