My summer mackerel with new potatoes, seasonal raspberries and foraged samphire is a refreshing lunch dish for a warm, sunny day. Enjoy with a crisp, cold glass of rosé and some crusty bread if desired. Try and source the best ingredients you can – you’ll really taste the difference with local, best quality produce and will come back to this tasty recipe time after time.
Whole Mackerel, Potatoes & Raspberries by Richard Bainbridge
Serves 2
www.restaurantbenedicts.com
Ingredients:
• 2 Whole Mackerel, Gutted & Cleaned
• 1 Lemon, Cut into Wedges
• 2 Good Sprigs of Fresh Thyme
• 2 Fresh Bay Leaves
• 6 Cloves of Garlic, Peeled
• 100g Samphire
• A Handful of Cleaned New Potatoes, Cooked in Salted, Lemon Water
• 1 Small Punnet of Raspberries
• A Few Handfuls of Watercress
• A Knob of butter
• A Splash of Oil
• Salt & Pepper
Method:
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6.
- Season the mackerel inside and out with salt and pepper, then cut three diagonal slashes on each side of the fish.
- Pop a wedge of lemon, garlic, sprig of thyme and bay leaf inside each cavity.
- Transfer to a generous, well-oiled roasting dish and put into the oven to cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the flesh easily pulls away from the bone.
- Blanch the samphire in boiling water for 60 seconds, then cool in iced water. Drain and set aside.
- When the fish is almost cooked through, heat a knob of butter with a dash of oil in a frying pan until it begins to foam.
- Add the samphire and cook for 2 minutes.
To serve:
- Place your fish onto a plate or board with the warmed new potatoes on the side, along with the watercress.
- Pour the buttery samphire over your warmed potatoes and fish.
- Garnish with ripped raspberries and the remaining lemon wedges, then dig in and enjoy all the delicious, zingy tastes of summer.
