Here Fishy Fishy....

My friend Joe, who lives up in Ashley Down, is very keen on Barbecue, to say the least. He and his friend are entering the Grillstock festival down at the Harbourside this Summer. He decided to take a break from cooking 8 hour brisket to try out a more healthy option. So without further ado, here are the results...

Last week I received a new Pro Q Hot Smoker /BBQ from our very kind sponsors HotSmoked.co.uk.  My two friends and I have been cooking a lot of meat in our smokers recently as we are getting ready for our first BBQ competition in the summer.  But there’s only so much meat you can cook without wanting to try something a bit different.

So to christen the new smoker I bought some incredibly fresh mackerel, of which I gutted and filleted myself, and some sardines from The Fish Shop on Gloucester Road.

I stuffed the Sardines with fresh bay leaf, garlic, parsley, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.  The mackerel fillets were left to marinate in lemon, lime, parsley, a pinch of sweet smoked paprika and olive oil for 15 minutes.

I then built up a large, probably too large, fire of lump-wood charcoal and a few logs of seasoned apple wood.   The fire was incredibly hot so the fish only took about 3 minutes cook, the end result was really quite something.  The fish had a crispy smoky skin with a moist flaky flesh.  I served it with new potatoes and a burnt butter sauce. Meat can take a back seat now, maybe just for the next 2 weeks.

 Joe is in the process of setting up a website and blog for their Barbecue team, Social Smokers, will make sure to link up to them once it is ready so we can all follow their process and wish them luck!