Fresh Fish (1 Viewer)

May 17, 2016
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I had a 4 hour trip out on the boat from Fraserburgh, NE Scotland today.

Firstly I will never trust a weather forecast again, I was prepared for thunder storms and torrential rain. It was lovely, blue sky, warm and dry the whole trip. The swell even died down after the first hour.

Secondly I took home plenty mackerel and 2 nice sized cod to cook in the van. I filleted the cod, dipped them in egg then breadcrumbs and they are in the fridge for tomorrow.

I filleted the mackerel, seasoned with salt and pepper and fried them with tomatoes. I guess I need to really dry off the fillets because as soon as they hit the heat they just shrivelled up. That doesn't happen on the TV! Really nice though, I always forget how good fresh mackerel tastes.

Perfect for van cooking although I really do need a table for outside to fillet and skin the fish.

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Last edited:
Jun 30, 2011
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Great stuff nice one.
Best way yo cook mackerel is to simply fillet it and grill it, no herbs, no salt or pepper. If it’s a nice one you get the lovely oil come out which is so good for you and delicious.

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OP
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monzer
May 17, 2016
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Great stuff nice one.
Best way yo cook mackerel is to simply fillet it and grill it, no herbs, no salt or pepper. If it’s a nice one you get the lovely oil come out which is so good for you and delicious.
No grill in my wee B524 :(

Not drying the fish enough and too much oil spoiled it a little bit so I will know better for next time. Must admit I do like a good bit of salt and pepper on my mackerel.
 
Dec 24, 2014
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In France the young lady on the yacht tied up next to me packed gutted and topped and tailed mackerel tightly head to tail in a tall enough Tupperware type jug, filled it with pure lemon juice and put on a lid. 24hrs later the mackerel was de-oiled and the bones virtually dissolved, rather like tinned sardines. They were delicious.
 
OP
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monzer
May 17, 2016
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In France the lady on the yacht tied up next to me packed gutted and topped and tailed mackerel tightly head to tail in a tall enough Tupperware type jug, filled it with pure lemon juice and put on a lid. 24hrs later the mackerel was de-oiled and the bones virtually dissolved, rather like tinned sardines. They were delicious.
Sounds like a handy tip (y)

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Ejaydee

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We had fresh Cornish mackerel fillets on Friday, simply cooked under a hot grill until the skin charred, cooled and the flesh broken into bite size portions. Then mixed with boiled baby new potatoes, quartered hard boiled eggs, quartered tomatoes and mixed salad leaves with home made vinaigarette......yum yum 😋.

The simplest ways to cook fish are inevitably the best (as demonstrated in the posts above), but the real trick is to not overcook it. Pickled fish is fabulous too (lemon juice or vinegars), but SWMBO will not eat pickled fish as she says it is not cooked, she just does not know what she is missing!

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Puddleduck

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Jan 15, 2014
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Mackerel are one of my favourite fish. Freshly caught and cooked on the beach :)

It was "fish van man" today so we are having haddock tonight and smokehouse salmon tail tomorrow. I also bought a dressed crab and a pair of kippers for Martin. Tony (the fish man) also delivers fruit and veg boxes so my fridge is full :) How they can provide so much choice at the price (especially the greengrocery) I just don't know ..... it would cost a lot more anywhere else.

For £15 I got:

1 melon (Cantelope type)
5 flat peaches
3 plums
5 good size bananas
3 apples
2 pears

1 massive cabbage (I'll make coleslaw)
2 loose head lettuce
8 tomatoes
1 cucumber
4 peppers (2 red, one orange and one yellow)
Bunch Spring Onions
1 huge red onion
3 large white (not brown) onions
1 Cauliflower
2 large heads of broccoli
2 kg new potatoes
6 large carrots

I'm sure there was more but I can't remember ......... anyway £15 delivered :) Mind I did spend another £20 on the fish but we like fish..... Martin would happily eat kippers for breakfast, crab for lunch and cod for dinner.

I made creme brulee and baked cheesecak yesterday so am going to see if there are raspberries in the garden :)

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OP
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May 17, 2016
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Yup I always gut the fish as soon as I can (usually at the end of the day on the way back to harbour.) I struggle a bit filleting and skinning the cod so never try doing it on a rocky boat.

I love roll mop herring and dressed crab. Usually pop in to the fishmongers at Musselburgh when I'm in Edinburgh.

Sounds like a good deal Puddleduck and I bet its top quality as well compared to some supermarkets.
 
Dec 24, 2014
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Very Dutch that is [rollmop herrings], delicious !
I used to commute from Cologne to Eindhoven by train every day for about a year or so and my 7.30 a.m. breakfast from a barrow outside Eindhoven station was excellent coffee and a tub of rollmop herrings. Lekker!

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Silver-Fox

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I had a 4 hour trip out on the boat from Fraserburgh, NE Scotland today.

Firstly I will never trust a weather forecast again, I was prepared for thunder storms and torrential rain. It was lovely, blue sky, warm and dry the whole trip. The swell even died down after the first hour.

Secondly I took home plenty mackerel and 2 nice sized cod to cook in the van. I filleted the cod, dipped them in egg then breadcrumbs and they are in the fridge for tomorrow.

I filleted the mackerel, seasoned with salt and pepper and fried them with tomatoes. I guess I need to really dry off the fillets because as soon as they hit the heat they just shrivelled up. That doesn't happen on the TV! Really nice though, I always forget how good fresh mackerel tastes.

