Fish heads, fish heads, eat 'em up, yum!

I roasted a couple of mackerel with fennel and tomato the other night.  This is a dish of my own devising - I wouldn't go so far as to claim its invention, it is, after all, just roasted fish with a handful of fish friendly veg - and one that I used to do a lot, so much so that it would be a definite contender for my 'signature dish' were I pretentious enough to claim to have such a thing.  I'd not done it for a long time.  I really don't know why.  It is cheap, easy and unfailingly delicious.  I've written the recipe up before, almost exactly a year ago, I note, which makes sense.  As I said then, it's a perfect dish for this time of year.  On that occasion I roasted fillets, this time I did the whole fish (as with the seabass variation here), which I have to say, I think is the best way to do it.

As I already had some fish stock in the fridge - left over from making a smoked haddock risotto, which is perhaps my new favourite rice/fish dish and will, I promise, be written up next – I didn’t even have to take the heads off the fish for stock making, and I always prefer to serve a whole fish, head and all.  I just think it looks better on the plate.  As long, of course, as you aren’t cooking for guests who might be squeamish about such things.  Of course my gut instinct with regards to guests like that is simply not to invite them in the first place, but it’s not that big a deal and it’s not worth jeopardizing a friendship over.  Really it’s not.  Nearly, but not quite…

Becca and I, of course, have no such problems…