Baked mackerel with pine nuts and rosemary

Mackerel, cheap and plentiful, benefits from bold seasonings. Here, the fish is matched with olives, pine kernels and golden raisins. Check the fish carefully for any stray bones.

Serves 3

mackerel - 3, filleted

olive oil

For the topping:

a large shallot

a clove of garlic, finely chopped

fresh white breadcrumbs - 60g

black olives, stoned - 15

pine nuts - 50g

juice and finely grated zest of a lemon

raisins - 2 tbs

a small handful of chopped parsley

leaves from a couple of bushy sprigs of

rosemary, chopped

capers - 2 tsp

Heat the oven to 190C/Gas 5. Rinse the mackerel, pat them dry with kitchen paper and lay them snugly in a roasting tin. Peel the shallot and chop it finely, then let it cook slowly with a tablespoon or so of the olive oil and the garlic in a small pan till soft and translucent. Add the breadcrumbs and let them colour slightly. Chop the olives and add them to the crumbs with the pine nuts, lemon zest, raisins and chopped herbs and capers. Season with salt and pepper.

Scatter the crumb mixture over the fish. Squeeze over the lemon juice and add a drizzle of olive oil then bake for 15-20 minutes till the fish is opaque and comes easily from the bone.

Sea bass with lemon & anchovy potatoes

Line-caught sea bass is not difficult to find. That from Cornwall, which has been very good recently, is helpfully tagged through the gills. I reckon on a 1 kg bass being enough for two.

Serves 2

For the fish:

a whole sea bass, cleaned but left on the bone

a little dried or fresh oregano

olive oil

For the potatoes:

waxy-fleshed potatoes such as Anya or Pink Fir Apple - 500g

olive oil - 4 tbs

a large lemon

anchovy fillets - 12

vegetable stock - 250ml

Set the oven at 200C/Gas 6. Slice each potato three or four times. If you do this lengthways you will end up with long, elegant pieces. Warm a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a roasting tin over a moderately hot flame, then put the potatoes in and let them colour on both sides. They cook best if you leave them alone for several minutes in between stirring. You want them to be pale gold on both sides.

Cut the lemon in half, then into thick segments. Add the anchovies, and a grinding of black pepper and then pour over the stock.

Lay the fish on top of the potatoes, brush with a little olive oil then add the herbs and a mild seasoning of salt and black pepper. Bake in the preheated oven until the flesh will slide easily away from the bone in big juicy pieces. This will take a matter of 25-30 minutes.

Serve the fish with the potatoes and spoon over the stock.

Clams with cider and cream

I don't usually go in for creamy main courses, but there is a certain magic that happens when you mix shellfish, cider and the finest double cream. You will need a good baguette to go with this.

Serves 2

clams - 600g in their shells

a medium sized shallot (or two little ones)

butter - 15g

medium dry cider - 350ml

double cream - 4 tbs

a good handful of chopped parsley

crusty bread or baguette, to serve

Put two large soup bowls aside to get warm. Scrub the clams, checking thoroughly for any dead or broken ones. Peel and finely chop the shallot, then put it into a large, deep pan with the butter over a low heat. Let the shallot soften, stirring it regularly so it doesn't colour. When soft and translucent pour in the cider, let it bubble up for a few minutes so that it reduces by about half, then add the cleaned clams. Cover tightly with a lid and turn the heat to medium.

Cook for two minutes till the shells have opened. Lift the clams out with a draining spoon into two warm bowls and cover. Turn up the heat, pour in the cream, add the parsley, stir and season gently with black pepper. Let it bubble for a minute or so. Taste the sauce, and in the unlikely event of it needing salt, add a very little.

Pour the sauce over the clams and serve immediately with some crusty bread or baguette, and a spoon for the cider sauce.

Grilled mussels with thyme and parmesan

Mussels are cheap, sustainable (look out for hand-gathered and farmed) and curiously filling. When I feel I have had enough of chucking them in a pot with a glass of white wine and some tarragon then I grill them under a coating of buttery breadcrumbs.

Enough for 2

24 large mussels

a glass of white wine

For the herb butter:

butter - 120g

parsley - 4 bushy sprigs

thyme leaves - 2 good tbs

a clove of garlic

a medium-sized hot chilli

a little lemon juice

white breadcrumbs - 5 tbs

grated parmesan - 3 tbs

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the butter in a mixing bowl. Finely chop the parsley leaves, thyme, garlic and seeded chilli. Mash into the butter with the lemon juice, crumbs and parmesan. Season with salt and black pepper.

Put the prepared mussels (thoroughly cleaned and scrubbed, and checked for broken or dead ones) into a deep pan over a moderate heat, pour in the white wine then cover tightly with a lid. Let them steam for a minute or two until their shells open.

Lift the mussels out of the pan, pulling off the top shells as you go. Lay the mussels in the bottom shells flat on a baking sheet or oven-proof tray. Spread a teaspoon or so of the butter over each mussel then cook under a preheated grill till bubbling.

Chilled crab and cucumber soup

Crab soup is often a Saturday lunch dish in our house, together with rounds of hot, brown toast. Sometimes, I prefer a cold version, its richness nicely balanced with yoghurt and the cooling notes of cucumber.

Serves 4

a large cucumber

sea salt

a small clove of garlic

a small red chilli

natural yoghurt - 500ml

wine vinegar - 1 tbs

a small bunch of mint - to give about 4 tbs chopped leaves

single cream - 100ml

a few sprigs of parsley

white and brown crab meat - 8 heaped tbs

Peel the cucumber, halve it, scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon then chop into very small dice. Tip the cucumber into a colander, sprinkle liberally with a teaspoonful of salt, toss gently then leave in the sink for a good half hour.

Peel and very finely crush the garlic and add to the yoghurt. Seed and very finely chop the chilli then mix into the yoghurt with the vinegar. Remove the leaves from the mint and chop them finely - you will need about 4 lightly heaped tablespoons - then stir them into the soup.

Stir in the cucumber, but not the liquid that has drained from it, and then the cream. Season with black pepper and chill thoroughly in the fridge. It must be really cold if it is to be good. Chop the parsley leaves and mix with the crab, adding a little black pepper as you go.

To serve, divide the soup between four soup bowls. Place two heaped tablespoons of crab meat into the centre of each bowl and serve immediately.