Recipes for Smoked Salmon | Hebridean Smokehouse

Peat Smoked Mackerel Recipes and Serving Suggestions

1. Potato and Peat Smoked Mackerel Dauphinoise

A variation on the classic potato dish that is super tasty and satisfying. If horseradish is not your thing leave it out as it is delicious with or without it. Serve with a peppery green salad.

Ingredients, serves 4

450g 0f scrubbed floury type potatoes, sliced skin on 3mm thick - Rooster are very good

500g of Peat Smoked Mackerel fillets

Large pot of single cream, 284ml

150 ml full cream milk

Tablespoon of grain mustard, pour off any vinegar separated in the jar

Dessertspoon of hot horseradish sauce

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Good handful of parsley and lovage (or dill) 50:50, finely chopped

60g softened butter

Equipment

10" oven-proof dish

Method

Par-cook the sliced potatoes in lightly salted water for no more than 4 minutes from when the water reaches the boil. Drain and leave to cool until you can handle the slices.

Prepare the mackerel fillets by first removing the pin-bones located down the central line of the fillet. The largest are at the widest end and can easily be pulled out with tweezers. Once you have removed the bones peel away the skin, from the tail end, and break up the fillets into largeish chunks.

Next combine the cream, milk, mustard, horseradish, pepper and the chopped herbs in a bowl and mix well until it is uniform.

Butter the base of the oven-proof dish then assemble the potatoes and fish in rough layers pouring over some of the liquid as you go. Once all the potato and fish is used up pour over the rest of the cream mixture and dot with the remaining butter.

Bake in the oven for 50 minutes at 160⁰ C until lightly browned. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

2. Peat Smoked Mackerel Special Pate

This is a really luxurious tasting pate that is light and has a bit of zing to it. Serve with melba toast or toasted oatcakes.

Ingredients, for three pots

Two 70g fillets Hebridean Peat Smoked Mackerel

90g cream cheese

85g butter, softened

1 teaspoon hot horseradish sauce

black pepper to taste

¼ teaspoon paprika, smoked if you have it

30g pickled gerkins, well drained on kitchen paper to remove the vinegar

juice of ½ of a lemon

Method

First remove any pin bones from the centre line of the mackerel fillets. This is easily achieved with a pair of tweezers. Then remove the skins from the fillets peeling them off from the tail end.

In a food processor combine the mackerel, cream cheese, 30g of the softened butter, horseradish sauce, a good few twists of fresh ground black pepper and most of the lemon juice. Blitz together until smooth - if the mixture seems too stiff to become fully smooth add a little single cream.

To make the tasty sealing cap for your pate, melt the remaining butter in a small pan over a low to medium heat until the oil splits from the white watery whey. While this is heating finely chop the gerkin and put in a small heat proof bowl with the remaining lemon juice. When the butter has split spoon out the oil and add this to the gerkin and lemon, mixing it well.

Divide the pate mixture between three 9 cm diameter ramekins - line these with cling film if you want to lift out the pate later rather than serving in the ramekins. Tap the filled ramekins to level out the top, then spoon on the gerkin mixture to cover the pate. Sprinkle over the paprika. Refrigerate for at least four hours to get the perfect set before serving.

3. Peat Smoked Mackerel and brown rice salad

This salad is almost a nutritionally complete dish with its mix of grains, pulses, seeds, oils, fish and eggs. Best of all it is delicious, and can be made in advance and perfect summer eating.

Ingredients, for two or more people

120g brown basmati rice, cooked and rapidly cooled

One red pepper, finely chopped

One bunch of spring onions, finely chopped

Two dessert spoons sunflower seeds, pan roasted in a little olive until browned

One tin of butter or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

One tin of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Two fillets of Hebridean Peat Smoked Mackerel, lightly grilled, cooled and broken up

Two sticks of celery, finely chopped

Two eggs, boiled for 6 minutes and rapidly cooled in cold running water

For the dressing - juice of a lemon, 6 tablespoons olive oil, dessert spoon grain mustard, ¼ of a teaspoon of Maldon salt flakes, handful of parsley or parsley and dill

Method

First remove any pin bones from the centre line of the mackerel fillets. This is easily achieved with a pair of tweezers. Grill the mackerel fillets then, when cooled, divide into small pieces.

