Grilled Mackerel with Tomato Couscous and Tartar Sauce

Ready in: Under 20 minutes

Multi-tasking level: Very Low

Feeds:  4, and goes well in lunch-boxes. Scale down as necessary

Ingredient	Price (approx.)	Notes
2 butterfly fillets of mackerel	£3.51	These ones came in a packet, but keep checking fish that are reduced at the counter. It can be intimidating, but those people are there to help you- always ask to have your fish descaled and gutted by the person serving you, or descaled and filleted if you don’t want to use the whole thing. It’s free, and they’re very happy to do it. Also, you can ask for the bones back to boil up for stock if you so please. Don’t be intimidated just because you have to talk to someone
1 lemons	25p
3 teaspoons mayonnaise	15p	I use light mayo because I’m a girl and therefore like to trick myself into thinking mayo isn’t just oil and more oil
Couscous	60p a bag- we’re using about 30p’s worth here	Wholegrain couscous is tasty. Remember couscous works really well cold/reheated- cook more than you need
1 can value chopped tomatoes	38p	Sainsbury’s basics ones are actually the best. Nice red colour, come in a carton not a jar. Edit: They now sell versions with herbs in them. Cool story, Sainsbury’s.
Splash of red wine	15p	Don’t bother with fancy wine here, it’s really just to give it some depth
1 tablespoon capers	30p	Capers are delicious. Keep them in your fridge. The jar is pricey, but will last for months, even a year
4 handfuls baby spinach leaves	Bag costs about 75p, we’re using about 30ps worth	Delicious go-to salad because it doesn’t have a disappointingly airy texture like other salad bits
Chopped basil and lemon thyme	30p	Growing herbs (of the culinary kind) in your student digs will make it look prettier and disguise generic student smells. Also you can eat them

                                         £5.94
                                           Or about £1.48 each

Impressive bang-for-your-buck

Utensils:

·       Small saucepan for couscous

·       Grill pan (or roasting dish with a cooling rack inside)

·       Chopping board and knife

·       Small bowl and spoon for tartar sauce

·       Spatula

·       Possibly a pastry brush, if you have one (NB: Buy a silicone pastry brush. You can get them from supermarkets. Ones with actual hairs will leave actual hairs on your food and your friends will question your personal hygiene)

      Method:

        1 .  Couscous

a.        Put a third as much couscous as you want to eat in a saucepan

b.       Add 1 ½ times as much liquid as there is couscous in with it. In this recipe, put a tin of chopped tomatoes on it, a splash of red wine, a squeeze of lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons of sugar (otherwise it will just dissolve your face when you try to eat it) – and some chopped basil if you’re feeling fancy

c.        Put on the hob on a high heat and stir frequently with a wooden spoon. Just make sure it’s not sticking to the bottom. Sort the mackerel out now

                                                                       i.       Cooking the couscous will require some attention. It ought to look a bit frogspawny after about 5 minutes- if it starts sticking to the bottom at that time, put a splash more water in it

                                                                     ii.       After 10-14 minutes it should be done

        2.  Mackerel

a.        Turn the grill on high

Delicious baste

b.       Take out your mackerel fillets and admire their value for money

c.        Make a baste

                                       i.       Put the juice of half a lemon, a tablespoon of olive oil, chopped lemon thyme and basil (optional) and half a teaspoon of salt in a bowl

                                       ii.       Mix together to emulsify (stop the water and oil separating and make it thicker)

d.       Paint the baste onto the fish skin with either a pastry brush (if you’re cool) or your fingers (if you don’t bake enough pies and therefore have no pastry brush)

Crispy deliciousness

e.        Put the mackerel under the grill, skin side up, for 5 minutes. Start making the sauce

f.         Take out- Drain any lemon juice from on top and add lots of salt- this is going to make the skin all crispy. Cook for 4 minutes more

g.        When the skin looks delicious, flip and cook for about 1-2 minutes flesh side up

Tartar bits

       3.  Tartar sauce (we’re not making the mayo. Shop-bought mayo is just fine.)

        a.        Put 3 tablespoons of mayo in a bowl

        b.       Chop up 1 tablespoon of capers as finely as you can and put them in

        c.        Add a squeeze of lemon. If you want it to taste homely and familiar, add a teaspoon of sugar

        d.       Mix together

       4.  Plate up

a.        Flop the couscous into a sieve if there’s any water lurking about still, then back in the pan, then a bit on your plate

b.       Put spinach leaves on top because layers are so "now"

c.        Put half a fish on top of that- admire that crispy skin

d.       Slop a little tartar sauce on the side

e.        Chow down

Look how fancy this looks. Hella fancy, that's how fancy

Also: Is anyone else's mind blown by the techno-awesome pattern on mackerel? Click on the picture of the fillets to get a good look- I cannot believe that actually happens naturally...

PS.

How tartar sauce should look,
for the uninitiated 

                                             Seriously impressed with
                                                          The size of these babies...

Tomato couscous with Foolproof Chicken Stir Fry

                               

                           

Ready in: fewer than 30 minutes
Multi-tasking level: Low
Feeds: 6 for this version, cut down accordingly

Ingredient	Price (approx.)	Notes
5 Chicken breasts	~£5.00	Thigh fillets are cheaper, but fiddlier to cut up. Evaluate whether you can be bothered.
2 lemons	50p
3 cloves garlic	10p
Couscous	60p a bag- we’re using about 30p’s worth here	Wholegrain couscous is tasty. Remember couscous works really well cold/reheated- cook more than you need
1 can value chopped tomatoes	38p	Sainsbury’s basics ones are actually the best. Nice red colour, come in a carton not a jar
Splash of red wine	15p	Don’t bother with fancy wine here, it’s really just to give it some depth
1 tablespoon soy sauce	10p	Only buy from Chinese supermarkets if you can- it’s a staple there, so it’s MASSIVELY cheaper than supermarkets (and the bottles look impressive)
1 tablespoon cornflour	3p	Cornflour is the best for thickening sauces and soups. Buy a box and it will last forever.
About 4 fists of chopped veg	~£3	Seasonality keeps it cheap, otherwise check reduce to clear. Try to get lots of pretty colours in there. Here I used: 1 white onion, a bunch of asparagus, a few mushrooms, two handfuls of baby spinach, three bell peppers (two red, one orange. Never green. Taste like grass.)

