Fish Recipes

Apart from poached salmon with mayonnaise, we tend to be reluctant to use fish in cold dishes, yet a wide range of fish recipes are both delectable to eat and very convenient to make. Smoked fish, in particular, is useful for such recipes. It combines very well with unsmoked fish, as well as with shellfish.

These dishes can be served either hot or cold, depending on the vagaries of the weather and what is most suitable for the occasion. A recipe can be altered for a simple supper for family and friends by using only smoked fish or a combination of smoked and unsmoked - in my view, shellfish tends to elevate the recipe to entertaining status.

Smoked fish is most useful with rice. The first recipe today is a rice salad - I use Basmati - with flaked, smoked mackerel. I prefer the pepper-encrusted smoked mackerel to the plain, but you can use whichever you choose. The dressing is full of complementary tastes for the rice, fish and the other ingredient of this main-course salad, hard-boiled eggs. We are told we should eat oily fish at least three times a week for our health and mackerel is a prime example, rich in omega-3 oils. Most importantly, though, it tastes delicious.

Smoked fish makes very good mousse, ideal for serving with salads and warmed bread or rolls, for either a first or a main course. It is vital to feel the fish with your fingertips before cooking it - you will find bones that may be difficult to see. This is so much easier than de-boning cooked fish. Alternatively, use hot-smoked fish such as salmon or Arbroath smokies, which need no further cooking before being combined with mayonnaise and or crème fraîche, gelatine, seasonings and whisked egg whites for a mousse.

The second recipe today uses fish for a special occasion, coated with a mayonnaise. It is imperative that the mayonnaise be homemade, as no commercial brand contains olive oil - an absolute necessity for a good mayonnaise. And anyway, when you make your own you can season and flavor it in a much more interesting way than any commercially made mayo. All ready-made foods are safely seasoned and flavored, and therefore bland.

For any fish dish, include chopped dill or diced skinned and de-seeded cucumber for a more interesting sauce; and a small amount of medium strength curry powder complements all fish - you will notice it is an ingredient for the vinaigrette-based dressing for the rice dish in the first recipe.

However you decide to serve it, make the most of the range of smoked fish available in these summer months.

Smoked mackerel, rice and hard-boiled egg salad, with herb and lime dressing

Serves six

• 1lb Basmati rice - 900g boiled in a large pan of salted water until just tender, about 7-8 mins; drain thoroughly, having run cold water through the rice
• 6 peppered mackerel fillets - the fish flakes in juicy chunks from the skin - with any bones removed
• 6 eggs, boiled for 5 mins, then cooled under running cold water - or, if you prefer, 12 quails’ eggs, but whichever you choose, shell the eggs and cut them in half

For the dressing

• 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt, some freshly ground black pepper - not too much, if you use peppered smoked fish
• 2 tsp runny honey - dip the spoon in very hot water for a few seconds before spooning the honey, then it will slip easily from the spoon
• 1 rounded tsp medium-strength curry powder
• finely grated rind and juice of 2 limes - wash limes well and dry before grating
• 2 tbsp mixed chopped parsley and snipped chives

I like to serve this salad on a large ashet or serving platter.

In a large bowl carefully mix together the flaked fish and drained cooked rice. In a bowl, thoroughly mix the ingredients for the dressing. Stir this dressing through the fish and rice, then heap on to the serving plate. Arrange the egg halves around, slightly pressed into the rice and fish.

Smoked fish in slightly curried garlic mayonnaise

Serves six Vary the fish content or substitute shellfish for some of the fish if you wish.

• 450g hot-smoked salmon - the fish flakes into juicy chunks
• 1lb smoked haddock, cooked after the bones have been removed - cook it between two sheets of baking parchment on a baking tray, in a moderate oven, 350¼F/ 180¼C/gas mark 4, for about 20 minutes (how long it needs depends on the thickness of the fish); cool, then mix with the salmon

For the mayonnaise sauce

• 1 large egg and 1 yolk
• 2 tsp honey - remembering to dip the spoon in very hot water
• 1/2 tsp salt, a good grinding of black pepper
• 1 rounded tsp medium-strength curry powder
• 1 fat clove of garlic, skinned and chopped
• 300ml extra virgin olive oil
• just less than 150ml near-boiling water - to thin the mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp chopped dill
• 1 tbsp snipped chives

Place the mixed fish on a serving plate. Make the mayonnaise by putting the egg, yolk, honey, salt, pepper and garlic with the curry powder into a food processor and whizz. Add the olive oil, drop by drop initially, and then, when you have a thick emulsion, increase the flow to a thin steady trickle.

When all the olive oil is incorporated, add some of the quarter-pint of near-boiling water - just enough to achieve a consistency of mayonnaise that will let you coat the fish with it but not too stiff. Whiz in the wine vinegar and, finally, the dill and chives. Spoon the mayonnaise over the mixed smoked fish - you should almost be able to pour it from the processor bowl.