I spotted this peculiar recipe in a magazine my mum posted me. With the fish cozily wrapped in a layer of mustardy cream and neatly sandwiched between apples and almonds, it felt too intriguing not to try. And indeed, the torrent of flavours was ravishing, be it the heady influence of the apples and lemon or the more gentle mustardy hint. A really punchy and pretty little find.
Mackerel papillotes with cox apples, whole grain mustard and almonds
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Recipe by: Adapted from French magazine Avantages Busy:15min, Total prep time: 30min Serves: 4 |
Rinse the filets and debone them. This is how you do it: Place the fillet on a chopping board skin side down and with the tail end towards you. If you run a finger through the middle and down the length of the fillet, you will notice all the bones are located along a central line. With a sharp knife, make a lengthwise incision on either side of the bone line, being careful not to pierce through the skin. The width between both incisions should be no more than 5 mm. You don’t need to do it all the way down as the bones run only for about 3/4 of the length of the fillet. Feel with your fingers where you should stop. When you are done, grab from the top the bony piece of flesh you have just cut, and delicately tear it off the fillet. Repeat for each fillet.
Press the lemon and pour the juice into a medium sized bowl with a bit of water.
Wash, quarter and core the apples. Keep the skin on. Slice each segment into very thin slices (2 mm), I make 6-8 per quarter. Toss and mix immediately the apple slices into the lemon juice to prevent them for oxidizing and turning brown.
Using a dry non stick frying pan, sauté the almonds until lightly coloured. Be careful, as soon as they start to brown, they will burn very quickly afterwards. Mix regularly to ensure they are all exposed to the heat.
Mix the cream and mustard. Cut 4 squares of aluminum foil, leaving about 10 cms on either end of the fillets
Butter the inside of each foil, dispose prettily in each the apple slices in a neat, long bed the length of the fish, and place the fillet, skin side down. Spread the mustard mix on each fillet, add 2 sprigs of thyme, a bit of salt and pepper and close the papillotes by folding the foil around the fish and rolling and crunching opposite sides together. Make sure the ends are raised to avoid any leak.
Cook for 10-12 minutes. Check in your first papillote that your fish is cooked through. If not, bake for another 2 minutes.
Serve with steamed potatoes or bulghur with a big dollop of butter and lemon juice.
Preheat oven to 220 degrees
Rinse the filets and debone them. This is how you do it: Place the fillet on a chopping board skin side down and with the tail end towards you. If you run a finger through the middle and down the length of the fillet, you will notice all the bones are located along a central line. With a sharp knife, make a lengthwise incision on either side of the bone line, being careful not to pierce through the skin. The width between both incisions should be no more than 5 mm. You don’t need to do it all the way down as the bones run only for about 3/4 of the length of the fillet. Feel with your fingers where you should stop. When you are done, grab from the top the bony piece of flesh you have just cut, and delicately tear it off the fillet. Repeat for each fillet.
Press the lemon and pour the juice into a medium sized bowl with a bit of water.
Wash, quarter and core the apples. Keep the skin on. Slice each segment into very thin slices (2 mm), I make 6-8 per quarter. Toss and mix immediately the apple slices into the lemon juice to prevent them for oxidizing and turning brown.
Using a dry non stick frying pan, sauté the almonds until lightly coloured. Be careful, as soon as they start to brown, they will burn very quickly afterwards. Mix regularly to ensure they are all exposed to the heat.
Mix the cream and mustard. Cut 4 squares of aluminum foil, leaving about 10 cms on either end of the fillets
Butter the inside of each foil, dispose prettily in each the apple slices in a neat, long bed the length of the fish, and place the fillet, skin side down. Spread the mustard mix on each fillet, add 2 sprigs of thyme, a bit of salt and pepper and close the papillotes by folding the foil around the fish and rolling and crunching opposite sides together. Make sure the ends are raised to avoid any leak.
Cook for 10-12 minutes. Check in your first papillote that your fish is cooked through. If not, bake for another 2 minutes.
Serve with steamed potatoes or bulghur with a big dollop of butter and lemon juice.
The taste of the mustard will mellow a lot during the cooking so don’t reduce the quantities otherwise you will be disappointed. For my children I use the same recipe minus the mustard (i keep the cream). I then flake the fish on top of the bulghur and add the almonds, apples and juices. Un regal!
Ingredients
4 fillets from 2 good sized mackerels (have the mackerels filleted by your fishmonger)
2 Cox or Royal gala apples
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons sliced almonds
1 tablespoon double cream
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
8 thyme sprigs (or rosemary)
1 small knob butter
salt and pepper
Serve with bulghur or crushed potatoes
4 fillets from 2 good sized mackerels (have the mackerels filleted by your fishmonger)
2 Cox or Royal gala apples
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons sliced almonds
1 tablespoon double cream
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
8 thyme sprigs (or rosemary)
1 small knob butter
salt and pepper
Serve with bulghur or crushed potatoes
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