Mackerel with currant filling is not only an incredibly tasty dish, it is also an exquisite decoration of the festive table. You can cook it at any time of the year, since all the necessary ingredients are easy to find in the refrigerator or the nearest supermarket.
How to choose mackerel?
Stuffed fish is always associated with any holiday. This dish is usually prepared for a certain event, whether it’s a birthday or New Year. The ability to properly stuff mackerel is equal to the highest culinary achievements of the hostess. That is why, before proceeding directly to the process itself, it is necessary to understand well all the subtleties and nuances of this work. A delicious mackerel with currant filling will work out only if you choose the right fish.
It is worth noting right away that mackerel is a rather capricious fish and does not tolerate neglect of it. When choosing a mackerel in a store, you should pay attention to the following points: the skin should be a pleasant golden color, without light streaks and doubtful prints, the fish itself should be fairly dense and slightly dried. Special attention should be paid to the smell - it should be smoky, this is obvious. Too harsh and distinct aroma eloquently suggests that the manufacturer is not talking about the quality of its products. When buying fresh or frozen mackerel, extreme attention should be paid to its consistency - the meat should be dense, with a slight pressure, the dents should not remain dented.
Of course, the best decoration of the festive table is a mackerel with currants. How to cook this dish? How to bring it to the table? These and many other questions can be answered right now.
Cooking Mackerel at Home
At the moment, there are so many recipes for stuffed mackerel that housewives simply do not have time to share them. This fish goes well with many products, but more and more often you can find truly unusual variations, looking at which you involuntarily come to amazement due to the specific combination of such simple products.
Here, for example, stuffed mackerel with currant filling. The dish turns out to be very tasty and satisfying - such a fish will certainly become an exquisite decoration of the festive table. If you decorate the dish with a lot of fresh and juicy greens, stuffed mackerel will surely attract the attention of all guests at the table.
Ingredients Essential for Stuffed Mackerel
In order to cook a delicious fish, you must use the following recipe. The mackerel with currant filling then turns out juicy and very tasty. This number of components is calculated for 1 stuffed fish. Accordingly, if you want to cook a larger amount, it is necessary to proportionally increase the amount of other products. The following ingredients are required:
- The fish itself is freshly frozen mackerel (1 piece).
- Juniper berries (6 pieces). You can do without them.
- Half a glass of red currant berries.
- Several berries of black currant (6-8 pieces)
- Black pepper (peas or coarsely ground) - a fourth of a teaspoon.
- One tablespoon of dry white wine.
- A few leaves of horseradish (enough five pieces).
- Fresh basil leaves (about 5 pieces).
Currant Mackerel - Step by Step Recipe
First of all, it is necessary to prepare the fish. To do this, you need to defrost the mackerel, gut it, remove the gills and fins. After that, wash the fish well, then dry with paper towels and salt. What to do next?
- Prepare directly the filling itself: thoroughly rinse all berries and leaves under running water. Mix the whole currant with juniper berries, black pepper and basil.
- Horseradish leaves also need to be washed initially, and then dipped in cool boiling water for literally 40-50 seconds. Then put them in a colander and wash with cold water.
- Gutted the carcass of a mackerel with berries of currant and juniper.
- Put horseradish leaves so that their edges slightly cover each other, then lightly sprinkle them with dry white wine and put mackerel.
- Carefully wrap stuffed fish in this “blanket” and place it in a baking dish. The seam should be at the bottom.
- Bake in the oven (preheated to 180 degrees) or in the microwave for about half an hour.
How to serve the dish to the table?
Mackerel with currant filling is tasty in itself. Following all the recommendations of the proposed recipe, the fish must be carefully cut into slices and pour over the sauce that formed in the leaves of horseradish. To the dish you can serve various sauces - mustard, mayonnaise and others.
In addition, you can separately prepare a special sauce for stuffed mackerel, which will only emphasize the exquisite taste of a fish dish. Lemon is usually great for all kinds of fish and seafood dishes. That is why lemon sauce will be most welcome in this case. In order to cook it, you need cream, water and lemon juice itself. The listed components must be mixed and put on a small fire, stirring thoroughly, bring to a slightly thickened consistency. Add a small amount of butter at the end.
Such a sauce will certainly emphasize the taste of stuffed mackerel.
A few secrets and subtleties of cooking stuffed mackerel
If fresh horseradish leaves are not at hand, they can easily be replaced with the same amount of green part of leek. Stuffed fish should be wrapped in them and baked in the same way in an oven or microwave at a temperature of about 180 degrees.
In order for the fish to turn out to be juicy and incredibly tasty, it is not necessary to use only fresh berries of currant and juniper - surely in every refrigerator there is the necessary amount of stocks frozen for the winter.
Mackerel with currants - delicious and easy! It only seems that the dish is complicated - in fact, it does not require special forces to prepare. But the result will certainly please the hostess - stuffed mackerel will be remembered by all those gathered for a long time. A piquant taste of juniper berries and currants will only emphasize the unusual character of this dish.
Conclusion
A mackerel with currant filling will decorate any festive feast, becoming a crown dish. Having prepared and served correctly, you can please your guests with a delicious combination of fish and berries. Lemon sauce, specially prepared in advance for this dish, will only emphasize all the advantages and enhance the aroma of stuffed mackerel.