Mackerel pâté with pickled cucumber
- Starter
- Medium
- 4
- 60 minutes
PT1H
Simon Hulstone's mackerel pâté recipe includes pickled cucumber which perfectly cuts through the rich fish. The mackerel fillets are poached in fish stock for added flavour, before flaking and mixing with rich crème fraîche and horseradish to form the pâté.
Ingredients
Mackerel pâté
- 4 fresh mackerel fillets
- 75g of butter , softened and whipped
- 3 tbsp of crème fraîche
- 1 pinch of smoked paprika , to taste
- 1/2 tsp horseradish
- 1000ml of fish stock
Pickled cucumber
- 1 cucumber , peeled and thinly sliced
- 600ml of water
- 1 cardamom pod
- 1/2 tsp caraway seeds , toasted
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds , toasted
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig of fresh tarragon
- 50ml of Chardonnay vinegar, or good quality white wine vinegar
- 2 cloves
- 4 black peppercorns
- 10g of salt
Sourdough crisp
- 100g of sourdough bread, frozen
Fennel jelly
- 1 head fennel
- 1g of agar agar
Equipment
- Kilner jar
- Juicer
Method
1
For the cucumber pickle, add the water to a pan and place over a medium-high heat. Add the cloves, peppercorns, salt, caraway seeds, mustard seeds, bay leaf and tarragon. As soon as the water boils, remove from the heat and allow to cool
- 600ml of water
- 2 cloves
- 1 cardamom pod
- 4 black peppercorns
- 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig of fresh tarragon
- 10g of salt
2
Once the mixture is cold, add the vinegar to the pan. Place the sliced cucumbers in a Kilner jar and cover with the vinegar mixture. Leave until required, the longer the better
- 50ml of Chardonnay vinegar
- 1 cucumber
3
To poach the mackerel, place the fish stock and the mackerel fillets in a wide pan. Bring up to a simmer and cook for 3–5 minutes until just firm. Remove from the heat and leave the mackerel to cool in the stock. Once cooled, discard the fish stock and separate the flesh from the mackerel skin
- 4 fresh mackerel fillets
- 1000ml of fish stock
4
Place the mackerel flesh in a bowl and add the butter, crème fraîche, horseradish and paprika to taste
- 75g of butter
- 3 tbsp of crème fraîche
- 1/2 tsp horseradish
- 1 pinch of smoked paprika
5
Combine all of the ingredients with a fork, until the mackerel has broken up into fine strands, and season. You want the mixture to be dry enough so you can quenelle it later on – if it isn’t, just add a little more crème fraîche. Cover and allow to chill in the fridge
6
Preheat the oven to 150°C/gas mark 2
7
Slice the frozen sourdough to a thickness of 2mm using a sharp bread knife and cut out rings with a 8cm and 4cm pastry cutter
8
Place on a baking tray and dry in the oven for 15–20 minutes until crisp
9
To make the fennel jelly, juice the head of fennel and measure out 100ml of juice. Place the juice in a small pan with the agar and bring to the boil
10
Pour the juice onto a tray to set and place in the fridge. Once set, cut into small cubes
11
When ready to serve, quenelle the pâté and serve with the pickled cucumber, pieces of fennel jelly and a bread crisp. Garnish with edible flowers and dill
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Mackerel pâté with pickled cucumber
