Food: The mullet is back

Local fish and langoustines can make delectable and healthy dishes without too much effort

IT'S THAT time of year again. The blossom is out, the evenings are longer and you may even have finally put away your winter coat. It's too chilly for salads but who can face another bowl of soup or hearty winter stew? Fortunately, there is a perfect compromise: Scotland is blessed with some of the finest seafood in the world – light, flavoursome, good for you and, best of all, easy to cook.

Start off a special meal with langoustines. They look so impressive – yet all you have to do is dip them in boiling water and drench them in lemony garlic butter. I don't know why more people don't eat them. By value, they're the single most economically important species caught by the Scottish fishing industry, with the catch in 2005 worth £38.5 million, compared to £22.4 million for haddock, the next most significant species. But while we ate most of our haddock (with chips, probably), we exported 93% of our langoustines. It makes the French and the Spanish very happy, but it's a shame more Scots don't know what they're missing. I do what I can at the restaurant to boost the measly 7% that I can cook by serving them as often as possible. I love the little fishing villages dotted around the coast where you can buy them straight off the boat, still in their creels. But your local fishmonger will have some too.

While you're there, snap up another of our locally landed fish – the grey mullet. It's best to buy during the early summer months and when it is mature at more than 35cm in length. It's unusual enough to give your meal a real wow factor, especially when you team it with a delicious crab risotto, yet it couldn't be simpler to prepare.

Finish off with an old classic: pineapple upside-down cake. It's got a touch of the winter-warmer about it, but just enough of a hint of the exotic to have you looking forward to summer holidays in the sunshine.

• Jacqueline O'Donnell is the head chef at The Sisters (www.thesisters.co.uk), 34 Kelvingrove Street, Glasgow (0141 564 1157); and 1 Ashwood Gardens, Glasgow (0141 434 1179)

LANGOUSTINES WITH LEMONY GARLIC BUTTER

This can be slightly messy – but it is a wonderful dish for getting stuck in to with your fingers

100g salted butter
juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 medium to large langoustines per person

Soften the butter slightly in a pan and beat in the lemon juice and zest and the garlic.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. When the water is boiling, add the langoustines for one minute (use a timer). Remove from the water and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Brush the garlic butter over the top and serve with salad leaves, plenty of napkins and a finger bowl for each guest.

SEARED GREY MULLET WITH CRAB RISOTTO

2 tbsp olive oil
150g arborio rice
100ml white wine
250ml hot vegetable stock
1 small tub of Orkney crabmeat
salt and pepper
1 mullet fillet per person (cut in half across the way)
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
juice of half a lemon

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and add the rice. Stir it until every grain is coated then add the wine.

Slowly add the hot stock into the rice a ladleful at a time until all the liquid is absorbed – which should take about ten to 15 minutes, at which point the risotto should still have a bit of crunch.

Continue to cook to preference, as people can be quite fussy about their risotto (I prefer mine to be quite sloppy rather than dry). Fold the crab and seasoning into the risotto.

Rub the fish fillets in the remaining oil. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a large non-stick frying pan and place the fish skin side down in it until it turns slightly brown at the edges.

Squeeze half of the lemon juice over the fish. Pour the other half into the risotto, then fold through the herbs.

Spoon risotto on to each plate then place the fish on top. Serve at once.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Makes two loaf tins

75g brown sugar
150g butter
1 pineapple, peeled and sliced thinly into rounds
110g white sugar
4 eggs
250ml single cream
250g self-raising flour
50g ground almonds
juice of half a lemon

Preheat the oven to 180¼C/gas 4.

Put the brown sugar in a pan with 50g of the butter. Heat gently until the sugar has melted. Divide this caramel mixture between the two loaf tins and arrange the pineapple slices on top.

Beat the remaining butter and the white sugar together into a bowl. Mix in the eggs and cream, then add the flour and almonds a spoonful at a time. You should have a thick mixture, rather like whipped cream.

Pour this on to the pineapple and then pop the tins into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes until the sponge is golden. Serve with fresh cream or ice-cream.

SERVE WITH…

2007 Sancerre Les Baudrières, Dominique Baud, Loire Valley, France
Delicious with lemony garlic langoustines Majestic, £8.99