Mackerel with Gooseberry Salsa & Crushed Potatoes

Nigel Barden
8 hours ago
2 min read

by Richard Nicholson from The Cannon Hall Farm Cookbook (Mirror books)

Photography: Clive Shalice

This recipe screams summer. At the same time the mackerel move inshore and start to get caught on the piers and harbour walls of Yorkshire seaside towns, the gooseberry bushes in our gardens are filled with ripe, zesty fruit. It’s almost like the two know they need to be together! This recipe softens the sharp edges of the gooseberries with sugar and apple balsamic vinegar, complementing the mackerel beautifully.

Serves 2

Ingredients

Gooseberry salsa:

180g gooseberries, some sliced in two, some roughly chopped

4 tbsp caster sugar

3 tbsp apple balsamic vinegar (preferably Willy’s)

Juice and zest of one lime

2 shallots, halved and finely sliced

2 tbsp mint, finely chopped

2 tbsp chives, finely chopped

Sea salt

Black pepper

Method

Whisk everything together and allow to stand for at least half an hour. It’s best mixed together a few hours before you cook the mackerel.

Crushed Potatoes:

500g Waxy new potatoes

Sea salt

Black pepper

70g Jersey butter

2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Method

Boil potatoes for 20 mins.

Crush, but don’t mash, so you have some biggish pieces of potato still left.

Add butter, sea salt, black pepper and parsley. let the butter melt then fold it in gently, so as not to break up the potatoes too much. Allow to stand for a couple of minutes so the butter soaks into the potatoes before serving.

Mackerel:

2 tbsp sunflower oil

4 mackerel fillets

Sea salt

Black pepper

Method

Season the mackerel with salt and black pepper.

Heat the oil in a pan to medium/high temperature. Cook skin side first for 1-2 mins, depending on the size of the fillet, holding the fish down at first to prevent it curling up. Turn it over and cook for another 1-2 mins until cooked through.

Plate up the potatoes first, top with the mackerel, then spoon over the dressing. It will soak into those lovely buttery potatoes.

Serve immediately with a fresh green salad.

It’s one of my favourite seasonal recipes and makes a really delicious plateful of food!

Drinks tasted on air, alongside the dish: