by James Martin
SALMON MOUSSE WITH CUCUMBER & DILL PICKLE & MELBA TOAST
The key to this mousse is the quality of the smoked salmon. It’s also important not to over-whizz the mixture as it can heat up and cause it to cook and split at the same time. Melba toast was one of many dishes named after Dame Nellie Melba, a famous Australian opera singer who clearly had lots of fans. One was a certain Auguste Escoffier, one of the greatest chefs ever, who named the toast after her.
SERVES 6
650g tail-end piece smoked salmon, skinned
100g full-fat cream cheese
100ml double cream
juice of 1 lemon
freshly ground black pepper
4 slices of white bread
small bunch of watercress
For the pickle
50ml white wine vinegar
25g caster sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cucumber, peeled, halved, seeds removed and diced
small bunch of dill, leaves picked
Start by making the pickle. Pour the vinegar into a pan and stir in the sugar and salt. Heat gently to warm through and to dissolve the sugar. Add the diced cucumber and take the pan off the heat. Stir in the dill and set aside to cool and infuse.
To make the mousse, cut six 1-cm slices of smoked salmon off the opposite end to the tail, carving it away from the skin. Slice each piece in half to make 12 x 5-mm slices (2 slices per serving).
Slice the remaining salmon off the tail, roughly chop it, then put into the bowl of a food processor. Add the cream cheese, cream, lemon juice and black pepper (there’s no need to add any salt here as the salmon is salty enough) and whizz for 20–30 seconds.
To make the Melba toast, preheat the grill to hot. Put the bread onto a baking tray and toast until golden. Turn over and toast the other side. Chop off the crusts using a bread knife then slice through the bread horizontally. Carefully rub the untoasted side on the board to remove any excess crumbs, then cut each piece into two triangles. Put the triangles back onto the tray, untoasted side up, and toast until golden. Keep an eye on them.
Put two slices of salmon on each plate, add a spoonful of mousse and a spoonful of pickle, and serve with slices of Melba toast and a few sprigs of watercress on the side.
BEETROOT-CURED SALMON WITH FENNEL, APPLE & RADISH SALAD
Curing a side of salmon in this way makes a great treat and dinner party dish. The beetroot not only makes it taste special but the colour will look stunning for an occasion. It looks impressive but it’s easy to do and uses only a few ingredients – you can even use pre-cooked packet beetroot. The most important thing is to wrap the salmon well in clingfilm and leave it for 24 hours only, then wash and dry it and you’ll have cured salmon that will keep for 3 to 4 days.
SERVES 8–10
For the salmon
400g pre-cooked (not pickled in vinegar) beetroot
400g table salt
200g caster sugar
1 side salmon, pin-boned and belly removed
For the salad
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 eating apple, thinly sliced
20 radishes, thinly sliced
small bunch of dill, chopped
5 baby pak choi, leaves separated
For the dressing
100ml olive oil
juice of 2 lemons
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Put the beetroot, salt and sugar into a large food processor and blitz until smooth.
Line a large tray with several layers of clingfilm – the tray needs to be big enough to fit the salmon on and the clingfilm layers large enough to wrap around the coated salmon.
Pour half of the beetroot mixture into the tray and spread it out, leaving a border. Position the salmon on top then cover with the remaining beetroot mixture. Wrap tightly in the clingfilm, so the beetroot cure is covering all of the salmon, and transfer to the fridge to chill for 24 hours.
Remove the clingfilm and scrape off the beetroot cure. Rinse the salmon under cold running water to wash away any remaining beetroot cure, then pat dry with a clean tea towel. Transfer to a chopping board.
Make the salad by combining all the ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk the ingredients for the dressing in a separate bowl and season well, then pour over the salad and toss together.
Use a sharp fish knife to carve thin slices of the salmon, starting from the tail end, and arrange a few slices on each plate with a spoonful of the salad to accompany it.
BBQ HERRING WITH SALSA
Herring are rarely seen in supermarkets other than when turned into kippers, but they are fantastic when fresh, either barbecued or simply grilled. There are a few fresh fish shops dotted along Folkestone harbour selling herring straight from the boats to the public and to restaurants, so I wanted to cook these on the beach outside Mark Sargeant’s restaurant, Rocksalt.
SERVES 4
4 whole herring, scaled and gutted
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
zest of 1 lime
For the salsa
3 medium tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 shallot, finely diced
1 garlic clove, chopped
50ml cider vinegar
50ml olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons capers
¼ baguette, torn into chunks
Light your BBQ. When the coals are silvery in colour, it will be ready to cook on.
Meanwhile make the salsa. Put the tomatoes into a bowl and add the shallot, garlic, cider vinegar and olive oil. Season well and stir everything together. Add the chopped parsley, capers and bread and stir to combine.
To prepare the herring, place them on a chopping board and cut off and discard the heads. Working on one of them, open the fish out slightly, skin side up, and press down on the backbone using the heel of your hand to flatten. Turn the fish over and gently ease the backbone out, along with the other finer bones. Cut out the end of the backbone at the tail. Do the same to the other three fish.
Drizzle the oil over the skin of all the herrings, then pop them onto the BBQ, skin-side down, and cook for 2 minutes. Flip over and cook for a further minute.
To serve, spoon the salsa onto a large plate, put the fish alongside, then finish with another drizzle of oil and sprinkle over the lime zest.
BAKED SARDINE TART WITH INDIAN CHUTNEY
I love sardines and when they’re fresh it’s so easy to remove the bones to make them easier for you to eat. Just pushing down on the back will free up the rib-cage bones underneath and you’ll be able to just lift and pull them out (see my tip). The combination of spices I used for this dish was inspired by a trip to Bristol, one of many British cities with an up-and-coming modern food scene.
SERVES 6
a little plain flour, for dusting
500g puff pastry
2 egg yolks, beaten
12 sardines, scaled, cleaned and butterflied (see my tip)
10 slices of streaky bacon
olive oil, for drizzling
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the chutney
2 Bramley apples, cored and diced
2 pears, diced
15g butter
5-cm piece fresh root ginger, grated
1 shallot, diced
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 teaspoon dried curry leaves
1 teaspoon garam masala
seeds from 4 cardamom pods
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon mild chilli powder
2 star anise
Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan)/400°F/gas 6.
Start by making the chutney. Put the apples and pears into a large saucepan, add the butter and 100ml water and place over a medium heat on the hob. Bring to the boil, then stir in the ginger, shallot, garlic and curry leaves.
Put the dry spices in
to a small bowl, add 1 tablespoon of water and mix to a paste. Add this to the pan, together with the star anise, and stir in. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
To make the tart, lightly dust a clean work surface with a little flour. Roll out the pastry to make a rectangle measuring 30 x 20cm and around 2mm thick. Prick the pastry all over with a fork and lift onto a flat baking sheet.
Use a pastry brush to brush the beaten egg all over the pastry then arrange the sardines over the top, followed by the bacon. Drizzle over the olive oil, season and bake for 20–25 minutes until the pastry has puffed up and is golden and crisp.
Spoon the chutney into a bowl (remove the star anise). Slide the tart onto a board, slice into pieces and serve.
JAMES’S TIP
To prepare the sardines, put them on a board and use a scaler to remove the scales. Next, use a sharp fish knife to cut the heads off each one (or you can leave them on, as I did) then slice the knife along the belly to open them up. Pull out and discard the guts, clean any blood with tissue and rinse briefly with cold water.
Open out each sardine, flesh-side down, and use the heel of your hand to press down along the centre until each fish is flat. Turn over and gently pull out the backbone starting from the top and slicing it off at the tail.
MACKEREL & CAULIFLOWER WITH MANGO DRESSING
This is such a simple dish but it relies on using top-quality and extremely fresh mackerel. Oily fish needs to be really fresh as the oils start to break down the flesh the older it is. The fruity dressing goes brilliantly here and young nasturtium leaves, if you have them, add a great peppery kick.
SERVES 4
4 whole mackerel, gutted and heads removed
25m olive oil
juice of 1½ lemons, plus 2 lemons, halved
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 mangoes
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
125g butter
½ cauliflower, cut into florets
1 teaspoon mild curry powder
To serve
a few herb leaves and flowers (such as bergamot, thyme, nasturtium and fennel)
a few watercress leaves
Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan)/425°F/gas 7.
Place the mackerel on a baking tray and score four crosses along the fillet from the top to the tail on one side. Drizzle the oil over the top, then pour over the juice of 1 lemon. Place the lemon halves on the tray and season the mackerel. Roast for 8–10 minutes until the flesh is opaque and the fillets are coming away from the central bone.
Slice down each side of the stone of each of the mangoes to remove the cheeks. Scoop the flesh into a liquidiser or food processor and add the cider vinegar. Blitz until very smooth.
Heat a large frying pan until hot. Add the butter and once it’s melted and foaming, cook the cauliflower florets over a high heat for 3–4 minutes until golden and charred slightly on one side.
Take the pan off the heat, stir in the curry powder, pour over the remaining lemon juice and season and toss everything together. Lift the cauliflower onto kitchen paper to drain slightly.
Squeeze a roasted lemon half over each mackerel then lay the fish on warmed plates. Spoon the mango sauce in a line down the side. Arrange the cauliflower on top of the sauce and decorate with the edible herb leaves and flowers and watercress. Serve straightaway.
TIKKA MACKEREL BUNS WITH FENNEL & APPLE SALAD
Mackerel is one fish that we should eat a whole lot more of – it’s so abundant and when eaten fresh it’s one of the best-tasting. As an oily fish, it can take these strong tikka flavours and it went down well with the crowd watching on the bandstand when we were filming in Whitby (famous for its fish and chips, Captain Cook’s HMS Endeavour and for kippers, which you can buy online from Fortune’s Smokehouse).
