Re: Mackerel

[Guest guest]

>

> Favorite recipes/treatments, everyone?

Two of my favortite ways to cook whole mackerel, both from my family in

Greece:

1) After removing the entrails and gills, rinse and dry the fish. Coat the

skin lightly with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Grill the fish on a hot but indirect flame until the middle portion is just

about done.

The easiest way to grill it is using a grilling basket that closes around

the fish. This way, if the flesh begins to flake on one side, you can still

turn the fish to cook the other side.

To serve, either place whole fish on a plate or flake the meat off.onto a

platter. For a sauce, beat together one part extra virgin olive oil with one

part lemon juice and a little fresh chopped parsley with fresh ground pepper

to taste.

2) Remove entrails and gills and rinse.

In a roasting pan, cover the bottom of the pan with very coarsely chopped

pasrley (you can even leave the parsley whole with stems on). You'll need

about four bunches but it really depends on the size of the pan.

Salt and pepper the fish. In the cavity of the fish place 1-2 cloves of

garlic.

Place the fish on top of the parsley and either add the juice of 2 lemons

and water to make 0.5 cups or pour on about 0.5 or 1 cup of white wine,

whatever you prefer or have around the house.

On top of the fish, place either cut tomato slices, tomato paste or a few

drained whole peeled tomatoes flattened.

Bake in a 400 F oven until the internal temp of the fish is around 140 F.

Serve with the parsely.

Enjoy,

[Guest guest]

One nice way to make mackerel is to slice the belly all the way down to

the tail and stuff the cavity with a mixture of miso, soy sauce, ginger

and a little sweetener like honey. Sprinkle the outside with coarse sea

salt. Let that marinate for 1/2 hour. Preheat your broiler. When ready

to cook, fan the fish out (skin up) and press down on the spine to get

the fish really flat. It should be ready in about 10 minutes.

You could also just simply salt it inside and out. Let rest for a 1/2

hour. Then place it under the broiler like in the previous recipe.

Enjoy,

Adrienne

[Guest guest]

>However, I figure I'll now be on the lookout for better-looking mackerel.

>

>Favorite recipes/treatments, everyone?

Ack. We used to use it for feeding the cat.

I refuse to eat mackerel.

One main reason was that it was so prone

to parasites, which was enough to put me off

it for life.

Heidi

[Guest guest]

I also forgot to mention that Spanish mackerel is far superior in taste

to Boston.

Adrienne

[Guest guest]

Don't know if this counts as a " favorite, " as I haven't had the

chance to try it yet! But it sure does look good. :-)

Tom

Mackerel Brochettes with Saffron Sauce (serves 6)

10 inch-thick slices of king mackerel

2 medium onions

2 medium tomatoes

1 zucchini

1/2 cup dry white wine

Olive Oil

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon mixed dried herbs

Salt and pepper

For the Stock

Fish trimmings

1 carrot

1 onion

1 celery stalk

1 bay leaf

Parsley and thyme sprigs

3 lemon slices

Salt and pepper

For the Sauce

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups strained stock

A generous 1/4 teaspoon saffron

1/2 cup whipping cream

Lemon juice to taste

Salt and pepper

Lemon wedges

A rice pilar

The fish slices ae divided into 4 quarters by thin membranes. Punch

out the fat, scallop-like nuts of flesh in each of the 4 sections.

Use trimmings for stock.

Cut onions into quarters, leaving each piece well attached at the

root end. Parboil gently for 3 minutes. Cut the tomatoes into 6

wedges. Rid them of juice and seeds. Slice zucchini.

Place fish and vegetables in a bowl and moisten with white wine and a

small amount of olive oil. Add garlic, herbs and seasoning and

marinate for at least 1 hour. Thread skewers with alternating fish

and vegetables. Reserve marinade.

Place the fish trimmings and other stock ingredients in a small pan.

Add 2 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil. Immediately regulate heat

to low, and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain.

Make a veloute´ sauce: melt the butter in a small, heavy saucepan.

Add flour and whisk over low heat for 3 minutes. Do not let flour

brown. Whisk in 1 1/2 cups strained stock, add the saffron and cook

gently (the sauce should emit slow, heavy bubbles) for 20 minutes.

Skim off any skin from time to time and drag a wooden spoon over the

bottom to make sure nothing is sticking.

Thin the sauce with the cream. Whisk in lemon juice to taste and

adjust seasoning.

Broil or grill the brochettes, basting occasionally with marinade.

Serve with lemon wedges and a pilaf, the last necessary to absorb the

abundant, saffron-yellow sauce. Serve sauce separately.

For convenience: the fish and vegetables can rest in the marinade

all day. The stock and sauce may be made the day before up to the

point of adding cream. When the veloute´ has cooled, pour a thin film

of melted butter over the surface to prevent a skin forming. Reheat

gently when needed, and whisk in cream and surface butter.

[Guest guest]

said:

>Two of my favorite ways to cook whole mackerel, both from my family in

Greece:

Both of those sound good - but I think I'm partial to the " stuff it with

garlic and do the parsley thing " version. Can't go far wrong with

garlic, parsley and salt, right? Not to mention all the other goodies.

Adrienne said:

>One nice way to make mackerel is to slice the belly all the way down to

>the tail and stuff the cavity with a mixture of miso, soy sauce, ginger

>and a little sweetener like honey. Sprinkle the outside with coarse sea

>salt. Let that marinate for 1/2 hour. Preheat your broiler. When ready

>to cook, fan the fish out (skin up) and press down on the spine to get

>the fish really flat. It should be ready in about 10 minutes.

>

Also appeals greatly to my love of miso and soy sauce ... or teriyaki, or

or or ... hehe. Wasn't sure how mackerel would come out with those

flavors, since ...

Heidi said:

>Ack. We used to use it for feeding the cat.

And that's pretty much my only experience with it also. It's cat food.

Actually, it *was* cat food - until he got his first taste of canned

salmon, and now he's *way* too good to be bothered with eating that

mackerel stuff. That's for cats who don't know any better.

Tom said:

>long complicated recipe

You're just trying to get me, aren't you? Just 'cause I said it was

good to actually cook something once in a while that took time and

attention?

It sounds really good to me too, though. I'm actually thinking about

just cutting to the chase and making the sauce and using it for ... well

.... there are an awful lot of things I can think of that it would be good

on. Can't be bothered with all that " mackerel processing " . Heh.

Thanks, all, you've given me some great ideas! Keep 'em coming if you

got 'em!

Hey, how 'bout red snapper? That's real common around here, but I've

never tasted it in my life. I know (not sure how) that it's supposed to

be one of the best for making fish stock, but that's about it.

MFJ

Ideas are funny that way ... you go and let one loose, and suddenly it's

crashing about the place, bashing up against other peoples' heads.

Somebody oughtta control that. Pesky things, ideas.