Smoked Mackerel Toasts

I discovered Nigel Slater about a year ago. I read his memoir Toast for the "Novel Cuisine" class (part book club, part cooking class) at Kitchen Conservatory, and I was instantly smitten. I immediately purchased his latest book The Kitchen Diaries. It's a year of his journals about what he's cooked, eaten, purchased, and grown. It's an absolutely gorgeous book, with vivid pictures that make me want to lick the pages.

One of the pages I've had marked for a while features a recipe for "smoked mackerel on toast." I wanted to try it a while ago, but I couldn't find smoked mackerel in any of my local supermarkets. On Saturday, I spotted a package of the smokey fish at Whole Foods and decided to make that for dinner tonight.

The finished product yields a very flavorful, crispy toast that goes very well with a glass of wine.

Smoked Mackerel on Toast
from Nigel Slater's The Kitchen Diaries

1/2 pound smoked mackerel
3 generous tablespoons, plus a little more, heavy cream
3 generous tablespoons, plus a little more, grated parmesan cheese
6 chives, chopped
8 slices of sourdough (or whatever bread you have on hand)
freshly grated black pepper

• Remove the skin from the mackerel, put the flesh in a bowl, and flake it lightly with a fork.
• Stir in the 3 tablespoons of cream and 3 tablespoons of cheese.
• Add the chives and a few cranks of black pepper.
• Toast the bread under the broiler lightly on both sides, turning once to toast both sides.
  
• Pile a heaping tablespoon of the mackerel mixture on each hot toast. Drizzle with a very little cream and top with a bit more of the cheese.
• Broil for 3 or 4 minutes, rotating if necessary, until golden and bubbling.