Runner beans with hot-smoked mackerel, horseradish & tarragon

Summer

I wasn’t overly interested in runner beans as a child; they were always in my periphery. I did, however, like the old turquoise, crank-handled, runner-bean slicer my mum used to get out to prepare them. (People like anything you put something in, and it comes out looking different.) I found the turquoise slicer sinister, although it drew me in, as red jam to a wasp, to turn the handle, to test it, to slice... things. These days I love runner beans, but I use a sharp knife to slice them. I like them cut thinly and on the angle. When they are young and fresh, they are divine simply buttered, but this salad of smoked mackerel, peppy horseradish and sweet tarragon offers an altogether different way to enjoy them.

Serves 2

Ingredients

200g (7oz) runner beans (stringy bits removed), sliced thinly at an angle
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped tarragon leaves
4 hot-smoked mackerel fillets

For the horseradish & tarragon dressing

1 tablespoon horseradish sauce
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons crème fraîche
juice of ½ lemon
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped tarragon
½ teaspoon caster sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

First, make the dressing. Combine all the dressing ingredients together and season with salt and pepper to taste. The dressing should be hot, sharp and sweet all at the same time. Set aside.

To make the dish, bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Cook the runner beans for 3–4 minutes, until just tender. Drain the beans and dress them with the olive oil and some chopped tarragon.

Flake the mackerel flesh into large chunks, discarding the skin, and tumble the fish together with the warm beans and half the dressing. Transfer to a salad bowl, trickle over the remaining dressing and scatter over the rest of the tarragon. Serve straight away.

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