OF all dishes that I have done in my time as a chef, my favourite is fish and mackerel is one of my all time favourites. It’s a very versatile fish, you can smoke it, pickle it, lightly fry it, turn it into a great tasting pate or try this recipe by grilling it. GRILLED MACKEREL, PICKLED CUCUMBER, HERBED CRÈME FRAICHE Serves 4 4 Mackerel fillets 1 Cucumber 1 Tub crème fraiche 3 Lemons juiced 1 Bunch chives ½ Pkt dill 2 Shallots 2 Plum tomatoes 1Pkt salad leaves Vinaigrette For the pickle mix: 1 cup vinegar 2 cups water 1 cup sugar Seasoning - black pepper, coriander and bay leaf Method Peel and chop the shallots finely. Chop the chives finely, squeeze lemon juice, chop the dill but not too fine. Core and score the tomatoes, put into boiling salted water for about 10-15 seconds, then refresh in iced salted water. Take out, peel the skin, cut unto quarters, then de-seed, put onto paper towels to dry, then cut into nice even dice. Put the crème fraiche into a bowl, add the dill, chives and shallots, a little lemon juice, mix well and season then put into the fridge to set. Cut the cucumber in half, then slice length ways. Add all the pickle ingredients into a pan and bring to the boil, then let cool slightly before pouring onto the sliced cucumber. If the pickle mix is too hot then the cucumber will discolour. Put the grill on high. Season the mackerel on both sides. Put a little olive oil on a baking tray, coat the skin with a little oil and place on the baking tray skin side up, put under the grill to cook until the skin is crispy with an even golden colour. Place the cucumber pickle mix onto the centre of the plate, place the mackerel on top. Make a quennelle of the herbed crème fraiche and put to the side of the fish. Put a few diced tomatoes around the plate. Drizzle a little vinaigrette over the salad mix, mix well then place the salad onto half of the fish for presentation.
ENJOY
HAPPY EATING!!
Brian Maule at Chardon d’Or Restaurant, 176 West Regent St. Glasgow, G2 4RL
Telephone 0141 248 3801 email: info@brianmaule.com website: www.brianmaule.com
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here