Smoked Haddock Risotto

Smoked Haddock, baked in the oven for sixteen minutes at 150 deg C. Broken up with a fork, and mixed with basmati rice and garden peas, stir-fried in a little olive oil.
 

Smoked Haddock Risotto

The black rice was cooked for fifteen minutes, and then drained. Fresh boiling water was added to the pot, and then the basmati. Half a teaspoonful of turmeric was added.

Half a red pepper, diced, and one julienned white onion, were fried in a skillet with sunflower oil for fifteen minutes, and then the drained rice was added.

The fish was cooked in a skillet for 12 minutes, turned once. Added to the rice, and broken up with a plastic fork.

Served on a bed of black pepper. Delicious!

Salmon and Cod Potato Pie

The base of the pie was a thick vegetable stew (from the fridge) of sweet potato, potato, carrot, diced mushrooms, and spring onion, plus kamut grains, a little chopped red chilli, chopped garlic, and cardamom seed, fresh from three crushed pods.

The fish pieces were placed on top of the vegetable stew in a roasting dish, distributed evenly.

On top of that, a layer of potato mashed with a knob of butter was added (and a little salt and pepper), and textured with a fork.

The roasting tray was placed on the middle shelf of an oven preheated to 190 deg C, uncovered. Depending on the depth of the roasting dish, the cooking time will be somewhere between 45 minutes and one hour (it will be properly cooked after 45 minutes, but it may take longer for the desired browning of the potato topping - judge by eye!).

Served with a little American or German mustard.

The fish pieces were sourced from Sainsbury's, who often make up inexpensive packs for making this kind of dish.

Smoked Haddock with Vegetables in a Cheese Sauce

A large fillet of haddock, smoked but undyed, poached in water in a flat lidded pan for twenty minutes. Starting at a high heat, and then reduced to the lowest heat when the water began to boil.

In another pan, the diced vegetables (parsnip, potato, carrot, spring onion) were boiled for twenty-five minutes.

While the vegetables were cooking, I prepared the cheese sauce.

I mixed whole milk (around 150 mls) and a dessert spoonful of cornmeal flour in a jug, plus some vegetable stock, and decanted the mixture (with a little butter) into a third pot, and stirred it until it began to thicken on the hob. I added the vegetables, and around 100g of cheddar cheese (thin slices), and stirred until the cheese had entirely melted.

Dress with freshly ground black pepper, and serve!

Cullen Skink

Possibly the finest soup recipe in the world. Made with I tablespoon butter, 1 medium onion
2 smallish potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes, 300ml water, 250g of undyed smoked haddock, 250ml milk, salt and (white) pepper to taste, Plus a little parsley.

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then add the julienned onion and fry gently until transparent. Cook for about 5 minutes at a low heat.

Add potatoes and water and bring to boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

In another pan, cover the haddock with the milk and poach it gently for about five minutes until  tender. Remove from the milk and, when cool enough to touch, flake gently into large pieces, removing bones.I used a plastic fork to flake the fish, in order to avoid scratching the non-stick surface. 

Add milk and flaked fish to saucepan containing the potatoes and the other ingredients. Cook for a further 5 minutes. Serve with salt and pepper and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Smoked Haddock Poached in Milk

Poaching smoked fish in milk used to be a very common practice in Scotland. The flavour of the dish is out of this world, if you haven't tried it before.

The Fish:

An undyed block of haddock (both fillets from the same fish) was bought from Morrison's supermarket and fried in a little melted butter in an omelette pan for one minute. The heat was turned down to the lowest level, and two tablespoons of whole milk were added. Allowed to simmer in the milk for eight to nine minutes under glass, without turning. Watch the pan carefully in case the milk bubbles up to the lid. Decant the haddock fillets to the serving plate with a fish slice, and pour the mixture of milk and butter over the fish.

The French Fries:

The chipped potato pieces were boiled for fifteen minutes in a small pan of salted water. The pan was drained, and the chips were decanted to a glass roasting tray, brushed with sunflower oil. Each of the chips was brushed with a mixture of sunflower oil, tomato ketchup, white pepper, coriander, oregano, worcester sauce, and a little salt. They were turned, and brushed again on the other side. Cooked under the grill for between ten and fifteen minutes, or until they begin to crisp around the edges.

