Saturday, October 10, 2009 at 06:00 
the fishcakes which i made with the highland red potatoes are definitely pink but not off-puttingly so. in fact, with the green of the spinach i think they look quite pretty. the taste is exactly the same as if i'd used a non-coloured potato.
Friday, July 24, 2009 at 07:29 
despite my love of smoked mackerel i had never thought to put it in a risotto, preferring the cleaner flavours and texture of a pilaf. i gave it a try recently though, adding some peas from the garden, and the result was surprisingly good.
the creamy richness of the risotto balanced well with the peppery smoked fish, with the peas and lemon adding some freshness and stopping it being too rich. having said that, if you’re making this when the weather is a little chilly, it is a very comforting dish.
Monday, June 1, 2009 at 18:19 
gordon ramsay chose my mustardy mackerel fishcakes as one of 5 winners in the recent times recipe competition, which was hunting for “recipes which, to him, epitomise home cooking.” here’s what he said about my recipe:
“i absolutely love this. we normally think of putting salmon or haddock in our fishcakes, but why not mackerel, which is such an underrated fish? it shows how the best recipes can be utterly simple. i could see these going down really well on my pub bar menus.”
that man has excellent taste! the photo above is from the times, i hope they don’t mind me borrowing it.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 08:44 
my recipes for lemon & mackerel pilaf and berry ripple ice cream have been featured in today's guardian newspaper, in an article which called for people to share their menus for two courses which feed two people for under a fiver. see what other menus were suggested here, including one from dinner diary.
the article was in response to a series of menus suggested by well-known chefs which were derided on the guardian blog for being unimaginative. i think we, the readers, did better than the chefs. what do you think?
Sunday, January 6, 2008 at 06:23 
mackerel pate is a favourite of mine. pile it on some warm toast, add a mug of tea (with refills supplied by a willing david) and a book or the weekend papers, and i’m wonderfully happy.
recently i’ve been very lazy though. i’ve not been managing to do much more than place a few chunks of mackerel on the toast and half-heartedly crush them with a fork. not really what you’d call cooking.
however, a suggestion by my friend hels saw me making a bit more of an effort, adding horseradish and cream cheese to the pate mix. the combination of flavours works really well and feels quite indulgent – thanks for the tip hels!
