Cooking the mackerel with a blow-torch gives a lovely charred flavour without overcooking the flesh.
Ingredients
For the blini
- 10g/¼oz
yeast - 10g/¼oz
sugar - 300ml/10fl oz warm
milk - 150g/5½oz
flour - 75g/2¾oz
buckwheat flour - 1 free-range
egg, separated, plus 2 extra egg whites -
vegetable oil, for frying
For the beetroot pickle
- 250g/9oz
redcurrant jelly - 250ml/9floz
red wine vinegar - 4
cloves - 75g/2¾oz
Dijon mustard - 2 large cooked
beetroot, peeled and diced
For the chive crème fraîche
- 200g/7oz
crème fraîche - 1 bunch
chives, finely chopped
For the mackerel
- 4
mackerel, filleted and pin boned -
rapeseed oil, for drizzling - 4
shallots, finely chopped - 1 tin Avruga
caviar
Method
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To make the blini, mix the yeast, sugar, milk, flours and egg yolk together in a bowl to make a paste.
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Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until they form stiff peaks, then fold them into the yeast mixture. Cover the bowl and set aside at room temperature for 20 minutes.
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Heat a frying pan until medium hot, add a little vegetable oil and small spoonfuls of the blini mixture.
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Cook the blini on each side until golden-brown then remove and drain onto kitchen paper. Repeat with the remaining batter and keep the blini warm until ready to serve.
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For the beetroot, place the redcurrant jelly, vinegar and cloves into a saucepan and cook until reduced down to a glaze thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
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Pass the mixture through a sieve into a clean bowl, whisk in the mustard then fold the beetroot into the pickle mix and keep warm.
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Whisk the crème fraîche until thickened, add the chives and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
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Cut the mackerel fillets in half lengthways. Drizzle with rapeseed oil, gently blow torch on both sides until cooked through then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
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To serve, place the mackerel onto the serving plates with a little of the chopped shallots, the warm beetroot pickle, blini, crème fraîche and some Avruga caviar.