SERVES 6
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon dried mint
1 teaspoon chilli powder
250ml full-fat Greek yogurt
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
small bunch of mint, leaves picked and chopped
small bunch of coriander, chopped
6 fresh curry leaves
6 mackerel fillets, pin-boned
6 brioche buns, halved
1 bag of salad leaves
For the salad
2 pickled onions, sliced
½ fennel, thinly sliced
½ green apple, julienned
juice of 1 lime
olive oil
Light your BBQ. When the coals are silvery in colour, it will be ready to cook on.
Put the ground coriander, cumin, garlic powder, smoked paprika, garam masala, ginger, mint, chilli powder and Greek yogurt in a large bowl. Mix everything together then season and add half the fresh mint, all the coriander and the curry leaves and stir to combine.
Spread a third of the mixture on a large sheet of foil. Lay the mackerel fillets on top and spread the remainder of the mixture over the top. Place another piece of foil over and seal the edges to make a parcel, then lift onto the BBQ to cook for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix the pickled onions, fennel, apple and remaining mint in a bowl and pour over the lime juice to make the salad. Add a splash of olive oil, season, and mix together.
To serve, fill the buns with the salad leaves, top with a mackerel fillet and spoon over the fennel and apple salad.
BLOW-TORCHED MACKEREL WITH FENNEL & GRAPEFRUIT SALAD
I had my work cut out with this one, trying to fillet the fish and cook it on the back of a fishing boat while bobbing up and down in the sea off Northern Ireland! It was worth it, though, because the coastline around here is ruggedly beautiful with places like the Giant’s Causeway and stunning villages untouched by time. I told the crew that when we were in the right place, they would see how easy mackerel are to fish for – we caught 9 in less than 4 minutes.
SERVES 2
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon pink peppercorns, lightly crushed
3-cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
a few dill sprigs, chopped
sea salt
50ml white wine vinegar
1 pink grapefruit
½ medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 mackerel fillets, skin on
For the dressing
100ml full-fat crème fraîche
1-cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Put the sugar, peppercorns, ginger, dill and 1 teaspoon of salt into a medium bowl then stir in the vinegar.
On a board, slice the top and bottom off the grapefruit then carefully cut away the skin and pith from the fruit. Cut between each segment and add the flesh to the bowl, reserving all the juices and pouring these into the bowl, too. Add the fennel and any fronds to the bowl. Season with a little black pepper and toss everything together.
Rub the oil over the mackerel and season well. Pop the fillets, skin-side up, onto a baking sheet. Using a blow torch, scorch the skin of the mackerel until charred and the fish is cooked through. Alternatively, preheat the grill to its highest setting and cook the fish for 3–4 minutes.
Mix the crème fraîche and ginger together in a bowl with a little seasoning to make the dressing.
To serve, spoon some dressing onto each plate, lay 2 mackerel fillets on top and half of the salad alongside each.
BBQ JOHN DORY WITH KOHLRABI & FENNEL SALAD
Jonny, my mate at Flying Fish Seafoods in Cornwall, has some of the best fish available and to prove it I got the crew to go there and film all the amazing fish for sale. Sadly, the public can’t buy from him but it is li
ke a fish showroom of what’s in the seas around Britain. He is passionate about his produce and those who buy from him are a ‘who’s who’ of the country’s best chefs and restaurants. One of the chefs’ favourite fish has to be John Dory, as it’s meaty and tastes amazing, but be careful not to overcook it.
SERVES 2
1 whole John Dory (around 1kg), gutted and cleaned
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
100g potted shrimps
small bunch of dill, roughly chopped
small bunch of chives, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon rapeseed oil
For the salad
1 kohlrabi, thinly sliced
½ fennel bulb, thinly sliced (fronds reserved)
½ red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 green tomato, cut into eight wedges
¼ cucumber, thinly sliced into rounds
For the dressing
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
50ml rapeseed oil
25ml white wine vinegar
Light your BBQ. When the coals are silvery in colour, it will be ready to cook on.
To prepare the fish, use scissors to snip off the fins and tail if the fishmonger hasn’t already done so. Season inside the cavity then fill the fish with a quarter of the shrimps, half the chopped dill and chives and half of the fennel fronds (from the salad). Season the whole fish, drizzle with oil and rub it all over the skin, then pop onto the BBQ to cook for 6–8 minutes on each side.
For the dressing, put the mustard, oil and vinegar into a bowl. Season and whisk together to combine.
Spoon the remaining potted shrimps into a small pan and heat gently to melt the butter.
Mix the kohlrabi, fennel, red onion, both types of tomato, the cucumber and the remaining dill, chives and fennel fronds into a large bowl. Drizzle over the dressing and toss everything together.
To serve, pile the salad on the side of a large platter and pop the fish alongside. Spoon the hot potted shrimp and any buttery juices over the fish and serve.