Roasted Atlantic horse mackerel

In my opinion, the Atlantic horse mackerel is currently one of the less preferred fishes to cook with in our kitchens. I just love grilled horse mackerel, but now that I have no more backyard grill, I don't dare to grill fish at home. And so when I usually buy fish for our meals I don't even think of buying horse mackerel. What happened was that in one of these days, I could not resist bringing home two beautiful horse mackerels, quite fresh with its shinning eyes, both caught by my father in one of his fishing trips.

I had already followed one of my working colleague's advice and had this fish roasted in the oven which turned out to be a very good suggestion. I wanted to repeat it but this time I added tomato in order to have a more colorful dish full of Summer flavors.

Ingredients:
2 large horse mackerel
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1dl olive oil
2 unpeeled and unseeded tomatoes
1 sprig coriander, chopped
Boiled potatoes to accompany
salt and pepper to taste


1. Season the mackerel with salt and pepper.

2. In a skillet or saucepan put the oil, onion and garlic. Sauté the onion. When the onion breaks, add the coarsely chopped tomato. Conitnue to sauté until the tomato is evenly cooked. Turn off the heat and only then add the chopped coriander.

3. Place the horse mackerels on an oven dish pour over the fish the sautéed mixture carefully. Cover with an aluminum foil sheet.

4. Put it into a 220ºC preheated oven for 10 minutes and then another 15 minutes to finish cooking but this time with the fish uncovered by the aluminum foil sheet.

5. Serve the fish with boiled potatoes.


Today's recipe was inspired by this recipe in the Receitas de Culinária website. My personal touch was my decision to sauté the onion and tomate before putting all in the oven to cook. I think this way the dish becomes even more delicious. As you can see, it's easy to cook horse mackerel!

[ Originally published in Portuguese as Carapaus no forno ]

Roasted sea bream with coriander and cherry tomatoes

Luísa woke up early. She experienced the silence through all of the house. Occasionally she liked being alone. The maids - Joana and Juliana - had both requested some time off. Jorge wasn't around. He had gone away for a few days in one of his many business trips. Luísa did not hesitate to say yes to the request of the maids. Juliana had gone to the doctor and then she would go visit her Aunt Vitória. Joana's request may have been related with some boyfriend, but Luísa didn't bother to ask. It was nice to be home alone. Able to manage her time without giving any satisfaction, without having someone ask her things or having to make decisions for others.

She began by making coffee and drinking it in a big cup. She loved the intense and slightly roasted aroma of coffee. She shared this taste with her beloved childhood friend, Leopoldina, which unfortunately due to the pressing requests of Jorge she had stopped visiting. It didn't befit her mingling with a woman with a nickname such as "bread and butter", who was known to have several lovers. On the contrary, D. Felicidade distasted coffee. She would say every time she visited her: "- Dear, I prefer tea. You know that coffee and me don't get along very well!"

After drinking her coffee, she sat on the couch and spent the morning reading one of those novels that she loved so much. This one had been offered to her by her cousin Basílio, just before he had gone living to France. The books were a way to make her dream, a way to be transported into another dimension, a way of living and experiencing a little the lives of others.

She would have lunch at home. She could have arranged a lunch in Chiado with Sebastião or even with Julião - her old good friends - but she decided otherwise. She preferred to stay at home and cook. She loved to cook although she never did since she had married. Before her mother had died, she cooked delicious dishes. She went to the fridge and saw a beautiful sea bream with its mouth open that she thought was smiling. It was what she would cook for lunch.

Ingredients:
1 sea bream or other fish suitable for roasting in the oven
3 garlic cloves
1/2 lemon
10 to 12 cherry tomatoes
1 sprig of coriander
1 stalk of rosemary
olive oil
salt and peppercorns to taste


1. Stuff two cloves of garlic (with the its peel), rosemary and lemon in the belly of the fish.

2. To prepare the wrapper, place a sheet of parchment paper on top of an aluminum foil sheet. On top of the parchment paper sheet, place a sprig of coriander and then on top of that place the fish after being seasoned with salt.

3. Sprinkle the fish with chopped garlic and a sprig of cilantro. Place the cherry tomatoes around the fish. Sprinkle with peppercorns.

4. Sprinkle with olive oil and close the wrapper. Put it into a preheated oven for 40 minutes.


Luísa enjoyed her lunch. The fish was juicy. So delicious that she had decided to cook this recipe more often.

I was inspired in the novel Primo Basílio ("Cousin Bazilio") by Eça de Queirós to write this short story.

[ Originally published in Portuguese as Besugo assado no forno com coentros e tomate cereja ]

Scallops au gratin for a friend

At the beginning of August, a longtime friend stayed with me for a couple of days. Paula Borralho, comes almost every year during the summer and spends a few days with me.

When she is around, I try to take her to some sites that I like - this year's novelty was the terrace of the Darwin's Café restaurant, here in Lisbon - and cook different delicacies. I like to suggest her new flavors or new ingredient combinations.

This year, for one of our lengthy lunches, among other recipes, I made scallops au gratin which turned out to be delicious.

Ingredients:
8 scallops with the shell
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
0.5dl olive oil
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon coriander, chopped
1dl cream
1 tablespoon cognac
8 small stalks of coriander
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1/2 lemon
salt
pepper
nutmeg


1. Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil.

2. Add the chopped coriander and the bay leaf.

3. Add the cream. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

4. Sprinkle with one tablespoon of cognac. Remove from the heat when the sauce has a consistent flavor.

5. If necessary, wash the scallops to remove traces of sand. Sprinkle the scallops with a few drops of lemon juice.

6. Spread the cream and coriander sauce among the scallops. Place a stalk of coriander on each scallop.

7. Sprinkle the scallops with breadcrumbs.

8. Put in a 180ºC preheated oven for 10 minutes.


These scallops were a really delicious treat!

[ Originally published in Portuguese as Vieiras gratinadas para uma amiga ]