Recipe: Spiced mackerel with peas & pancetta

 

 Always ready to jump on a bandwagon at any given time, I am all about embracing this new 'fat is your friend' ethos the papers, channel 4 and the smart arse down the local gym seem to be shoving in our faces on a constant loop these days.

Obviously I jest about me being down the gym.

But yes. Sugar is bad. Sugar is why we are so fat these days. Sugar is evil. Having been pretty much compared to heroin in the media recently, I conducted a little experiment of my own. I decided to eat all the fat and see what happened. And I don't mean all the chocolate eclairs I can get my hands on from Patiserrie Valerie either.

No, I mean all the good fats. Your nuts, avocados, oily fish, etc. All things I ate pretty regularly anyway but all the things I was a little bit scared of. Cause see fat scares me. That and being late for anything. You know the world will stop turning and will actually spontaneously combust in on itself if I happen to be even 30 seconds late for anything, right?

Anyway I decided to eat loads of these fats. I mean not even care if I ate more than half an avocado a week. To hell if I threw caution to the wind and had 4 portons of oily fish instead of the government recommended 2. And you know what? Screw it - I'm going to eat nuts every single day! 

Because I wanted to see what would happen.

And what happened? Nada. Not a single pound. I haven't put on any weight at all. I have stopped buying low fat products that are frankly full of shit. I have embraced full-fat butter, managed to look at the nutritional value on my hoummous without having a heart attack AND I snack on almonds and cashews like a person who doesn't have a severely unhealthy relationship with calories.

So I stole this little recipe from Tom Parker Bowles and if you are anything like the new fat-embracing me then it will be right up your street. I actually bought some new potatoes to go with it but upon starting to cook, I  realised that I might not actually need any carbs with it after all. A novel thought. 

NO CARBS WITH DINNER.

Who am I?

But also no carbs with dinner means extra wine (there she is).

Given that this little recipe is full of all the brain food/skin firming qualities you should ever desire, you will be able to make Carol Vorderman look like Chantelle Houghton three hours after you've eaten it. 

And if you don't look 14 again then you did it wrong.

Tom Parker Bowles Spiced Mackerel with Peas & Pancetta

You will need:

Fresh gutted mackerel (one per person)

Garlic (minced)

Ground cumin

Ground coriander

Cayenne Pepper

Lemon

Olive oil and extra virgin olive oil

Unsmoked pancetta

Onion (diced)

Dry white wine

Fresh shelled peas

Rocket leaves

• Slash each mackerel diagonally 3 or 4 times on each side
• Combine minced garlic, a teaspoon of ground cumin, half a teaspoon of ground coriander, quarter of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice and a glug of olive oil in a bowl and then rub all over the fish
• Cover and then leave in the fridge to marinade for around 20 mins
• Heat a griddle pan over a medium heat and cook the mackerel for 5-8 mins on each side
• Heat some extra virgin olive oil in a large frying pan and then throw in a handful of pancetta and cook until crisp and golden
•  Add a handful of diced onion and saute over a medium heat for around 5 minutes
• Add a couple of glugs of dry white wine and simmer until it reduces slightly
• Add some freshly shelled peas and cook for another few minutes 
• Throw a handful of fresh rocket onto a plate
• Add the pea and pancetta mix onto the rocket then lay the fish on top
• Serve with a wedge of lemon

 Relax.

Enjoy.

And pour yourself another glass of wine to make up for the lack of potatoes.