When you think of smoked haddock, the first dish to come to mind is Cullen Skink, but this versatile fish can be used in a host of dishes. If you can, always try to buy Aberdeen boneless smoked haddock as it’s an absolute treat, one of the best foods to come out of the north-east and fantastic when used in fishcakes.
This recipe puts a new spin on traditional fishcakes, as instead of being flat, they’re shaped like snooker balls and coated in Hamlyns Oatmeal which adds another nice Scottish flavour. Serving these with a mussel sauce elevates the dish to a restaurant quality, while using mussels gives you two things: wonderful mussel flesh and an amazing stock.
The second recipe is for a proper old-fashioned rice pudding, but served with caramelised blueberries which bring this classic dessert bang up to date. The scary thing about rice pudding is you don’t use much rice. Pudding rice is soft and releases a huge amount of starch when cooked which almost completely disappears.
Never be tempted to substitute a different type of rice. If you’re unsure remember the rule that rice grains which are translucent are great for rice pudding, but if they are white then they’re best for steaming or cooking. Once you’ve cooked the pudding on the stove, pour it into a large shallow bowl with a big surface area so you get a lovely skin on the pudding. The skin is the best bit for me.
Remember too to wear rubber gloves when making the caramelised blueberry topping as blueberries can burst and spurt when added to the hot mix. Once made, the topping can be kept in the fridge for 10 days.
SMOKED HADDOCK FISHCAKES WITH A MUSSEL, LEMON AND PARSLEY SAUCE
- SERVES 4
- 250g pieces undyed smoked haddock
- 35g parsley, chopped
- 500g potato mash
- 1 lemon, zested
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 20g butter
- A dash of fish sauce (nam pla)
- Salt and pepper
- Bag of spinach
- FOR THE COATING:
- 100g fine oatmeal
- 1 egg, beaten
- 100g flour
- Salt & pepper
- FOR THE MUSSELS:
- 1 kg mussels, scrubbed and debearded
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- 30g parsley, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 200ml white wine
- 30ml butter
- 20ml double cream
Heat the oven to 180C. Wrap the haddock in foil with a dod of butter and a sprig of parsley. Place on an oven tray and cook for 6 mins. Remove from the oven but leave in the foil for 5 more mins then unwrap. Leave to cool, then flake into largish pieces. Heat the butter in a small frying pan and gently fry the onion until soft. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl place the potato mash, fish, chopped parsley, lemon zest, salt and pepper, cooked onion, squeeze of lemon juice plus a teaspoon of fish sauce. Gently mix together, then shape into balls with your hands. Don’t overwork. Place the finished balls on a tray. You now pané the fishcakes (rough translation from French is ‘to bread’). This means roll each one in flour, dip in the beaten egg, and then roll in the oatmeal. Repeat the process to double pané each fishcake to give a secure coating, so they don’t split in the hot oil.
Heat a large wok a third filled with veg oil (or deep fat fryer) to 180C. Throw in a cube of bread to see if it’s the right temperature. The bread should sizzle to a golden colour in 40 seconds. Now add the fishcakes 1 or 2 at a time using a spider spoon, turning them as they cook. Cook for about 90 seconds until just golden. Remove and pop them in a warm oven for 10 mins while you cook the mussels.
For the mussels, use a big pan with a lid. The mussels should fill it no more than half way. Heat the pan on your hottest ring until roasting. Have your wine standing by. Place the mussels into the pan. Pour in the wine and slam on the lid. Give the pan a couple of shakes to make sure the mussels cook evenly. You’ll soon start to see little puffs of steam escaping from under the lid.
When the lid starts jumping with the steam (3-4 minutes), the mussels should be ready. Strain through a colander set over a bowl to catch the juice, and discard any mussels that haven’t opened during cooking. Strain the juice through a fine sieve to remove any grit. The mussels and stock are now ready for use. Place the stock in a small pan over a medium heat, add the butter and beat in, add the cream, parsley and lemon juice and stir well until you have a silky sauce.
Wilt the washed spinach in a dry pan on a medium heat. Season. Serve on warm plates, spinach first, topped with a fishcake with the mussels around the plate and the parsley sauce spooned around.
RICE PUDDING WITH CARAMELISED BLUEBERRIES
- SERVES 2
- 50g pudding rice (you’ll think you need more, but I promise you don’t)
- 600ml whole milk
- 50ml double cream
- Half a vanilla pod
- 60g caster sugar
- FOR THE BLUEBERRIES:
- 2 punnets blueberries
- 250g sugar
Put the halved and split open vanilla pod the milk and sugar into a saucepan and bring slowly to the boil. Stir in the rice, bring back to the boil and then turn down to simmer very gently for about an hour, stirring from time to time, until the whole lot is thick and gooey. Take off the heat. Stir in double cream.
Heat the oven to 140C. Now pour the mixture into a shallow baking dish, and place in the oven for half an hour. Check to see that a skin is forming, but that it’s not colouring too much on top. If it’s OK, leave for another 20 mins or so.
Meanwhile make the blueberry caramel. Heat the sugar in a medium sized pan on the hob, until it begins to melt. When it has all turned to caramel throw in the blueberries and stir well off the heat. Watch out for very hot splashes. Remove the rice pud from the oven and serve immediately with plenty of the blueberry caramel.