Just Ridiculous Smoke Mackerel & Horseradish Potatoes

It’s all about the ‘tatas this one. I reckon that it would pair really well with a rare fillet steak or some sweet steamed lobster instead of the fish.

Prep 10 mins, Cooking time 25 mins.

• Enough floury potatoes for two people
• 25g slightly salted butter
• 1 tbsp horseradish sauce (or more if you really enjoy it hot!)
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Good salt & freshly pounded black peppercorns
• 4 small or 2 large smoked mackerel fillets, with or without peppercorns, whatever you prefer
• Accompanying veg - whatever you like but carrots & peas works great!
• 1 very finely chopped spring onion (about 1 tbsp)

1. Peel & cut potatoes into similar sized chunks and boil for around 15 minutes, until tender.
2. Meanwhile, pre-heat the grill to medium/high.
3. Melt the butter gently in a pan and when it becomes liquid add the horseradish sauce stirring constantly. It may look a bit split but it will combine quite quickly.
4. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper and stir again well, it may split a bit again, keep at it!
5. Keep the sauce warm whilst you steam your accompanying veg.
6. When the veg is nearly ready, lightly warm the mackerel under the grill.
7. By this point the potatoes should be ready so drain & return to the pan.
8. Lightly crush with a potato masher then add the horseradish mixture.
9. Add the spring onion and combine well but don’t loose the texture by over mashing it.
10. Serve a pile of the potatoes, topped with two mackerel fillets each and surrounded by steamed veg.

Tags: mackerel, Potatoes, horesradish

Uncle RAG’s Faultless 5 Hour Roast Lamb

A lot of people claim not to like lamb but generally I think this is because they are brought up with the acrid smell of New Zealand lamb (my opinion of course). English lamb is much more subtle in flavour and there is much less of a fatty smell when cooking. This is a super-simple recipe that originated from a Jamie Oliver recipe, adapted by Uncle Rag and further tickled by me which results in buttery soft meat that you could quite literally carve off the bone with a spoon and spread on toast!
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
Approx. 1.5kg Whole Leg of English Lamb on the bone
Seasonal root veg to your liking cut into large chunks or left whole
1 Bottle of good white wine
Handful or Rosemary, Thyme & 2-3 fresh Bay Leaves
Sea salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Crusty bread to serve

Method

• Preheat the oven to 150°C / 300°F / Gas Mk 2.
• Pat the meat dry with some kitchen paper, season and brown rapidly on all sides in a large frying pan then put the meat into a large heavy casserole or roasting tin.
• Now fry the veg to give it a little colour and add to the meat fitting the veg around the joint.
• Drop in the herbs scattering them evenly through the dish.
• Pour a glassful of white wine into the hot frying pan to de-glaze it and add to the casserole followed by the rest of the bottle of white wine.
• Now refill the wine bottle with tap water and add this to the pan ensuring all the veg is covered.
• Add a tight fitting heavy lid or make an airtight lid with tin foil then put in the oven for five hours.
• Serve straight on the table so your guests can dig in themselves, dipping bread in the wonderful juices!

Tags: lamb, Potatoes, White wine, Parsnips, carrots, swede