Kippers with Crushed New Potatoes

This is the first time I've had kippers in a very long time. For me they conjure up eating breakfast at a friend of my parent's house when I was a child, and even then they were novel as this only happened once a year. With everyone digging in, they had four children and we were three plus the parents and grandparents, and helping themselves. It was always a really good hearty breakfast with lots of laughter.

I did something a little different with my kippers and mixed them with potato. I'm a bit obsessive over bones so I had a lot of bone picking out to do, but this seems to be common to most oily fish so I'm becoming a little less picky than I was. The mixture was delicious. I served it with home made pickles, tomato salad and green salad.

Kippers with Crushed New Potatoes (from River Cottage Everyday)
(Serves 4)

1kg new potatoes, scrubbed
4 double kipper fillets
knob of butter
1-2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp parsley/chives, finely chopped
lemon juice
pepper

Boil the new potatoes in a pan of water until tender.

Meanwhile, skin the fish, removing any pin bones and flake the fish into large bite-sized pieces. Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan and cook the kipper pieces gently for a couple of mins. Take off the heat and stir in the herbs.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain well and return to the pan. Using a potato masher or wooden spoon, crush them lightly to form a rough, chunky mash.

Combine the fish and any juices in the pan with the mash. Season well with pepper and lemon juice and serve with a green salad.