Combine all the ingredients, excluding the dressing, in an oversized bowl, mixing lightly. Make the dressing by putting all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blitz until the herbs are uniformly chopped - you may want to let it go very green indeed which colours the salad nicely.

Fold in the dressing to the salad adding a little more oil if it looks dry. Let the salad rest in a refrigerator for at least 2 hours and then before serving mix well again. To serve, peel and halve or quarter the eggs, season with paprika or black pepper and put them on top of a good serving of the salad.

4. Peat Smoked Mackerel, beetroot and orange salad

This is a delicious and colourful salad that is perfect for a summer meal out of doors. The combination of rich smoked mackerel and the acidic orange is excellent and the cured beetroot and toasted seeds add even more taste sensations.

Ingredients, for two people

Two 70g fillets Hebridean Peat Smoked Mackerel

1 orange, seedless if possible

1 beetroot, 180g unpeeled

2 tablespoons sushi rice vinegar

½ teaspoon caster sugar

3 tablespoons good olive oil

1 tablespoon sunflower seeds

1 teaspoon grain mustard

2 good handfuls of salad leaves, especially rocket and mustard

Method

First remove any pin bones from the centre line of the mackerel fillets. This is easily achieved with a pair of tweezers. Then grill the fillets until lightly browned on both sides. The skin will blister and crisp and is delicious but can be removed if it is not to your taste. Once cooled break up the fillets into small pieces.

In a small frying pan gently heat the oil and sunflower seeds until they begin to brown lightly. Remove from the heat and leave to cool - you can speed this up by placing the pan outside.

Prepare the beetroot pickling cure by putting the rice vinegar and sugar in a glass bowl and stir to disolve the sugar.

To prepare the beetroot peel the raw beet removing all of the skin; you may want to wear gloves for this as the juice will stain whatever to comes into contact with. Next finely grate the peeled beet using whatever method you have, food processor or manual grater, and put the grated beetroot into a glass bowl with the vinegar cure. Mix well and put aside for 5 minutes. After this curing time you will see a lot of liquid has come out of the beetroot. Drain it in a fine sieve squeezing out the excess water and leave to drain further.

Prepare the orange by peeling with a sharp knife being careful to remove all the white pith. Holding the orange ball in your hand cut out the segments inside the margins of each segment, you can expect 10 segments, and put these in a glass bowl. Now squeeze out the juice from the remains of the orange over the perfect segments.

To assemble the salad divide the washed salad leaves on to two plates. Using your fingers take small pinches of the cured beetroot and gently roll into balls before putting them on the leaves. Divide the orange segments and add to the salad. Add the pieces of mackerel and sprinkle over the cooled sunflower seeds.

Finally, discard half of the remaining orange juice in the glass bowl and add the cooled olive oil used for frying the sunflower seeds. Add a good pinch of salt and a teaspoon of grain mustard. Beat this dressing very well with a balloon whisk until it is uniform and spoon over the salad. Serve immediately.

5. Grilled Peat Smoked Mackerel with gooseberries

Gooseberries make a really good accompaniment to the rich and oily smoked mackerel. Try this with the mackerel served hot of cold, on its own or on oatcakes or rye bread.

Ingredients

Peat Smoked Mackerel fillets, one per person

180g fresh grren or red gooseberries

1 teaspoon of sugar

A little grating of nutmeg

Method

Prepare the mackerel fillets by removing any pin-bones from the fillet central line - tweezers are good for this.

For the gooseberry sauce, half the berries and in a saucepan with one tablespoon of water, gently simmer the fruit until it has broken down. Add the sugar and a little nutmeg and put aside to cool.

Grill the mackerel fillets under a hot grill on both sides until it is hissing and starting to colour. You can be bold with the skin side as it will blister and bubble under the heat and this crisp skin is delicious. Remember mackerel is a very oily fish so it may spit under the heat and it would be wise to line the grill pan with foil before starting.

Serve the cooling grilled mackerel with the gooseberry sauce and, if you have some, a slice of pumpernickel bread.