My other half is a personal trainer, massage therapist and the brains behind Kamikaze Angel, the grooming artillery for men. This keeps him busy, all day, most days and in need of a good, quick-to-put-together feed at the end of the day.
Jarod on the stairs of the First Floor in Notting Hill. The restaurant’s now gone, but the good times there live on …
This is another great dish of his that is quick and easy to assemble; there’s no culinary expertise here except Jarod’s defined palate that created it. If you can get them, get fresh herring, failing that, mackerel works really well. The key here is the fish has to be fresh, whole and oily.
When we made the beet sides for this dish, I made a classic vinaigrette – that was a mistake. You need a creamy sauce to bind it all together and carry the dill through the vegetables. The mayonnaise dressing does just the job.
This is for two people but can be scaled up easily
Music to prepare this dish to: ‘Monkey man’ by Amy Winehouse with Jools Holland
Ingredients
- 2 whole North Sea herring (cleaned)
- 1 lemon sliced
- 1 bunch of dill
- 200g cooked beetroot (either fresh or from a vacuum pack – not in vinegar)
- 200g fine green beans trimmed
- 200g fresh shelled peas
For the dressing
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon chopped dill (taken from the pack above)
or
- 2 large tablespoons Sås senap & dill sauce from Ikea
Method
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- Divide the dill, whole between the two fish and stuff in the cavity of each. Remember to have kept some back for the sauce.
- Arrange the lemon slices on top of the herring and put any extra in to the fish cavities with the dill.
- Season and wrap into a foil parcel and bake for 20 to 25 mins.
- While they’re cooking, blanche the green vegetables for five minutes.
- Once cooked, run until a cold tap until cold, shake and cut the beans in half. Dry off with kitchen roll and add all the greens to a bowl.
- Chop the beets into bite-size pieces and add to the greens.
- Now season as the beets in particular need a whack of salt and pepper.
- Mix the ingredients for the dressing together, add to the vegetables and ensure everything is covered evenly.
- By this time the fish should be cooked, so all you have to do is plate up.
Serve with a cold Anthilia Donnafugata from Sicily to cut through the richness
Assembly in two images
Pug's Kitchen 