Nigel Slater’s summer fish and seafood recipes

Photographs by Jonathan Lovekin

The aniseed notes of fennel soften in the oven, flattering the sea bass and lending the dish, with the garlic and tomato, a Mediterranean vibe. It is a simple, good-natured dish that I would eat with potatoes, cut into wedges and baked with lemon and olive oil.

Serves 4

fennel 1 large bulb (350g)
olive oil 5 tbsp, plus a little extra
garlic 2 cloves
fennel seeds 1 tsp
tomatoes 250g
sea bass 4 x 150g pieces, skin on

Heat the oven to 180C fan/gas mark 6. Cut the fennel bulb into 6 wedges, reserving any leaf fronds, and put them in a roasting tin. Pour in the 5 tablespoons of olive oil. Peel the garlic and slice it thinly, then scatter over the fennel together with the fennel seeds and some salt and black pepper. Halve the tomatoes, add them to the fennel, then tumble everything together until all is lightly coated with oil. Roast for 25 minutes until the fennel has softened.

Remove the fennel from the oven. Turn up the heat to 200C fan/gas mark 7. Brush the pieces of fish with olive oil, salt and pepper, then place the pieces on top of the partly cooked fennel and return the dish to the oven for 20 minutes.

Remove the fish from the oven and lift on to warm plates. Scatter the reserved fennel fronds over the fennel and toss gently, before putting on to the plates with the cooking juices, and bring to the table.

A delightful contrast of textures here – creamy, mustard-hot dressing with crisp, coarsely grated vegetables. A slice or two of toasted rye bread is particularly good with the smoked fish.

A light hand is required. You will get some colour bleed from the beetroot, so avoid overmixing the ingredients unless your intention is to create a Barbie-pink salad. It is worth being quite fastidious about removing the bones from the smoked mackerel. They will spoil the dish. Large pieces of mackerel are more pleasing, so I suggest only very gentle mixing.

Serves 6

celeriac 150g
beetroot 150g
radishes 8
dijon mustard 1 tbsp
grain mustard 1 tbsp
olive oil 2 tbsp
creme fraiche 200g
dill 3 tbsp, chopped
capers 2 tsp
cornichons 8
whole smoked mackerel 1 x 300g, or 2 fillets
hot toast to serve

Peel the celeriac and slice the flesh into thick pieces, then grate coarsely. You could cut them into matchsticks or use the coarse disc on a food processor. Peel the beetroot and grate that too, then toss them lightly together.

Thinly slice or grate the radishes and add them to the grated roots.

Put the mustards in a mixing bowl, add the olive oil and whisk together with a little salt and a generous grinding of pepper. Stir in the creme fraiche, 2 tablespoons of the dill, the capers and the cornichons. (I would cut these in half unless they are very tiny.)

Peel the mackerel flesh from its skin, removing any bones. Break the flesh into large pieces, then gently mix into the grated vegetables with the dressing. Scatter the remaining dill fronds over and eat with hot toast.

The simplest of accompaniments, the cucumber should be salty and sour with a refreshing smack of mint. Roll the lime firmly on the table, pressing down with the palm of your hand to soften it. It will produce more juice. This is also a good way to cook salmon for eating cold.

Serves 4

basil 2 heaped tbsp, chopped
parsley 2 heaped tbsp, chopped
olive oil 3 tbsp
lime 1
salmon steaks 4 x 200g
basil, parsley and grated lime zest 2 tbsp, chopped and mixed, to finish

For the salad
cucumber 1 medium-sized
olive oil 2 tbsp
lemon 1
mint leaves 8 large

In a shallow bowl, mix the chopped basil and parsley with the olive oil. Finely grate the zest of the lime and squeeze the juice, then stir into the oil and herbs with a half teaspoon of salt flakes and a grinding or two of black pepper. Put the salmon into the marinade, turn over a couple of times then set aside, under a lid of some sort, for 30 minutes.

For the salad: peel the cucumber (or not, as you wish) then cut in half lengthways. Scoop out and discard the seeds and wet pulp from the middle, then cut into 5cm lengths and then into matchsticks. Put the cucumber into a bowl and toss with the olive oil. Finely grate the zest and squeeze the lemon, then trickle 2 tablespoons of the juice over the cucumber. Finely shred the mint leaves and stir into the salad with a half teaspoon of salt flakes. Set aside somewhere cool.

To cook the salmon, heat an overhead (oven) grill. Brush most of the herbs from the surface of the fish back into the marinade. Put the pieces of salmon on a foil-lined baking sheet and place under the grill for about 8-10 minutes until the surface of the fish is lightly bronzed. Spoon the herbs and marinade over the salmon and briefly return to the grill. The herbs will darken a little. As you bring the salmon to the table, scatter with the chopped basil, parsley and grated lime zest.

Eat with the cucumber and lemon salad.

Use a mixture of brown and white crab meat if you can. Brown is sometimes difficult to find, but it is often worth a try to ask your fishmonger if there is any in the freezer. There’s no need to egg and crumb the cakes to form a crisp crust. More suitable, I think, is something more delicate. Just pat the cakes into the dried crumbs so they adhere, turning them over to lightly coat. A little crab meat peeping through makes them all the more tempting.

Makes 8-9 cakes (serves 3-4)

haddock 250g
crab meat 250g, a mixture of white and brown
mayonnaise 3 tbsp
chives 1 tbsp, finely chopped
lemon 1
aleppo pepper ½ tsp (or more to taste)
fresh breadcrumbs 4 heaped tbsp (60g)
dried (panko) breadcrumbs 60g
olive oil or vegetable oil about 50ml

To serve

tarragon, mint, dill and parsley small whole leaves, mixed
olive oil
lemon juice

Remove the skin from the haddock and cut the flesh into large pieces. Finely chop the haddock – a food processor will do it in seconds, but take care not to overwork – then put it into a bowl and stir in the crab meat and mayonnaise with a fork.

Add the chives, then grate the lemon zest finely, stirring half of it into the fish and crab mixture. Squeeze the lemon and add 1 tablespoon of the juice to the mix with the aleppo pepper, fresh breadcrumbs and a little salt.

Shape the mixture into 8 or 9 small cakes, each roughly 75g in weight. Scatter the dried breadcrumbs on a plate or shallow dish, then lay each cake in the crumbs and pat firmly so they lightly coat each cake. Set aside in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm them up a little (not crucial but it makes the fragile cakes easier to handle in the pan).

Warm the oil in a shallow pan – preferably one that doesn’t stick – over a moderate heat, then lower in the cakes and fry for 5 minutes until just golden, turning carefully with a palette knife and lowering the heat as necessary. They are done when the crumbs are pale gold.

Make a nest for the fishcakes with a mixture of small, whole herb leaves: tarragon, mint, dill and parsley. Use 2 good handfuls of herbs per person, dressed with a little olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Lift the cakes on to plates and serve with the herb salad.

@NigelSlater