Smoked Haddock in a Cheese Sauce, with diced Spring Onion

A simple and delicious dish of smoked haddock and a cheese sauce with diced spring onion (chives would do as an alternative).

Make up a mixture of cornflour and milk, and boil until it begins to thicken. Add grated Cheddar cheese, or two spoonfuls of cream cheese, and the diced spring onion. Allow to cool and set.

Roll the haddock and secure in place with a wooden or metal skewer. Spoon the set cheese and spring onion sauce into the rolled haddock, and place in a small metal roasting tray.

Cook on the middle shelf of a preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes at 190 deg C. Watch the fish carefully in the last five minutes.

Decant to a serving plate, and spoon the liquid sauce over the fish.  Serve with flat-cut boiled potatoes, cooked with a little salt. Utterly delicious!

Smoked Haddock with Shredded Brussels Sprouts

A simple dish: Smoked Haddock with shredded Brussels sprouts, with white pepper.

The Brussels sprouts were boiled in salted water for around eight minutes. The haddock was cooked in a flat saute pan in a little sunflower oil for eight minutes - four minutes on each side. I started off at a high temperature, and reduced it to the lowest when the fish was added to the saute pan. Cooked under glass, and turned once.

That's it! Completely delicious! Bought from Morrison's, who are pretty good with fish.

Smoked Haddock in a Cheese and Pepper Sauce

Pan fried angel cut smoked haddock (uncoloured), with traditional cut runner beans, and a cheese sauce.

The sauce was prepared first, with four dessert spoonfuls of Greek style yoghurt (instead of the more usual milk), plus two heaped teaspoonfuls of cornmeal (instead of the more usual cornflour). Add water. Stir the ingredients together, and bring to the boil. Add a quarter teaspoonful of Dijon mustard, and a quarter teaspoonful of black pepper. Add two pinches of salt. Add a quarter teaspoonful of turmeric powder. Stir together. Finally, add about 80g of medium strength cheddar cheese, sliced into squares. Stir together until the cheese has dissolved into the sauce. Turn down the heat, and allow to simmer for ten minutes, stirring regularly.

Drizzle a flat non-stick pan with some sunflower oil, and heat it untl the oil is hot. Add the haddock fillet, and cook for seven minutes, turning once (carefully!) after three and a half minutes. Turn down the heat, and allow the cooking to take place mostly under glass.

The runner beans were cooked in a small pot in water. They should be cooked for around seven minutes in boiling water.

Decant the fish to the serving plate first, then drizzle it with a little of the sauce (the instructions above are for a sauce which will accompany several meals). Add the runner beans with a slatted spoon so that they are drained.

Truly delicious! The combination of smoked fish with a cheese sauce is rarely bettered!

Smoked Haddock poached in Milk

A simple and very Scottish way of cooking fish. Half a cup of whole milk was decanted into a flat non-stick lidded pan, and brought to the boil. A little olive oil was added to the pan (a knob of butter can be used instead).

When the milk came to the boil, the haddock fillet (angel cut) was added to the pan and covered with the lid. The heat was turned down low. Cooked for ten minutes under glass at a low to medium heat. The beauty of cooking the fish under a lid is that it does not need to be turned during the process, and so there is less chance of the fillet breaking before it is decanted to the serving plate.

Green beans were cooked for seven or so minutes in a steamer (judge by eye).  Decant the fish, and spoon two tablespoons of the milk over the fish, Add the green beans, garnish with some fresh coriander leaf. Dress with white pepper. Delicious!

Smoked Haddock, Poached in Milk

A simple meal, which used to be a favourite in Scotland, but which is not much made anymore: smoked haddock poached in milk. Served with peas flavoured with mint.

The smoked haddock came from Morrison's supermarket, designated as an 'angel cut' haddock, and sourced from the north Atlantic. The package warned about bones, but there were none at all.

Heat milk in a skillet until it boils, then turn down the heat and add the haddock fillet. Cook for ten to twelve minutes, and half of that time under glass. The peas (tinned) were prepared in a separate pot. I added chopped mint. Serve the ensemble with lots of white pepper. Utterly delicious, and a memory of good food in the sixties.