FRESH MACKEREL: GRILLED/AIR FRIED: easy-peasy, low carb, high protein

Fresh mackerel when in season, as now, is a treat not to be missed.

Air-fried fresh mackerel with Oriental Cucumber Salsa

Simply cooked on a grill or in a air fryer and served with a punchy crunchy dressing, mackerel is ever so delicious with a satisfying texture. 

With unmistakeable irridescent skin and a robust taste, mackerel is considered one of the healthiest seafood options.  It's a fatty fish full of omega-3 - more than the majority of other fatty fish.  Mackerel offers a significant amount of vitamin B12, crucial for our nervous sytems, and more than 100% of the recommended intake of Vit D. 

It is also considered an affordable fish but if you're buying from a supermarket instead of a fish monger, look out for bright, shiny skin, firm texture and clear eyes.  Fresh mackerel at its prime has a clean, ocean-like smell. 

Remember the key to great fish is not to overcook it.

Cost: varies but freshly-caught on the day, good-sized, cleaned and boneless mackerel, £7'ish each, much less elsewhere 

Feeds: 1-2

Ingreds:

1 whole mackerel, cleaned & filleted

lemon slices; sliced ginger

Oriental Cucumber Salsa

Method:

1. Preheat oven/air fryer to 190C; 375f; if using oven, place baking tray in the oven while it heats
2. Spray fish - not the pan - generously on both sides; season with salt & pepper;  when oven/air fryer is ready:
3. OVEN -  place fish skin side down on baking tray; bake 5-6 mins until skin is crisp; gently turn over (fish will be almost cooked through), layer slices of lemon and ginger on top; bake a further 2 mins; remove from oven
4. AIR FRYER -  place fish skin side up on air fryer tray; cook 5-6 mins until skin is crispy (fish will be almost cooked through); turn over; layer slices of lemon and ginger on top; bake a further 2 mins; remove from airfryer 
5. Serve with Cucumber Peanut Salsa on the side

Comments:

'The best! I love mackerel season.  The cucumber salsa with crunchy bits of peanut was inspired.'  Retired writer

Tips:

Other methods of cooking fish:

1. in a well oiled frying pan over med-high heat, cook skin side down until the flesh turns opaque 2/3 of the way from the top (as it cooks, the fish turns opaque, you will see the line if you look sideways at the fish); flip, cook a further minute or so then remove from heat and rest a few mins
2. in a bamboo steamer basket with black bean sauce & ginger, about 10 mins
3. (this sounds ridiculous, I know) a friend cooked her fish in air tight sealed freezer bags during a dishwasher cycle; she said the method prevented fishy smells in the kitchen!

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These recipes has been written in conjuction with All Recipes; the method has been adjusted by y B M Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises.  

ORIENTAL SMASHED CUCUMBER SALSA: small households, dairy free

Cucumbers - wonderful diet food, crunchy, satisfying and economical - took on a new lease of life recently.  Not so boring and  going strong.

Easy-peasy Asian Cucumber Salad

Smashed have been around for awhile but new dressings and marinades elevate the crunchy salad veg.

Lightly smacked with a cleaver, knife or rolling pin, cut into bitesized craggy chunks, the cucumbers allow dressings to cling to its surfaces instead of sliding off.  The technique originates from China where the dressing was made with soy sauce and vinegar. 

This recipe was inspired by Waitrose's Food Magazine; it's punchy but more-ish.  It's for small households but the recipe multiples easily.

Feeds: 2 as a side, multiplies easily

Costs: £1.50'ish

Ingreds:

3 baby cucumbers*

1/2tb soy sauce

scant 1/6 tsp chiu chow oil OR a couple of dashes of tabasco OR 1/4 tsp chilli flakes

1/4 tbsp peanut butter

1/8 tsp fish sauce or lime/lemon juice

1/4 tbsp maple syrup or honey

green of one med spring onion, finely sliced

7g/1/3oz roughly chopped roasted salted peanuts

Method:

1. In a small bowl, whisk soy sauce, chilli of choice, peanut butter, fish sauce or citrus juice and honey; if very thick, add up to 1/2 tbsp cold water.  Set aside
2. Wash cucumber; top and tail, remove stripes of peel; smack lightly with rolling pin, knife or cleaver; cut into bite-size pieces 
3. Place in a bowl with green onions and most of the peanuts; drizzle over most of the sauce; stir gently until evenly coated; refrigerate 30 mins
4. Spoon onto serving plate; taste - if more heated needed/wanted drizzle over a little more chilli oil;  scatter over remaining peanuts 

Comments:

'Nice!!' Retired writer

Tips:

Despite smacking the cucs with the flat of a large knife, they didn't look at all 'smashed'; instead the cucs had to be cut at small uneven angles.  They still looked and tasted quite good;  each piece had a fine and a crunchy edge

*often found at Waitrose; now at M&S; they are easier to digest than standard cucs

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This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and is inspired by Waitrose Food magazine. 

DAIRY-FREE, LOW-SUGAR SORBETS & ICES (Archive): easy-peasy, refreshing; healthier for kids (and adults)

Sorbets are a terrific substitute for the sugar, cream and preservative laden ice creams that are so popular in the summer. 

Mango, Mint & Ginger Instant Sorbet
'Glorious, whatever the weather!' 

67's frozen ices contain virtually no sugar; they are stunningly intense in flavour and wonderfully refreshing.  Packed with natural vitamins and minerals they are also good for you.  Not bad for a freezer sweet.  