                                          Total: £9.58
                                         (Or about £1.60 each)

Utensils:

·       Small saucepan for couscous

·       Large frying pan/ wok/ balti

·       Chopping board and knife

·       Small bowl and spoon for cornflour

·       Plastic bag

Method:

       1.  Marinate the chicken- this is a really good thing to do if the chicken’s on its last legs/ bought from reduce-to-clear but it looks a bit funky

a.        Cut the chicken breasts into bits as tall as your thumb- remove sinew (stringy white bits) because they will never taste nice

b.       Put the chicken in a plastic bag with the juice of 2 lemons and three chopped cloves of garlic

c.        Leave it for between 5 minutes and 12 hours, depending on how funky your chicken is looking/how hungry you are

       2.  Couscous

a.        Put a third as much couscous as you want to eat in a saucepan

b.       Add 1 ½ times as much liquid as there is couscous in with it. In this recipe, put a tin of chopped tomatoes on it, a splash of red wine, the last squeeze of lemon juice from the skins of the lemons you used in the marinade, and 2 teaspoons of sugar (otherwise it will just dissolve your face when you try to eat it) – and some chopped basil if you’re feeling fancy

c.        Put on the hob on a high heat and stir frequently with a wooden spoon. Turn it down after 2 minutes. Just make sure it’s not sticking to the bottom. Start cooking the stir fry now.

                                                                       i.       Cooking the couscous will require some attention. It ought to look a bit frogspawny after about 5 minutes- if it starts sticking to the bottom at that time, put a splash more water in it

                                                                     ii.       After 10-14 minutes it should be done (right)

RAW BUT WITH POTENTIAL

COOKED TO PERFECTION

      3.  Stir fry

a.        Put a tablespoon of oil in the pan. Wait until it’s hot (it will be shimmering like a poncy vampire), then add the chicken, but not the marinade. When water hits hot oil it spits, so watch out. Drain water off it when it starts to bubble or they’ll never cook

b.       Start chopping veggies quickly. You want to add the veggies in descending order of how cooked you want them, and then chop the next sect of veggies, so here it goes:

                                                                       i.       Onions

                                                                     ii.       Mushrooms (clean dirt off them with kitchen towel, chop in quarters)

                                                                   iii.       Asparagus (chop and discard two inches from the end to avoid woody stems)

                                                                   iv.       Bell peppers (speed-chop the way Gordon tells us)

                                                                     v.       Baby spinach leaves (add these once the stir fry is cooked and off the heat)
4.        Sauce:

                       a.       Pour the remaining marinate over the stir fry

                       b.       Add 2 tablespoons of sugar (look, I know this sounds weird, but just do it. You just added a bunch of acid, this will make it all sweet-and-sour)

                       c.       Put 1 tablespoon of cornflour in a small bowl, add 1 tablespoon soy sauce and mash all the lumps out with a spoon

                       d.       Take the stir fry OFF THE HEAT and add the cornflour mix- stir in well to avoid weird gloops

Delicious cornflour slop makin'

 your sauce all thick and tasty

       5.  Plate up

a.        Flop the couscous into a sieve just in case there’s any water lurking about still, then back in the pan

b.       Precariously balance the stir fry on a blob of couscous because you’re trying to imitate the food-in-tiny-towers they do on Masterchef

c.        Chow down

THIS IS WHY WE USE ALL THE COLOURS

Edit: Tomorrow's corresponding Bento lunchbox
Top box: This meal
Bottom box: Salad of spinach leaves, spring onions,
peppadew sweet chillis and crystallised ginger

Quick Post: Guessing portions for grains

Cheesy picture courtesy of tilda.com

While cooking:

Rice and quinoa will double in size 

Couscous will almost triple

Pasta will "soften up", and in doing so grow by up to 20%

Put the [X] in a pan, imagine it [Y] times the size and ask "Is that going to be a bit too much?"

Having said that, don't forget that you can always put them in the fridge for tomorrow's bento/future meals:

• Rice is the most difficult to keep for long in my opinion: it goes hard in the fridge and can become tasteless and dry. If reheating, blitz to oblivion in the microwave because otherwise spores will kill you or somesuch. I generally make leftover rice into makeshift Onigiri while still hot, put them in the door of the fridge (try to keep them away from the cooling element) and eat within half a week
• Quinoa is delicious cold, and makes for good salads, especially if you cook it in chopped tomatoes (recipe soon). If it dries up too much, it can be revived with a tiny bit of olive oil (put in some lemon juice to up freshen, too)
• Couscous can end up in hard clumps if kept in the fridge for long. Don't pack it too tightly when you put it away, and try to eat it quickly. Again, small amounts of olive oil can revive, but too much will make it taste like one of those Tesco couscous salads
• Pasta is best revived in a pan of boiling water after spending time in the fridge. While it's still hot, be sure to put a teeny bit of oil on it to prevent it from forming solid bricks when it's cooled. Don't use butter, or it'll solidify and you'll get a greasy solid brick of pasta- super delicious(!)