AN ODE TO MACKEREL

Typical, isn't it, that the night before mackerel makes top news - over-fished, just like that - I cook it for supper? Delicious it was, too, with its silvery skin still on and its blue, mottled sheen swimming through the soup. But no longer, and I will miss it, alas. A quick ode to the mackerel.

I'll say 'til when, to you, oh silvered jewel.

If you e'er come back in plentiful school

I will scoop you back with a fishy kiss, 

and stir you into this lovely dish.

This noodle broth welcomes other sustainable fish. Try it, instead, with herring, sardine or dab - or search here for help on which goodly water-creature to choose.

POACHED FISH AND KOHLRABI NOODLE BROTH

 SERVES 2-4

1 tbsp groundnut oil

1 shallot, finely sliced

1/2 red chilli, finely sliced

1/2 garlic clove, finely sliced

10 fennel seeds

700ml fresh fish stock

1 star anise

1 tbsp nam pla fish sauce

1/2 tbsp soy sauce

4 fillets of sea-fished sustainable fish (300g), pin-boned

200g ribbon rice noodles

200g kohlrabi, finely cut into matchsticks

Tsuru: eat the bits or chilli oil to serve (optional)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the shallot. Fry gently for 2 minutes until soft, then add the chilli, garlic and fennel seeds. Cook for another minute until fragrant. Pour in the fish stock and add the star anise with the nam pla and soy sauce. Simmer for 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, soak the noodles in boiling water until tender, or according to packet instructions, then drain under cold water.

Slice the fish into chunks and add to the pan, along with the kohlrabi. The fish will instantly begin to poach and become flaky.

Stir the noodles into the broth to heat, then serve into deep bowls, dividing up the fish and noodles equally.

Spoon a little of the Tsuru chilli oil on top of the soup and slurp.

SMOKED MACKEREL PATE

Golly, lunchtime sandwiches are dull.

Dry, slapdash towers of bread, fumbly constructed at home with leftover hummus from the back of the fridge. Or worse, slimy, week-old slithers of starch bought in a hurry at the nearest supermarket. If only we could justify the daily, dripping, pastrami-stuffed loaf you get at Mishkins. We all wish we had the time and temper to make our own deli sarnie before work but, well, it never really happens. Opening eyes, washing hair and getting dressed have to be conquered first.

What we need is a put-it-together-last minute kind of sandwich - fresh, quick, cheap and easy. No soggy bread, no squished middle, no irritating cling film, no effort.

The Danes have nailed it with their open sandwich. Freshly baked rye piled high with cured meats, smoked cheese, and soused fish. Elegant, sophisticated, healthy, zero struggle.

Here's how you can get there. Make this smoked mackerel pate the night before, put it in a jar , pop it in your bag, and smother it on rye or crisp breads for a scrumptious munch. The shallot pickle takes a few minutes, the pate a matter of seconds.

Ditch the old sandwich - within moments you've got a mini smørrebrød for one.

SMOKED MACKEREL PATE AND PICKLED SHALLOTS

serves 1-2

ingredients

for the pate:
2 fillets smoked mackerel, skin removed
1 tbsp natural yoghurt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp Dijon mustard
good sprinkling of black pepper
pinch salt

for the pickled shallots:
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 large echalion shallot, finely sliced

Whizz all of the pate ingredients together to make a smooth paste. Place in an airtight, sterilised jar and keep cool in the fridge until ready to use.

For the pickle, place the vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan and set over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the shallots and simmer for a few minutes until soft. Leave to cool slightly and serve, or cool completely and place in another jar until you're hungry.

Serve on Ryvita and, if you have an extra minute, a beetroot and watercress salad.

HOT AND SOUR NOODLE BROTH

For cold nights, tired heads, lazy bones and loved ones.

HOT AND SOUR NOODLE BROTH

with

SEARED SALMON and GREENS

serves 4

ingredients

2 tbsps sesame oil

4 small salmon fillets, skinned

generous pinch salt

4 handfuls flat rice noodles (roughly 75g each)

1 ltr chicken stock

3 tbsps fish sauce

3 tbsps light soy sauce

1 tbsp mirin rice wine

(keep bottles of sauce on standby just in case)

juice 1 lime

1 small red hot chilli, deseeded

thumb-size knob ginger, thinly sliced into batons

6 spring onions, sliced diagonally (extra for garnish optional)

small bunch sprouting broccoli, trimmed of leaves

large bunch pak choi, spinach or other greens

touch olive oil to fry salmon

bunch coriander, stalks finely chopped, leaves left for garnish (optional)

In a bowl, coat the salmon fillets with sesame oil and a sprinkling of salt. Leave to sit for 20 minutes.

Rest the noodles in a bowl of boiling water and leave to soften for 30 minutes or as the packet suggests.

Heat the chicken stock in a large saucepan and bring up to a light simmer. Add the fish sauce, soy sauce, mirin and lime juice and stir. Taste the broth, adding, if needed, more of each sauce. Fish for depth, soy for salt, mirin for sweetness and lime to cut through.

Add the chilli and ginger and simmer for a few minutes. Now add the greens - the onions, broccoli, pak choi and coriander stalks - and cook gently until the broccoli is just tender.

Meanwhile, heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and, when the oil starts to smoke slightly, add the salmon. Sear the salmon for 30 seconds on each side. Slice. The salmon should still be pink in the middle but warm.

Divide the noodles into deep bowls and ladle the soup over, dishing up equal portions of greens and chilli. Top with the seared salmon.

Garnish with the coriander leaves and the additional spring onion. For an extra bite beside the soup, or to start, serve with Bill's Thai fishcakes and sweet cucumber pickle.

