Ingredients

Method

• butter, for frying
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 sprigs thyme
• ½ cup white wine
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup cream
• 30 g Italian parsley
• lemon juice, to taste
• salt, to taste
• 170 g asparagus, blanched
• 2 x packets 240 g Woolworths lightly smoked mackerel fillets
• 2 T chives, finely sliced, to garnish

Method

Ingredients

1. To make the velouté, gently fry the onion, garlic and thyme in the butter over a low heat until translucent. Add the wine and cook until completely reduced.

2 Add the stock and simmer until reduced to a syrupy consistency. Add the cream and simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes until the sauce is thickened.

3. While the velouté is simmering, bring a saucepan of water to the boil and blanch the parsley. Submerge it for 5 seconds, then immediately transfer to a bowl of iced water. Squeeze the excess water out of the parsley and chop roughly.

4. Remove the thyme from the velouté and place the velouté and blanched parsley into a narrow jug. Blend using a stick blender until vibrant green. Season with plenty of lemon juice and salt to taste.

5. Grill the asparagus until charred.

6. Pan-fry the mackerel skin-side down in the butter for 2–3 minutes until the skin is golden brown, then turn over and cook for a further 30 seconds. Serve with the charred asparagus, herby velouté and garnish with chives

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Photographs :Jan Ras
Production: Abigail Donnelly 
Food Assistant: Cheri Kustner