Recipe: Grilled Mackerel, Samphire & Potatoes
Easy Peasy (a bit of) Lemon Squeezy
I am busy procrastinating energetically over completing some ‘proper’ writing for my day job, so I thought I’d share with you my little afternoon sojourn to Soho and rather delightful resulting supper. Perfectly light and nourishing for a lovely warm London evening.
Whilst on my inspiration-seeking potter, the glinting emerald green samphire at the fishman’s stall on Berwick Street Market caught my eye, and a sudden craving for a fish dins struck me. Not wanting to carry a pongy bag around with me, I carried on my meanderings, eventually returning around about 5 (he opens until 6pm), and asking his advice for an inexpensive tea. He was very lovely, advised the mackerel (I’ll save my pennies and go back for some rather more expensive and luxurious white fish when I’m feeling flush), and gave me a quick filleting lesson to boot. He managed to make something I fail miserably at every time look enviably effortless. I resolved to have a go myself the next time. I asked him whether his fine samphire would set me back too heftily, whereupon he gathered a generous wodge, weighed it, and threw it in for a mere £1 extra. A healthy dins for under 3 quid – no complaints from little ol’ me!
Back home (having braved the tube with my non-too-fragrant parcel), my dinner was a doddle. A small handful of baby potatoes bubbled away merrily for 18-20 minutes, whilst I got to grips with my itunes genius thingybob to provide the soundtrack. With a low and swishy song soothing me in the background, I got on with preparing the fish: in a griddle pan, I added a glug of olive oil, 2 bashed cloves of garlic and some lemon peel which frazzled nicely for a few minutes. Meanwhile I slashed the mackerel skin a couple of times to stop it curling in the heat, and cracked a generous amount of black pepper and sea salt atop, dropping it skin side down into the hot oil/garlic where it cooked for 2-3 minutes, and flesh side down for 2.
For those of you new to samphire (as am I), this little seaside veg is an absolute beaut – bright bright green, and the tiny asparagus of the sea, with a lovely salty, seawater crunch to them. All they need to cook is a flash boil for thirty seconds, to be whipped onto the side of your plate and topped with some melting butter, salt and pepper. Yum.
Oh, and I handily happened to have a rather divine little concoction in the fridge from dinner the night before: a creme fraiche/cream cheese mixture tarted up with a dollop of horseradish, dijon mustard and a squeeze of lemon juice. Just the sort of saucy companion my dish (and I) were hankering after.
