Fish is fantastic, says Clare Latimer, and here are two simple dishes to get your tastebuds tingling

A little girl called Georgia used to come in my shop every day when she was aged two until she was five and then she moved to Spain. She always helped with the cooking (in her own way!) and towed my long suffering dog up and down the road on a lead. She was a great joy to have around and we missed her when she left. This afternoon a ten-year-old girl popped her head round the shop door and asked if we remembered her. She had grown up so much that she had to reintroduce herself.
We chatted and when she saw that I wrote these recipes she asked if I could give a recipe for swordfish and cod.
I explained that cod was over fished and that it would be better to write about another less-popular-on-the-plate-and-more-popular-in-the-sea type of fish and we ended up choosing mackerel as she had not heard of it and thought it could be fun to cook and eat.
She pointed out that children are not taught how to cook fish and it would be good to show her friends, so here we go.

SWORDFISH STIR-FRY
Serves 4
Swordfish is a lovely meaty fish and anyone who has a problem with bones will be happy with this dish. I would serve this with rice and a good salad. What could be more healthy!
Ingredients
225g green beans, trimmed and cut into one inch pieces.
500g swordfish, off the bone.
One tin (14.5-oz.) chopped tomatoes, drained, juice reserved.
Three cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed.
Two teaspoons of dried oregano.
Freshly ground black pepper.
125g black olives, pitted and chopped.
50g feta cheese, crumbled.
One lime, halved.
Method
Boil the beans in salted water for about three minutes, or until barely tender. Drain and set aside. Trim off any skin and remove any bones from the swordfish, using tweezers, if necessary.
Cut into 3/4-inch cubes and set aside.
In a wok over medium heat, combine green beans, tomatoes with juice, garlic, oregano and pepper.
Increase heat to medium-high and cook for five minutes, stirring frequently. Add the fish and stir-fry until mostly opaque, but still barely translucent in the middle for five to seven minutes, depending on the thickness of fish.
Stir in olives and heat through. Transfer to a warmed serving dish and sprinkle the crumbled feta evenly over top, squeeze over the lime juice and serve.

MACKEREL WITH GOOSEBERRY SAUCE
Serves 4
Mackerel is a bony fish so buy the largest possible and then it is easier to fillet and see the bones. It was the only fish allowed to be sold in the streets of London on a Sunday due to the fact that it goes through a chemical change after about 12 hours and turns into an oily fish so for this reason, try and buy it as fresh as possible.
Ask your fishmonger to advise when it is coming in and order some for that moment. It makes a lovely supper dish served with potatoes and perhaps broccoli.
Ingredients
Four tablespoons of white breadcrumbs.
One level tablespoon of parsley, chopped finely.
The grated peel from one lemon.
One egg.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Four mackerels, with the heads and tails removed, and gutted.
One small tin of gooseberries.
Method
Put the breadcrumbs, parsley, lemon peel, egg, and salt and pepper into a bowl and mix well.
Stuff the middles of the mackerel and place on a grill pan. Heat the grill to medium and then grill the fish for about six minutes on each side (this depends on the size of the fish) turning once.
Serve straight away with the gooseberries as a sauce.

Clare’s Kitchen
41 Chalcot Road
Primrose Hill
NW1
Tel: 020 7586 8433
www.clareskitchen.co.uk