Mackerel in oats with bacon and gooseberries

Summer

This is a lovely seasonal dish and a delicious way to eat fresh mackerel. The fillets get rolled in porridge oats and fried in bacon fat and butter. (It’s making me hungry just writing about it.) Then, the gooseberries go in, with a pinch of soft brown sugar. The sharp little fruits are the perfect foil to the rich, oily fish and salty bacon, and their soft delicate texture is just perfect alongside the crunchy oats.

Serves 1-2

Ingredients

2 mackerel fillets
50g (1¾oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
1 egg, beaten
50g (1¾oz) porridge oats (oatmeal)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 slices of smoked or unsmoked streaky bacon
a knob of butter
2 handfuls of gooseberries
1–2 thyme sprigs, leaves picked (optional)
2 teaspoons light brown soft sugar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Season the mackerel fillets with a little salt and pepper. Dust them generously with flour, then dip each fillet into the egg, followed by the oats. Make sure they have a nice, even coating.

Set a medium, deep frying pan down over a hot fire and add the extra-virgin olive oil. Lay the bacon slices down in the pan and fry them for a few minutes on each side, until their fat begins to render and they’re beginning to crisp. Lift the bacon out of the pan and set aside for a moment.

Add the butter to the hot pan, followed by the coated mackerel fillets. Fry them for 3–4 minutes on each side, or until their oaty coating is golden and crisp. Lift the mackerel out of the pan and set them to one side with the bacon. Now scatter in the gooseberries and the thyme leaves (if using) and give them a shake about the pan. After about a minute of cooking, add the sugar and a couple of tablespoons of water and continue to cook for 30 seconds or so, shaking the pan as you go. Just as the gooseberries are beginning to soften and split, return the bacon and the fish to the pan, warm through and serve.

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