Mashed Herring in masala paste with new potatoes and greens.

I purchased three herring from our Tesco counter because they are very cheap at the moment. Roughly about £1.80 for the three. At the time of purchase I had no idea what I planned to do with them. I was just inspired by the fact that I had never cooked herring before.

As it turned out I gutted them and scored the skin so that I could introduce a nice spicy masala sauce (half a jar sitting in the fridge) into the flesh. I popped the masala spread fish into the oven at about 150 degrees for about three quarters of an hour. One of the fish (in preparation) lost its spine so I decided to fillet the lot and in so doing had a lot less bone to fanny about with on eating.

I put on some new potatoes and let boil until tender. In a separate pan I steamed some greens and crisp and salty samphire. The cooked and curried herring was mashed with some crème fraiche for a creamy fishy mash.

The rest of the afternoon was spent chilling with a glass of chilled white wine.