Perfect for van cooking although I really do need a table for outside to fillet and skin the fish.

View attachment 525335

View attachment 525336

Ohh that looks nice 👍

Wish I’d been into fishing when I was young.
I wouldn’t have a clue what to do with a fresh fish 😢

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OP
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May 17, 2016
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Ohh that looks nice 👍

Wish I’d been into fishing when I was young.
I wouldn’t have a clue what to do with a fresh fish 😢
No time like the present to take up a new hobby. Practice makes perfect for the preparation of the fish. Sometimes I will take a fillet off perfectly and the next time I will really struggle with it and make a bit of a mess out of it.
 

Ejaydee

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I struggle a bit filleting and skinning

If fish can be left on ice for 24hrs, it is much easier to fillet and it helps retain all organic compounds, oils and fats better than a fillet taken off a very fresh fish. The flesh needs to go through rigor mortis (stiffen and then relax again) before being taken off the bones, otherwise is is likely to be subject to excessive "lipid drip" which dries out the flesh, that in extreme cases can make a fillet friable and as a result, lose much of its taste.

White fish are the species worst affected (cod, haddock, hake etc), pelagic species less so (mackerel, herring etc). Cartilaginous fish (or Elasmobrachs, such as skate, ray, sharks etc) are much better left on ice for three or four days before filleting or skinning, to allow the ammonia to come out of the flesh.

I guess like most activities, filleting and skinning gets easier the more you do it. As I have now been doing it off and on for over 55 years, it is second nature to me now.
 
Dec 12, 2010
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As a lover of roll mop herring, I had a pickled herring salad at a restaurant in Gravelines (down by the beach, not in the village) I have never been so ill in all my life ! We were stuck there for three days and only forced to move because the cassette was getting full. :cry:

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Puddleduck

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Sounds like a good deal Puddleduck and I bet its top quality as well compared to some supermarkets.

The fish is whatever came off the boats and into the market that morning.

They collect the fruit and veg three times a week from the supplier in Team Valley, Gateshead except for the local supply things (such as Scottish berries and potatoes) which they get directly from the grower.
 

Gellyneck

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More than toes wet now!
I struggle a bit filleting and skinning the cod so never try doing it on a rocky boat.
Now there's where you're going wrong!:rolleyes:
You head it, tail it and gut it on the boat.(y)
Cook it (boiled if it's of the cod family) bone in and skin on.(y)
That's why a fork's got tines. To ease \ pull the flesh of fish off the bone!(y)
Done properly you can get the bones out in a oner.(y)
Flatties (flounder, plaice, etc) are just a tad more difficult.

As for mackerel, that was the bait to catch the cod!:giggle:

Conger you do bu**er all to apart from selling them to the local Chinese restaurant for their shark fin soup.:whistle2:

Dogfish, spurdog, etc you just ask them nicely not to wrap themselves around your arm :swear2: and keep straight \ flat so you can use them to sand down the boat ready for repainting!:whistle2:
 
May 31, 2015
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The first time I caught a cod on a boat, gutted, cooked and eaten the same day in the evening was heaven… it just made me think what I’ve been eating at the chip shop all those years before…🤷🏼‍♂️

my mum used to make her own pickled herrings and rollmops…. Loved ‘em…😋

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Feb 18, 2018
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We caught a tiny pollock and sea trout, which we put back then some mackerel which was last night’s supper. I gutted it straight away but left it overnight in the fridge then cooked it whole with Asian spices. It was tasty but tricky to avoid the bones. Maybe should have filleted.
 
Jan 28, 2008
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The first time I caught a cod on a boat, gutted, cooked and eaten the same day in the evening was heaven… it just made me think what I’ve been eating at the chip shop all those years before…🤷🏼‍♂️

my mum used to make her own pickled herrings and rollmops…. Loved ‘em…😋
i had forgotten soused herrings ive never been able to do them like my mum did

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OP
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May 17, 2016
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We caught a tiny pollock and sea trout, which we put back then some mackerel which was last night’s supper. I gutted it straight away but left it overnight in the fridge then cooked it whole with Asian spices. It was tasty but tricky to avoid the bones. Maybe should have filleted.
Mackerel couldn't be easier to fillet. Knife in the back of the head, cut towards the head then turn back on yourself and follow the spine all the way to the tail.

Once you have done that you can pick the rib bones out although I find once fried on a good heat the bones just kind of disintegrate.
 

Paddleboarder

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I had a 4 hour trip out on the boat from Fraserburgh, NE Scotland today.

Firstly I will never trust a weather forecast again, I was prepared for thunder storms and torrential rain. It was lovely, blue sky, warm and dry the whole trip. The swell even died down after the first hour.

Secondly I took home plenty mackerel and 2 nice sized cod to cook in the van. I filleted the cod, dipped them in egg then breadcrumbs and they are in the fridge for tomorrow.

I filleted the mackerel, seasoned with salt and pepper and fried them with tomatoes. I guess I need to really dry off the fillets because as soon as they hit the heat they just shrivelled up. That doesn't happen on the TV! Really nice though, I always forget how good fresh mackerel tastes.

Perfect for van cooking although I really do need a table for outside to fillet and skin the fish.

View attachment 525335

View attachment 525336
Nothing better than out of the sea and into the pan 😋 delicious .
 

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