Crumbed mackerel with mixed root oven hash

I love fish, but I must admit to being a fan of fish naturally full of flavour. That tends to be colours fish, such as salmon, trout and mackerel. I am yet to find a white fish recipe that blows me away. Mackerel on the other hand rarely fails to impress. 

In this recipe I used frozen mackerel fillets and I counted one per person. It is worth cooking too many fillets, if you are not sure how much you are going to eat, because they freeze well. It is easy to make and doesn't involve any overly sticky fingers or faffing with a frying pan.

There are people who don't like coloured (read flavourful) fish, but happily eat white fish. Although I have never tried, I'm sure this recipe could be used for any fillets and perhaps it could make plaice or cod more exciting. It may be worth a try.

I have served this fish dish with a variety of trimmings, such as rice, potatoes and stir fried veggies. It is quite dry, so it benefits from some sort of sauce and I prefer a cold sauce, but that's of course up to each and everyone. This time I opted for oven baked hash brown, made with a mixture of potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots. There weren't enough potatoes in the basket when I headed for the kitchen and I simply grabbed what I thought would work together. It came out lovely. Necessity is the mother of invention.

To make this version of crumbed mackerel, you need:

fresh mackerel fillets

bread crumbs

parsley

dill

paprika

lemon juice

salt & pepper (missing from the photo below)

1. Get the crumb stuff out.

2. To a bowl, add bread crumbs and seasoning. I like quite a lot of seasoning. This is when you would add salt and pepper as well. Mix until well blended, then add lemon juice and mix again until it is crumbly. You want small crumbs, no big lumps.

3. Place the fish fillets on a baking tray covered with tin foil and generously sprinkle the crumb mixture over the fish. Once there is quite a thick layer on each fillet, gently press it on with your fingers. You need it to stick to the fish. Make sure your hands are dry, or the crumbs may stick better to you than to the fish. 

4. If you opt for oven hash and I can really recommend it, you need to get it into the oven before the fish goes in. I used a mandoline to shred the roots, tossed them in olive oil, salt, pepper, onion powder and a little chilli powder before spreading the shreds onto a baking tray. They take approximately 40 minutes at 200 degrees and they need shuffling a couple of times.

The crumbed mackerel takes no more than 20 minutes, so when the hash is halfway done, you can put the fish tray into the oven.

5. This is the perfect time to prepare a sauce (and tidy up the kitchen). I normally have Greek or natural yogurt at home and it is the base of many of my cold sauces, this one as well. This time I chose a spoonful of horseradish sauce and a fairly generous amount of dill to compliment the fish. It was left to chill in the fridge until it was time to serve.

6. Behold the beauty of the oven hash. 

7. The fish is ready when the crumbs have turned brown and dried out.

This picture shows the colour and texture better.

8. Dish up and fall in love with this meal. 

This is something I would put on a boomerang menu, a dish I'd happily cook regularly.

The hash can be adapted endlessly. Use whatever you have at home. Next time I'm adding cabbage and onion, alongside whatever roots I have at home. I can't wait!