prize-winning fishcakes: mustardy mackerel fishcakes

foodfullstop, a website through which you can source fresh and great quality food, has chosen my mustardy mackerel fishcakes as one of the winners in their recent recipe competition.

these fishcakes consistently get good feedback so if you haven't tried them already, now's the perfect time. and if you sign up to the foodfullstop newsletter you'll get a copy of the recipe in your inbox at some point soon, no doubt complete with their suggestions for sourcing good smoked mackerel.

as for me, i'm waiting for my prize of six fabulous new cookery books! i wonder what they'll be...

mustardy mackerel fishcakes (makes 6-8)

500g potatoes, diced

225g peppered smoked mackerel

grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 bunch spring onions, chopped

1 heaped tablespoon wholegrain mustard

polenta, for coating the fishcakes (optional)

cook the potatoes in a large pan of boiling water, until tender. drain and mash them.

remove the skin from the mackerel fillets and flake into bite-size pieces, removing any stray bones. add this to the potato plus the lemon zest and juice, spring onions and mustard. mix well and season to taste.

shape the mixture into fishcakes and coat them with polenta (pour some onto a plate to make this easy). cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.

heat the olive oil in a frying pan. when it is hot add the fishcakes and cook for c5 minutes on each side. the first time i made this we had it with spinach, more recently i made a green bean, beetroot, goats cheese and rocket salad.

these freeze well, just allow them to defrost before cooking them - oven-baking them for 30 mins at 180c, once they defrost, is best as they can be a little tricky to fry if they have been frozen! the picture above shows them having been oven-baked and served with garlicky runner beans.

Comments

[Antonia]

What a great way to combine three of my favourite things - mackerel, mustard and fish cakes. Just returned from North Wales where we had lots of spanking fresh mackerel - delicious. I must give these a try now I am back home. What a great idea. Thanks.

[hippolyra]

congratulations Abby! Looking forward to hearing about the books.

hippolyra

fussfreeflavours.blogspot.com

[maureen]

congratulations - will be trying them soon!

[Joanna]

Well done. Do you use that website? Is it good? Are there any drawbacks?

Joanna
joannasfood.blogspot.com

[Erin]

Congrats on your win. I love fishcakes, so I'm going to tuck this one away for the next time I try to make them. I like the idea of adding mustard.

By the way, wanted to give you a heads up that you have a typo in your title (wining=winning)

bon appetit!

[abby]

thanks for the congratulations folks!

erin - thanks for the heads-up on the typo, it has been corrected.

joanna - i've only recently discovered the website but do intend to try out some of their suppliers as i like the idea of buying direct.

[carolyn]

congratulations on your well-deserved win! I love these fishcakes.

[abby]

thanks carolyn!

[Jeanne]

Ooooh these look marvellous! I do love the flavour of mackerel but often wonder what on earth I'm going to do with it - these sound like a great option! And well done on your well-deserved win!

[abby]

you must try them jeanne, they really are good. versions made with beans or chickpeas are apparently good too.

[Amanda]

Well done Abby - they do sound good! Will check out their website

[ashley]

I came across this about two hours ago after looking for something to do with some fresh mackerel fillets. It was really successful and very yummy. I added some chopped cooked cabbage aswell as I had that to use up and it worked really well. Even my 22 month old liked them!

[abby]

i'm glad they worked for you and your small person ashley. i must try it with fresh mackerel - i so rarely get beyond grilling or griddling it with lemon.