Sluttishly Easy: Smoked Mackerel and Potato Dauphinoise

I don't use cook books anymore. I buy them. But I tend to use recipes I find online. But then I found Domestic Slut Alex S perusing one of my Nigel Slater books, Real Food, and I'd honestly forgotten I'd bought it. Despite the fact that it has a whole section on potatoes.

That's right, a whole section.

So I thought I'd have another flick through, pick something at random and go nuts in the supermarket. My pick was potato dauphinoise with smoked mackerel. It sounded easy, it looked scrummy and I've been meaning to make dauphinoise for ages. I've always thought it was very complicated. But it's not! Hurrah! It's been a long time since I've eaten mackerel as well, and I've never cooked with it.

But this is lazy girl cooking. My favourite kind. Throw everything in a dish and forget about it. Then come back in an hour and you'll have a tasty dinner that's all creamy and lovely. This was a perfect meal and that half I was saving for lunch somehow got eaten...

Serves 2 (I faffed about with Nigel's recipe, so I didn't have to share with anyone else)

You'll need:

• 300g waxy potatoes (no peeling! hurrah!)
• 200g smoked mackerel fillets (I used peppered)
• 2 bay leaves
• 150ml double cream
• 100ml whole milk
• 1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard

Make it!

Thinly slice the potatoes and lay in an ovenproof dish. Break the mackerel fillets into pieces, removing the skin (icky, no one likes the skin) and lay with the potatoes, repeating with potato and fish until the dish is nearly full. Add the bay leaves.

The mix up the cream, milk and mustard (the mustard takes a fair while to mix in, and most of it actually didn't - take note Mr. Slater). Pour over your fish, pop in the oven on 190c/ Gas mark 5 and cook for about an hour. Serve with asparagus and a giant smile. Look forward to your potato coma.