This Spanish mackerel was, if I say so myself, perfectly cooked - crispy skin, moist, firm flesh, all enhanced by the exceedingly simple pickled fennel whose recipe follows. It truly is best with oily fish as the acidity cuts through that flavor but it also tastes very good with hot pork tenderloin or cold ham. I used what was left from the fish in a ham sandwich and it was excellent.
Makes between 1/2 cup to a cup depending on the size of your fennel bulb. Mine was a small one so double the picking recipe if you have a large fennel bulb.
1 fennel bulb
1/3 cup rice vinegar
3 Tbsps brown sugar
Juice and zest from one orange
Pinch of salt
Cut the root end and the fronds off the fennel bulb. Cut the bulb in half and then slice it as thinly as you can, into half moon shaped pieces. Discard the root piece. If serving this with fish, finely chop about 2 tablespoons of the bright green fronds and set them aside to use as a garnish. Make sure that you keep the rest of the fronds and the longer pieces of the fennel for soup, or cook them with potatoes and mash them together for a slightly different version of potato purée. Anyway...
Combine the remaining ingredients in a skillet and bring to a boil. Add the fennel pieces and cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring of needed if all the pieces are not bathed in the liquid. The cooking time will depend on the thickness of the slices that you have cut. Taste after 3 minutes; you want some bite to remain to the fennel.
Remove from the heat, set aside 10 minutes before using. tastes best at room temperature.