Mackerel with orange and kohlrabi

Mackerel cooks briefly in the oven on paper-thin kohlrabi with orange, white wine, garlic and thyme. The cooking juices are lightly reduced and finished with butter. Finished with orange segments and dill.

Serves: 4
Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking: 25 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 mackerel fillets, skin on
• 2 medium kohlrabi
• 2 oranges (juice + zest)
• 1 extra orange (for segments, recommended)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 4–6 sprigs of thyme (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
• 100 ml dry white wine
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 30 g butter (plus 10 g extra, if desired, to mount)
• salt, freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small bunch of dill
• optional: ½–1 tsp honey
• optional: 1 tsp Dijon mustard

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
• Peel the kohlrabi thickly and slice into 1–2 mm slices (mandoline).
• Peel the garlic and slice thinly.
• Finely grate ½ tsp orange zest (orange part only) from 1 orange. Juice 2 oranges.
• (Preferably) segment 1 extra orange à vif and divide into segments. Pick the dill.
• Pat the mackerel dry and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Method

1. Pre-cook the kohlrabi
   Mix the kohlrabi with 2 tbsp olive oil, garlic, thyme, half of the orange juice, salt and pepper. Bake for 12–15 minutes to pre-cook.
2. Cook the mackerel on the kohlrabi
   Place the mackerel skin-side up on the kohlrabi. Add the white wine and the remaining orange juice. Drizzle the final 1 tbsp olive oil over it. Dot knobs of butter and a little orange zest over the fish.
3. Cook the mackerel until just done
   Cook for 8–10 minutes until the fish is just cooked. If you like, place under the grill for 1–2 minutes to colour the skin.
4. Mount the cooking juices into a sauce
   Lift the fish out of the dish. Reduce the cooking juices for 1–2 minutes and, over a low heat, whisk in cold butter to finish. Taste and, if desired, add a touch of honey or 1 tsp Dijon mustard.
5. Serve with orange segments and dill
   Divide the kohlrabi over the plates and place the mackerel on top. Spoon the sauce around it. Finish with orange segments and dill, and serve straight away.