Baked Herring Recipes

BAKED HERRING

Steps:

• Clean herrings, cut off heads and tails.
• Scale and bone herrings, cut down middle to give you two fillets.
• Rollup the fillets from the tail end with the skin inside.
• Place close together in an ovenproof dish.
• Pour over the vinegar/water mixture.
• Sprinkle with pickling spice.
• Place onions and bay leaves on top.
• Cover with foil and bake slowly in a warm oven for 1½ hours.
• At Gas 2, 300ºF, 150ºC.

HOW TO COOK HERRING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven and clean the herring. Turn on the oven to 450 °F (232 °C). Take 6 herring and use the blunt side of a knife to rub against the scales. The scales should flake and fall off. Slice each herring from its anal fin up towards its head. Use a small spoon to scoop out the guts of the fish and discard them. Rinse the herring. Most herring fillets are sold with the heads already removed. If your herring still have heads, use a sharp knife to cut them off.
• Sauté the onion over medium heat. Set a skillet on the stove and put 2 tablespoons (28 g) of the butter into it. Turn the heat to medium and add 1 chopped onion. Stir and sauté the onion for about 7 minutes so it becomes soft.
• Stir together the herb filling. Mince 2 cloves of garlic and 1 shallot. Place the garlic and shallot in a mixing bowl along with ½ cup (15 g) of chopped fresh herbs. Stir the mixture until the herbs are evenly distributed. You can use a variety of herbs for a richer flavor. Try mixing dill, mint, cilantro, rosemary, parsley, chives, or thyme.
• Spread the sautéed onion in a baking dish with lemon slices. Transfer the sautéed onions to the bottom of a large baking dish. Spread the onions evenly. Slice 2 lemons and place half of the slices over the onions.
• Stuff the herring with the herbed filling. Hold a cleaned herring in the palm of one hand and use a spoon to stuff the herbed filling into it. Fill each of the herrings until you've used all of the herbed filling.
• Arrange and season the herring in the dish. Lay each stuffed herring on top of the onions in your baking dish. Sprinkle salt and pepper according to your taste over the fish. Melt the last 2 tablespoons (28 g) of butter and drizzle it over the herring. Arrange the rest of the lemon slices on top.
• Bake the herring for 20 minutes. Put the dish of herring in the preheated oven and bake the fish for 20 minutes with the lid off. The fish should be completely heated throughout. Consider serving the fish with boiled new potatoes or rice. Avoid storing leftover baked herring because the stuffing will become soggy.

HERRINGS ROLLED WITH MUSTARD & PANCETTA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Lay the fillets, skin-side down, brush them with mustard and lay a slice of pancetta on each. Starting from the tail end, roll the fillet up with the pancetta into a spiral, then secure with a toothpick, a bay leaf and a lemon slice. Sit the fillets in a baking tray or ceramic dish.
• Drizzle the fillets with olive oil, then roast for 15-20 mins until cooked through and starting to brown at the edges. Serve 2 fillets per person with new potatoes or a crunchy apple and onion salad.