With a juicy fruit like mango or blueberries or raspberries*, sorbets take only minutes to make and serve.

The recipe for a  Luxury Strawberry, Orange & Cointreau Sorbet is a template for   many fruits (other delicious combinations are listed in Tips below).

There is also a selection from the archives of Mango Sorbet, Yoghurt & Berry ice cream and a stunning layered Chocolate Marquise.

Luxury Strawberry, Orange & Cointreau Sorbet 

This is a good time for strawberries; Wimbledon is in the offing.  There are  plenty of super sweet and juicy, ripen-for-longer King strawberries at reasonable prices.  The berries need to be frozen ahead of time (See how to freeze fruit) but, apart from that, the only other ingredients are a bit of juice/water, flavouring and garnish.  

Like all frozen desserts,  sorbets are not the kind of thing to leave sitting around and should be made last minute.  Preparing ahead is possible so long as the mix goes straight into the freezer 


Cost: £6.50'ish
Serves: 8-10 small portions

Ingred:
    600gm/14.1oz strawberries, frozen
    2 tbsp orange juice (OR orange, lime or lemon juice OR water) 
    1 tbsp orange liqueur pref  or brandy 
    1 tsp orange essence pref or vanilla

    1/4 cup finely diced strawberry pieces

   toasted flaked almonds (opt)   

Method:

1. Blend all ingred apart from nuts and diced strawberry pieces in a powerful blender or smoothie maker 
2. Taste; depending on the fruit, a few drops of maple syrup or a teaspoon of sugar may be necessary
3. Stir the strawberry pieces into the sorbet;  some should be visible on top
4. Serve, garnished with flaked nuts

Tips:

• if you haven't had a chance to freeze the fruit first, other luxury sorbet combinations include Blackberries & Ginger; Cherries, Nectarines & Cherry Brandy; Blueberries, Apple, Cinnamon & Brandy; Apple, Walnut & Whiskey
• during a heat wave, frozen fruit is also good for breakfast, with yoghurt

*raspberry sorbet will need to be sieved to get rid of the pips             

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OTHER FROZEN DESSERTS FROM 67GOINGON50

 MANGO MINT & GINGER INSTANT SORBET: vegan, no sugar, fat or preservatives.  A terrific substitute for the ice creams kids demand. Replace mangoes with any soft fruit. Budget-friendly.

HEALTHY STRAWBERRY RIPPLE YOGHURT ICE

0-fat, 0-Cream, Vegan Option - but much, much tastier than you'd expect. Easy-peasy. Budget-friendly

CHOCAHOLICS SKINNIER LAYERED CHCOCOLAT MARQUISE 

Perfect double chocolate surprise: minimum effort, maximum pleasure - and it's skinnier.  Perfect for a special occasion. (not yet tested for dairy-free products but should work well)

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These recipes have  been developed by B M Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises.  They may not be reproduced without the author's written permission

HAND HELD PICNIC FRUIT PIES: (Archive) perfect for holiday picnics; dairy free option

Judging from thecolourful fruit displays in supermarkets,  NOW is the time to take advantage of summer fruits. 

Hand-held  generous pastry pockets stuffed with nectarines, blueberries & ginger
(plus spicy pastry sticks from leftover pastry)

'The combo of generous fruit, icing & melt-in-the-mouth pastry is wonderful!'  

M&S are offering 2 punnets of cherries, strawberries & blackberries for £5 plus large punnets of the season's best strawberries at a good discount.  Ripen at home peaches (doughnut and conventional) are also on sale. 

These pockets of flaky pastry with a juicy fruit filling -- will be a popular picnic treat, though with colourful juices oozing out of the crumbly pastry, serviettes or paper plates are a must.

Generous fruity filling
in Michel Roux's pastry

The filling has to be generous for these fruit pies; when cutting out rectangles, the top layer of pastry dough must be slightly longer than the bottom to accomodate a mound of fruit.  Delighted faces will be the result.

In early trials, 67 teamed nectarines with blackberries and cinnamon; the finished product was dusted with icing sugar.  In another version, the blackberries were replaced with blueberries, ginger in syrup was added, and the finished product was dribbled with an icing sugar glaze scattered with flaked almonds.  That version got rave reviews.  

Conscious of busy households at this time of year, 67 made a batch using ready-made all-butter puff pastry*.  They were fine and popular with the tasters. 

But the home-made rough-puff pastry (Michel Roux's recipe) -- cheaper and lower in preservatives --  was amazing.  

Cost: min £5.50'ish (7/25), more for ready-made pastry
Feeds: min 4, with a few cinnamon pastry twists as well

Ingred:
   1 pkt all-butter ready-rolled puff pastry OR dairy-free puff pastry OR 1/2 recipe Michel Roux's rough-puff pastry (not tested for dairy free)
   3 fat ripe nectarines or peaches, peeled, cut into 16 segments then halved horizontally
   1-2 handfuls blackberries or blueberries
   2-3 globules drained ginger in syrup, finely diced 
   1 generous tsp juice from ginger in syrup

   a few teaspoons ground almonds

   1 egg, beaten with a teaspoon of water

   icing sugar OR icing sugar glaze (3 tbsp icing sugar & 1 generous teaspoon milk) OR melted white chocolate (opt)
   toasted flaked almonds (opt)

Method: