Nigel Slater's 50 favourite summer recipes: eight great fish re...

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Eight great fish recipes

Baked, roast or fried - delicious ideas from spicy mackerel to roasted halibut and
baked red mullet
Nigel Slater
Sunday 27 April 2008 15.01BST

Baked salmon with dill

Few things are more useful to have in the fridge for impromptu lunches than a piece
of cold baked salmon that you can eat with mayonnaise or stu into slices of soft
brown bread with slices of crisp cucumber and watercress.
I tend to wrap a large piece of sh in foil, seasoned with a few suitable herbs (dill,
tarragon, chervil) and a splash of white wine and bake it when something else comes
out the oven.
Serves 4
tail end of salmon, lleted - 1kg
olive oil
dill - a small bunch
white vermouth - 3 tbs
Set the oven at 220C/gas 7. Place one half of the salmon on a piece of tin foil or
baking parchment, skin-side down. Brush it with olive oil. Season with salt and a little
pepper, white if you have it, black if not. Remove the dill leaves from their stalks and
lay them on the sh. Place the second half of the sh, skin-side up, on top of the dill.
Sprinkle over the wine. Wrap loosely in the foil or parchment and bake in a roasting
tin for 10 minutes per 500g.
Remove the salmon from the oven, let it cool and serve at room temperature with
homemade mayonnaise into which you have stirred some lemon juice and chopped
dill.
Mackerel
Roast mackerel with sherry vinegar, potatoes and thyme
Mackerel is thriving and it's one of those sh we are encouraged to eat more of.

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Serves 2
small, yellow-eshed potatoes - 475g
olive oil
fresh thyme - a small bunch
mackerel llets - 2 large (or 4 smaller ones)
sherry vinegar
Set the oven at 180C/gas 4. Wipe the potatoes then slice them to the thickness of two
pound coins. Put them into a bowl, pour over three tablespoons of olive oil and a
generous grinding of sea salt and pepper. Pick the leaves from three or four of the
thyme sprigs - you want a small palmful - and toss with the potatoes. Tip the potatoes
into a shallow dish and bake for 40 minutes till golden and tender.
Pour 2 tablespoons of the oil into a small bowl and stir in a tablespoon of the sherry
vinegar, some salt and pepper and a tablespoon or so of thyme leaves. When the
potatoes are golden, lay the sh skin-side up on the potatoes then spoon over the
dressing.
Return the dish to the oven and continue roasting for 15 to 20 minutes until the sh is
cooked and the skin is just starting to crisp lightly.
Spiced crumbed mackerel with smoked paprika
I sometimes feel as if I am on a one-man mission to make the world eat more
mackerel. This recipe, spiced with smoked paprika and rings of soft, golden onions, is
one of the best I have come up with for this underrated sh. I am not sure you need
anything more with it than some steamed spinach or spinach salad. Some raspberries
to follow, perhaps with thick, mild yoghurt, would be perfect.
Serves 2
mackerel - 4, lleted
onions - 1 medium to large
olive oil
parsley - a handful
garlic - 3 small cloves
smoked 'hot' paprika - tsp
fresh breadcrumbs - 100g
lemon - 1
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Rinse and dry the mackerel and lay them skin-side down in a lightly oiled dish.
Season them lightly with salt and pepper. Set the oven at 185C/gas 4.
Peel the onion and slice it into very thin rings, then let it cook over a moderate heat in
a couple of tablespoons of oil until it starts to soften and colour.
Chop the parsley, not too nely, then peel and crush the garlic and stir into the onion
with the smoked paprika, a seasoning of black pepper and salt and the breadcrumbs.
Pour in 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
Spoon the spiced breadcrumbs evenly over the sh then bake for 20 minutes. The sh
is done when the crumbs are golden and the sh is opaque and tender. Lift onto the
plates using a sh slice then squeeze the lemon over each one.
Mullet
Baked red mullet with pine-nut stuffing
Large, juicy akes of sh are what appeal so much here. I always nd you need a large
red mullet per person, or two smaller ones. This sounds a lot, I know, but trust me,
they have quite big bones. This stung is good for other things, too - whole squid,
perhaps, or even partridge.
Serves 4
large red mullet, cleaned but with the heads left on - 4
large shallot - 1
a clove of garlic, nely chopped
fresh white breadcrumbs - 50g
black olives, stoned - 15
pine nuts - 50g
juice and nely grated zest of a lemon
raisins - 2 tbs
chopped parsley - a small handful
leaves from a couple of bushy sprigs of rosemary, chopped
capers - 2 tsp
olive oil
Heat the oven to 190C/gas 5. Rinse the mullet, pat them dry with kitchen paper and
lay them snugly in a roasting tin. Peel the shallot and chop it nely, then let it cook

