A Fishy Dishy...

I do love a good piece of fish for my tea. However, these days we all need to think about what fish we eat. I fell in love with herring whilst working at a festival in Norway last summer, and was delighted to find out that it's not too naughty. Although herring stocks were radically over-fished in the 50s and 60s, they've regenerated themselves well and a couple of varieties are now classified as sustainable by the Marine Conservation Society's Good Fish Guide. I bought two whole fish for under £2 from Castle Market, so they're easy on the wallet too.


I made this recipe up myself using what we had in the fridge, but I did take inspiration from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's Guardian article about herring and Delia's Limey Herring recipe so have included links below. Enjoy!


Polenta Crusted Herring with Crushed Potatoes and Lime Ratatouille

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS
- Quartered baby potatoes (as many as you like)
- 2 handfuls of frozen peas
- 2 herrings (ask fishmonger to remove head & gut and fillet if possible)
- 2 handful of fine or medium polenta/cornmeal
- 1 red onion
- 1/2 aubergine in chunky pieces
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 4 large tomatoes, chunkily chopped
- 1 lime
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 knobs of butter
- splash of olive oil
- tablespoon Dijon mustard

1. Chuck the potatoes into a pan of water and boil with a large pinch of salt until tender.
2. Finely slice onion and fry in a little oil until soft and golden. Add aubergine, tomatoes, the juice and zest of 1/2 a lime, the garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for around 10-15mins (until aubergine is soft and unctuous), stirring occasionally.
3. If necessary bone the fish and snip off fins with scissors. Rub all over with the other 1/2 lime and push both sides into the polenta.
4. Warm 1 knob of butter and a dash of oil in frying pan until very hot. Cook herring flesh side down for around 3mins, then turn over and give 2 mins on skin side.
5. Whilst the herring is cooking, add peas to potato pan for 2 mins, then drain and crush lightly with mustard and reamining butter using a masher. You're not trying to make a smooth mash, rather a chunky crushed explosion.
6. Stack up the elements, starting with potato and pea crush, then herring, then ratatouille. The zestiness of the ratatouille should balance the oily richness of the fish, and the sweetness of the pea and baby potatoes should provide a subtle background, offset with the tang of Dijon to stop it becoming too heavy. But that's just my opinion.

Check out the sources below for more fishy fun:

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/main-ingredient/fish-and-seafood/herring/fried-herring-fillets-with-a-lime-pepper-crust.html - Delia's Lime Pepper Crusted Herring recipe breaks down the method super-clearly as always. I just wish I'd read her guide to boning herring, trout and mackerel BEFORE I made my meal: www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/fish-and-shellfish/how-to-bone-a-herring-trout-or-mackerel

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jan/23/herring-recipes-hugh-fearnley-whittingstall
Interesting summary of herring history and sustainability alongside a few great recipes, including home pickled rollmops (which I will try out and report back on in the future, no doubt).

http://www.goodfishguide.co.uk/ - Marine Conservation Society's edible fish guide: includes a search function with sustainability ratings and less naughty alternatives suggested and 'fish of the day' area which highlights less popular fish.

http://www.msc.org/. - The Marine Stewardship Council, who work with seafood companies, fisheries, scientists, conservation companies and the public to promote fishy conservation. You can find their mark on approved fish products in the shops; it's a blue fish and tick symbol. They also have a library of recipes on the site using varieties they have certified sustainable. The mackerel "Gravad Max" (a variation on gravalax) looked especially appetising (another Hugh classic, it turns out).

Recipes Should Be Worth Sharing

I recently received a Facebook message in the chain letter genre. To be precise, it was actually more of a pyramid scheme. A pyramid scheme in which I was asked to invest a recipe, sending it to the top name on the list and reposting the request to a number of friends who do the same, until each person on the list receives 36 recipes.

"Fair enough." you might think. "Disregarding the fact that pyramid schemes never work and are clearly a scam, sounds like a nice way to gain a few new recipes". And that would be reasonable. However, the message then requested that "it should be something quick, easy and without rare ingredients. Actually, the best one is the one you know in your head and can type right now. Don't agonise over it, it is the one you make when you're short of time".I was outraged! What, I ask you, is the point of sharing a recipe that you can type from your head; that you make when you're rushed?

As a food obsessive, I cherish recipes that I collect from numerous sources. Sometimes they're kept in a folder, on scribbled pieces of paper or torn out, faded magazine pages. Sometimes they're marked with a post-it or a well folded spine in an old cookbook. Sometimes they're bookmarked on my iPhone. Wherever I keep them, they are precious to me. When I'm in a rush and whip up a bowl of pasta or noodles, I still think about flavours and ingredients. It's not quite the same as those indulgent afternoons spent following a well-loved recipe though, is it?

Personally, if I'm asked to share a recipe, I can't help but agonise over it. It's a way to show people what I love and why. However, I've had to come to a conclusion on which recipe to share; not for the pyramid scheme, but to share my first recipe with you here on Not a Load of Tripe. I've at least managed to stick to one request the pyramid scheme message made though - this recipe uses a stack of simple ingredients, and is actually far easier than everyone thinks when I've taken it to parties or made it for friends. It's a great starter for novice pie-makers too, being pretty difficult to ruin as it doesn't have to support a great deal of its own weight (like a pork pie) or contain liquid (like a steak and ale, for instance). I got it in my Beanies veg box (contact them on 0114 268 1662 if you'd like a regular seasonal veg box delivered, with a great recipe card each week) but it comes from 'The Vegetarian Option' by Simon Hopkinson originally. Enjoy!



LEEK AND CHEESE PIE

For the pastry -
125g butter,
200g self-raising flour,
pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter),
cold water to mix.
Cut up the butter in a large bowl and rub in the flour and salt until coarse crumbs have formed (I do this in a blender, but be careful not to overblend). Mix with as little water as you can get away with and knead briefly. Place in a plastic bag in the fridge to 'rest'.

For the filling -
600g-700g leeks trimmed and thinly sliced,
250g-300g grated cheddar cheese or something similar,
25g butter,
3 tbsp water,
salt and pepper,
a little milk for glazing the pastry.
Melt the butter in a roomy pan and gently stew the leeks for 10 mins, then add the water and salt and pepper, and stirring from time to time, continue to cook until the water has evaporated (They should be lovely and sticky by now!). Cool the leeks by spreading them out on a plate and butter a tart tin or ceramic flan dish. Pre-heat the oven to 180c. If you use a 20cm tart tin you should find you need about 2/3 of the pastry for the base and save the rest for a lid, or for a 22 or 24cm tin use more for the base and use thin strips of pastry to make a lattice top (I think this looks nicest anyway as you can see the browned cheese inside when cooked). Cover the pastry base of the pie with half the leeks, then half the cheese, then the rest of the leeks and finally the remaining cheese. Finish with the pastry topping, brush with a little milk to glaze and bake for 40mins. Serve warm or cold.

Lovely. Now that is worth sharing.