FRIDAY FISH PIE

The Queen of Fish Pies

Scallop, prawn, haddock and tarragon pie w/ peas and braised baby fennel

Serves 4 very good friends

ingredients

1 white onion, finely chopped
600ml double cream
1 bunch tarragon, roughly chopped
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
good squeeze of 1/2 lemon
200g roeless scallops (though do not trim if the roes are still attached - they are delicious)
200g raw king prawn tails
2 haddock fillets, roughly chopped
400g King Edward potatoes, peeled and quartered
dash milk
3 small knobs butter
salt and pepper
50g Parmesan, grated
4 bulbs baby fennel, chopped
200g peas
dash white wine
dash stock

Set the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6

Add the potatoes to a large pan filled with cold water. Bring to the boil and cook the potatoes until fluffy and soft and so you can slide a knife through them easily. Drain the water and mash, until smooth, adding the milk, one knob of butter and salt and pepper to taste. This is a rich fish pie so don't go overboard on the salt.

Meanwhile, fry the onion in the second knob of butter until really soft and stringy. Pour in the cream and bring to the boil. Turn the heat to a low simmer and add the tarragon and mustard. Stir through the fish and set aside. The prawns may start to turn pink, but they will continue to cook in the oven.

Pour the fish mix into a large earthenware dish and layer the potato on top. Do not over-fill the dish as it is likely to bubble over in the oven. Scatter the grated Parmesan over the potato and place in the oven for 20 minutes until golden and the sauce is bubbling.

While the pie is in the oven and in its last 5 minutes, melt the last knob of butter in a small pan. Add the chopped fennel and soften. Pour in the wine and bring to the boil so the alcohol burns off. Add the stock and simmer for 5 minutes. At the last minute, or just before you take the pie out of the oven, add the peas and serve.

COURGETTE LINGUINE WITH CHILLI SQUID

SERVES 2

ingredients

200g linguine
75ml olive oil
2 shallots
1 clove garlic
2 heaped tsp chilli flakes
1 large courgette, julienned or cut into long thin strands
100g squid, thinly sliced into rings
6 leaves sage
salt and pepper
2 lemon wedges

Put a large saucepan of salted water on a high heat and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a frying pan. When hot, add the shallots and soften. Follow with the garlic, chilli and courgette and stir through. Cook the courgettes for 5 minutes until light brown and soft. Season and set aside in a bowl. Keep the pan on the heat and add more olive oil and one teaspoon of chilli.

Put the pasta in the pan of boiling water and turn down the heat to a simmer. Follow the packet instructions for cooking time.

When the oil in the pan is hot and sizzling and the squid. The oil should fizz as you throw in the squid. Add the sage and the rest of the chilli. Turn down the heat slightly and brown the squid for approximately 1-2 minutes. It should be tender, not chewy, so you want to avoid over cooking it. The sage should be crisp.


Drain the pasta when al dente. Evenly fold in the courgette to the linguine.

Serve on warm plates, placing the squid and sage on top of the pasta. Squeeze over the lemon.

There you have it. A beautiful, hassle-free, summer lunch. Lovely with a cold glass o' white.

COPENHAGEN, PIGS IN PINNIES, AND THE HAVELOCK

It's been the most glorious week for food and drink.

Copenhagen first, spent floating on a heavenly cloud of light-headed middle-of-the-day schnapps. The weekend started with a 'mield and nische' local brew, and ended with a Norwegian fire-breathing dragon Aquavit, drawing out the inner Viking with every thimbleful.

There was beer too. Cold and light, and not just Calsberg. We had home-brewed dark beers to drink with meat, and sweet, bubbly ones to go with dessert. Everyone on the street held a can and those who sat at tables had a tall glass tankard in hand. Pretty difficult not to get involved.

Thankfully, enough food went around to keep feet still on the ground. At Schonnemans we ate delicately sliced smoked halibut with radishes and cucumber, hearty lamb meatballs and 4 types of herring - the caramel on one herring still lingers 7 lunches later.


A long dinner at Fisk Bar gave us beautiful snow crab wrapped like spring rolls in celeriac, and Tusk served alongside sweet, acorn-sized new potatoes. A round loaf of rye with creamy butter sat in the middle for between course nibbling.

Beautiful beetroot and horseradish salad was served at Pate Pate to kick off yet more delicious fish, and the forkful of foie gras with fried egg was pure heart attack love ache.

We peered through the windows of Noma without disappointment and longing, but feeling happy and lucky that we'd eaten at the old, real Danish kitchens with sandy floors, that serve up some of the most delicious food in Copenhagen. Dreaming now of my second trip.

...

Thursday night, Pigs in Pinnies - Alice Brady, Clara Paul, and I - welcomed in the beginning of a new supper club venture, hosting the dinner at Ledbury Church for Salon London.


Leaves, herbs, and fruit were all picked from Portobello market and the smoked trout arrived on the day from Alice's uncle's Wandsworth fish restaurant, Brady's. Feeding 35 guests the food we love got us hungry for more nights with a bit more linger. So here's hoping this will be the first of many more to come.

Goats curd with honey rosemary dressing on a salad of friseé and radicchio with homemade sourdough

Smoked trout on horseradish-dressed new potatoes, with sorrel and watercress

Lemon posset with shortbread

...

To top it all off, tonight was a plate of deliciously simple ham hock, puy lentil and green bean salad and a glass of homemade lemonade at the Havelock Tavern, after throwing my weight around the Brook Green tennis courts with Miss Potter.

I will be attempting to do it all again next week from my flat kitchen with a recreation of the caramel herring. Too good not to.