Day one  means it is Sunday which also means Cocktail hour with the neighbours, Pity the sun isn’t shining, get a bit chilly with the wind blowing up on the 6th and 7th floors. But never mind, it is the best we can do under the circumstances.

Tonight is also story night for the three ex Mexicans, our north Londoners. I wonder what Popi has got up his sleeve for tonight. After my various abandoned dinner ideas for last Sunday, I decided it had to be something that will be ready when story time is over.

As I am writing this, my new robot vac is busy doing the vacuuming. With the absence of the lovely Betty I thought I would get a Robot. No idea how good it is, but “HE” sounds busy.

For Sunday night I rummaged in the Number 2 freezer. When I say rummaged, it is not strictly true, I know exactly where everything is, even though it might not all be labelled . Number two freezer is predominately my fish freezer, but the top shelf is for stocks and herbs and chillies whereas the bottom is for vegetables and the rest for fish, white fish, smoked fish, shrimp, oysters and even fish fingers, for when the Mexicans come to stay.

There I found the last of the Mackerel,  ( again if you love fish, Forget Waitrose, go to  ISHFISH.Uk, great service, good prices and delivered the next day to your door, vacuum packed ready for the freezer). The next question, what was I going to do with the mackerel, not the go to standard,  ( already mentioned in this blog), as that is more or less last minute, no, I needed a “DO Ahead project” I came up with Mackerel with Couscous . Couscous, is predominately middle eastern, and is made from Durum wheat, which to you and me is Semolina. As plain couscous, it is very easy these days to prepare, Simply put some into a bowl with a knob of butter and pour over some boiling water and leave to stand, for the wheat to absorb the water, give it a quick stir and there you are.

For Mackerel with Couscous, I sautéed a finely chopped onion, along with some garlic, half a green pepper chopped, a stick pf celery finely chopped and some spices ( I used cumin, paprika, harissa and carraway seed. When the onion was soft I added a cup of couscous, stirred it around, and then poured over about 2 cups of boiling stock ( I used instant stock) another stir, added a knob or two of butter and left it to cool.

When cooled I wrapped some of the couscous in the mackerel filets Placed them in a dish, rubbed with a little oil and put in a medium oven for 10 minutes. Reheated the rest of the couscous, and there was dinner.

Needless to say, this was not my dinner, I had Shrimp Remoulade, with Avocado and Rocket,( more on that later) Perfect for me and Perfect for Him.

And Finally