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slowly with the olive oil and garlic in a small pan over a moderate heat until it is soft
and translucent. Add the breadcrumbs and let them colour slightly. Chop the olives
and add them to the crumbs with the pine nuts, lemon zest, raisins and chopped
herbs and capers. Season with salt and pepper.
Stu as much of the lling into the sh as will go comfortably. Any remaining stung
can be scattered over the sh. Squeeze over the lemon juice and add a drizzle of olive
oil and a grinding of salt then bake for 20 minutes till the sh is opaque and comes
easily from the bone.
Salmon
Salmon and dill cakes
Salmon and dill is one of those made-in-heaven marriages that works in many forms:
as gravadlax, as a delightfully retro mousse or as a beautiful piece of gently poached
sh with an accompanying green sauce. As a long-time fan of this culinary
partnership, I had a go at making light, crisp, potato-free shcakes and putting them
on the table with a jar of the dill and mustard sauce that is usually served with
gravadlax. Make your own sauce, or buy it from shmongers, delis and major food
shops.
Serves 3
salmon - 500g
large egg white - 1
fresh dill - a small bunch
our - 1 tbs
grain mustard - 1 tsp
the juice of half a lemon
olive or groundnut oil
dill and mustard sauce and lemon wedges, to serve
Remove the skin from the salmon then chop the esh nely. Put it in a bowl with the
egg white, a couple of tablespoons of dill fronds - nely chopped - the our, mustard
and lemon juice, then mush together with a generous grinding of salt and black
pepper.
Squash spoonfuls of the mixture together lightly with your hands to make 10 small
balls. Flatten each one slightly then set aside for a few minutes. Heat a little oil in a
shallow pan. Place the patties in the hot oil - I do this in two batches - and leave them
for two or three minutes until they have coloured on the underside.

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Turn them over with a palette knife and colour the other side. Cut one in half to check
it for doneness. The sh should be lightly cooked within and golden and crisp on the
outside. Eat them with wedges of lemon and the mustard sauce.
Halibut
Halibut with capers, lemon and parsley
Given a spanking fresh piece of white sh, I sometimes do nothing more to it than rub
it with salt and roast it in a very hot oven, its only gilding the juice from a fat Sicilian
lemon and a modest pile of lightly steamed spinach. Last time, I got the parsley out,
too, and a few delectably piquant little capers. This to me is a feast of the rst order.
You can keep your fancy French sauces.
Serves 2
halibut steaks - 2 x 225g
olive oil
salted capers - 2 tbsp
at-leaf parsley - the leaves from a small bunch
juice of a large lemon
steamed spinach, lemon halves, to serve
Set the oven at 230C/gas 8. Warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a ame-proof baking
dish over a moderate ame. Rub the sh generously with salt and pepper and brown
lightly on one side in the hot oil. A minute should suce. Put the sh into the hot
oven and bake for 7-8 minutes until opaque and the esh parts easily from the bone.
Chop the parsley and rinse the capers. Lift out the sh onto warm plates and place the
baking dish over a moderate ame. Scatter in the capers and parsley, squeeze in the
lemon juice and grind in a little salt and pepper. Drizzle in a little extra virgin olive oil
and bring very briey to a erce bubble. Tip the lot over the sh and serve.
Bream
Bream with lemon and anchovy potatoes
I suggest bream here because it is especially ne at the moment, but any whole,
smallish sh will do. Get the shmonger to clean and gut the sh but ask him to leave
the heads on. There are plenty of potatoes here, but I nd people seem to come back
for seconds. A tomato salad on the side would be fun.
Serves 4
for the fish:

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sea bream - 4 whole sh, cleaned but left on the bone

a little dried oregano
olive oil
for the potatoes:
waxy-eshed potatoes such as Anya or
Pink Fir Apple - 1kg
olive oil - 4 tbs
lemon - 1 large
anchovy llets - 12
vegetable stock - 500ml
Set the oven at 200C/gas 6. Slice each potato three or four times. If you do this
lengthways you will end up with long, elegant pieces.
Warm the olive oil in a roasting tin over a moderately hot ame, then put the potatoes
in and let them colour on both sides. They cook best if you leave them alone for
several minutes in between stirring. You want them to be pale gold on both sides.
Cut the lemon in half, then into thick segments. Add the anchovy, which will appear
to dissolve as it cooks, and then pour over the stock. Bake for 50 minutes until the
potatoes are soft and deep gold.
Next, lay the sh in a roasting tin and drizzle with a little olive oil, then add the herbs
and a mild seasoning of salt and black pepper. Bake in the preheated oven until the
esh will slide easily away from the bone in big juicy pieces. This will take a matter of
15-20 minutes. Serve the sh with the potatoes.
Smoked haddock
Smoked haddock with cream and broccoli
Smoked sh and cream is one of the most successful marriages around. Smoked
salmon and cream cheese, smoked mackerel and creamed horseradish, smoked
haddock with cream in a sh soup such as Cullen Skink are all famous pairings. The
idea of cooking smoked haddock in a simple gratin with cream and broccoli is more
contemporary.
Serves 2
smoked haddock - 700g
milk or milk and water - 500ml
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broccoli - 250g
double cream - 30ml
fresh, white breadcrumbs - 4 tbs
Set the oven at 200C/gas 6.
Check the sh over carefully for any stray bones. Put the llets into a shallow pan and
cover with milk or milk and water. Season the liquid with black pepper bring to the
boil. Turn down the heat and leave till the sh is tender, a matter of 5-10 minutes
depending on the thickness of the sh.
Remove the sh from the milk and then leave to cool a little. Cook the broccoli until it
is just tender in boiling, lightly salted water. Drain.
Remove the sh from its skin in big, fat akes. Place them in a shallow baking dish
together with the broccoli.
Pour over the cream (it won't quite cover, but no matter), then scatter over the
breadcrumbs. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, till bubbling.
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