Stuffed Baked Mackerel

Click to Enlarge	Stuffed Baked Mackerel Euro/American
	Serves Effort: Sched: DoAhead:	2 main *** 1 hr Some		You can serve this tasty mackerel as an appetizer, as a side, or as a main dish with rice. Note: mackerel is very perishable so don't keep it waiting in the fridge.

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Mackerel whole (1)
Onion
Butter
Oatmeal (2)
Breadcrumbs wheat (3)
Thyme dry
Parsley flatleaf
Pepper
Water
Salt
-- Serve with
Lemon Wedges
- or -
Lemon Butter Sauce

Prepare WHOLE MACKEREL ready for stuffing. Method for cleaning can be found on our page Cleaning and Filleting Fish. The final method to prepare for stuffing will be found below in Method to Prepare Stuff & Bake.
Preheat Oven to 375°F/190°C.
ChopONIONS small.
ChopPARSLEY small and mix with OATMEAL, BREADCRUMBS and Pepper.
Heat BUTTER and gently fry Onions until they are translucent but not browning. Stir in Breadcrumb mix and Water. Cover and simmer, stirring often and checking water until oatmeal is cooked. SALT to taste.
Stuff MACKEREL and wrap in foil per Method below.
Bake at 375°F/190°C for 1/2 hour.
Serve. Since the backbone is out you can slice the stuffed part of the fish to the size you wish. Make sure each slice gets some stuffing and serve with Lemon Wedges or Lemon Butter Sauce.

NOTES:

Atlantic Mackerel (also sold as Norwegian Mackerel) is best for this recipe being the right size and having a robust but not overwhelming flavor.
Oatmeal for this recipe is John McCann's Steel Cut or similar. If you use rolled oats or some other different kind you'll have match the water and cooking time to suit.
Breadcrumbs: I use a flavorful multi-grain whole grain bread, sliced, dried (mostly) and crushed or chopped.
U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch
smf_mackstuff1 060604 gfsc

Method to Prepare, Stuff & Bake

Clean the fish per method for round bodied fish on our page Cleaning and Filleting Fish, then with your kitchen shears cut the fin off the top.

With your kitchen shears cut the spine as far forward in the cavity as you can, then do the same as far back as possible and once in the middle. Be careful not to go through the top of the fish.

Mackerel is quite tender so cut the ribs to both sides of the spine. If you rip the spine out ribs and all like you can on some fish you may tear up the flesh too much

Pull out the spine with a strong pair of pliers. You will probably want to use your fingers to keep it from pulling out any flesh.

The spine should come out with very little flesh attached.

Now go in and feel around with your fingers to find all the bones and pull them out (lengthwise wherever possible) while holding the flesh back with your fingers so it doesn't tear. In particular, check for small bones up at the head end.

Your fish is now ready to stuff.

Brush an ample sheet of aluminum foil with olive oil. Brush the fish with olive oil as well. Put in as much of the stuffing as it will comfortably hold.

Wrap the foil to seal as well as possible at top and both ends. Put in a preheated oven and bake at 375°F/190°C for 1/2 hour.

Serve in whatever manner you wish but accompany with plenty of lemon wedges for squeezing on the fish or with some Lemon Butter Sauce (but don't drown it, just a little will do).