Friday's Fish Du Jour - Grilled Spanish Mackerel

I love Spanish Mackerel. It's on of my favorite fish growing up. I remember as a child, we would always eat it either fried, grilled, or adobo style (it's Philippines most popular dish or a type of cooking process that involves meat or seafood cooked in vinegar, garlic, tomatoes and simmered for a until cooked). Among the three methods, I prefer mine mostly grilled. Served with a dipping sauce of soy sauce and lemon juice and a side of rice. But of course that back in my rice eating days. HAHA! Now, I just usually serve it with any type of steamed or sauteed vegetables.


Last week when I was doing my grocery at Whole Foods, I chanced upon a 3 pounder Spanish Mackerel and without hesitation, I snagged that baby home. I usually get a funny look when I asked them to clean it for me and leave the head on. What can I say? In where I came from, we don't waste anything. Sometimes they would have a lot of fresh fish heads that some of their customers don't want and I usually ask if I could have them. I can't say no to a giant salmon head for a buck and half. LOL! Fish head soup is the best....but that's another post! HEHE! 

Do you like my filleting skills? Beautiful for my first time. I didn't want to tinker with the fish too much so I just seasoned with lime juice, a little bit of salt and italian seasoning. I then grilled it for a few minutes on each side. Doesn't take that long to cook at all. 


My asparagus on the other hand was boiled and dressed in a white balsamic and dijon mustard dressing. This two was paired beautifully. The tanginess of the salad dressing and the freshness of the fish blended perfectly. Asparagus can be steamed or baked if that's your preferred method. Boiling it for a few minutes is usually the easiest and most convenient for me. While I was for the asparagus to cook in the boiling water, I take one tablespoon of dijon gray poupon mustard, two tablespoon of white balsamic vinegar (can be substituted with white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar), and one packet of stevia sweetener (of course you can use white sugar, honey, maple syrup or any sweeteners you like) and whisk all the ingredients together in one bowl. When the asparagus is cooked, immediately mix it with the salad dressing. Voila! Easy and healthy and lent friendly:-)

Fresh Hyacinth keeps my house smelling good...looking forward to Spring weather!!!!

I love being surrounded by flowers and who doesn't love hydrangea?

Have a great Friday!

Bisous,

Contessa