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Potted Smoked Mackerel
Potted Smoked Mackerel
added by clairey

MINIMUM EFFORT FOR MAXIMUM TASTE! i couldn't find any recipes any where for potted SMOKED mackeral. when i found some wonderful smoked ones in my local fish mongers, i thought i'd adapt and invent a recipe. i was so pleased with the outcome, really tasty, but i'd imagine even more tasty and satisfying if your caught and smoked your own!

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Prep time
  • up to an hour
Cook Time
  • just clairfying the butter -10 mins
Servings
  • 10 mins
Ingredients
  • around 1200g smoked mackeral (gutted and still whole)
  • up to 500g of unsalted butter (depending on how many pots you wish to fill)
  • 1 tablespoon of ground mace
  • 1 tablespoon cayene pepper
  • 2 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
  • 2 tablespoon finely chopped dill
  • 2 tablespoon finely chopped thyme
  • salt and pepper
  • juice of 1 and a half lemons
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  •  
  • MAKES 1 LE PARFAIT JAR AND 5 RAMAKINS (depending on size of jars/pots)
  •  
  • you can pot this into ramekins or le parfait jars. if using jars, sterilise jar and seal (pm me if you want to know how to do this) then fill to nearly the top, with as little air pockets as poss, then cover with a layer of the clarified butter, and leave to cool before sealing and clipping.
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Directions
flake the flesh of the mackerels into a large bowl, checking for bones as you go. once you have finshed flaking, melt the butter in a saucepan, slowly on a gentle heat. once the butter is fully melted, take it of the heat, and add the garlic (to infuse the butter). you can tell once it is clarified, as the white solids will have sunk to bottom. you only need the clear yellow butter, so carefully scrape/collect the white solids and discard. or tip the pan, let it settle for a few seconds, and carefully pour the clear pure butter into a bowl. if you are having difficulty straining out the solids, you can pour through a clean muslin. into the large bowl with the flaked mackerel, place the spices and herbs. add 1/2 to 2/3 of the butter into the fishy mix, and carefully stir/toss. season well, add the lemon juice, and taste to see if you need any more spices/herbs/lemon. carefully pack the mixture into clean ramekins, leaving about 1 cm at the top. bang the ramekin on the surface, to get rid of air bubbles, and make sure the top is nice and smooth. slowly pour some butter on top untill you get a nice layer. leave aside to cool, and then place in fridge. you should end up with a nice hard ,yellow layer giving protection to the fishy treat beneath! if using the ramekin, it will keep in the fridge for 2, maybe 3 days. if you wish for it to last longer, use a clean, sterilised le parfait jar, as mentioned above. it will keep in the jar, in the fridge for around a week. this potted mackerel is wonderful on cold toast, or a home made blinis (with something crunchy on maybe!). it also makes a nice present, in the jar, but you need to tell them when to eat it by! also, if you wish to use salted butter, you can, but be aware that when the solids seperate, you can't be sure how much salt is left in each part, so be careful with seasoning, and double check and adjust once the butter is added to the fish flake mixture in the bowl.
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