Mousehole Bouillabaisse
Cod with White Beans
Roast Cod with Watercress Crushed Potatoes
Roast Haddock with Borlotti Beans and Tomatoes
Roast Haddock with a Potato Crust
Poached Cod with Lentils and Salsa Verde
Cod and Cos Salad
Party Fish Pie
Fish Pie with Spinach and Tomatoes
Kedgeree
Smoked Haddock Risotto with Parmesan and Chives
Smoked Haddock Mornay
Smoked Haddock with Poached Egg and Mustard Sauce
Huss with Lemon and Parsley
Fillet of Hake with a Herb Crust
‘It’s only cod,’ Royden used to say, when he gave me a gift of fish that was going spare after the daily auction at Newlyn Fish Market, where he works. These days, only a few years later, it’s rare to see cod at all and it’s usually an undersized fish with the huge price tag once reserved for wild salmon. The silky and succulent yet firm and gently flavoured flakes of cod with big, easy-to-detect bones, have made this lovely fish the national favourite. Haddock, which is generally regarded as second-best to cod, is also increasingly hard to come by. There are, though, several other members of the cod family that are pretty good alternatives.
Hake is much prized by the Spanish, who buy the majority of the hake caught in the British Isles. It’s softer than cod but has similarly large bones which are easy to detect. The fishermen of Newlyn sometimes land a fish they call ‘plus four’ or Spanish hake. No one knows why or what its real name is. It has a more speckled silver skin than regular hake, which in turn looks like a sleeker version of haddock with a thin line running down the side of its body. Coley, also known as ‘pollock’ – as opposed to pollack, which is also a member of the cod family – used to be known as the cat-food fish. Its grey-white flesh looks off-putting on the slab next to pearly white cod or haddock but, like once-common, brown-skinned ling and pollack, the soft, mild-flavoured flesh is perfect for a classic fish pie, the sort made with a creamy parsley sauce and whatever else – prawns, hard-boiled egg, spinach, tomatoes, mussels, leeks or onions – you might like to add under the mashed-potato topping. The odd man out is huss, which they sell down here in the chip shop as rock salmon. Most people know huss by its old name of dogfish and Marks & Spencer call it rockfish, but huss is actually a small shark. There are several varieties and it’s always sold skinned to remove its sharkiness. I’m a big fan because huss is relatively inexpensive (down here, it’s used as crab-pot bait) and its firm flesh makes it an acceptable alternative to cod and haddock in all recipes, not just fish pie.
All these fish are improved by sprinkling the fillets with a little salt an hour or so before cooking. This firms the flesh as well as seasoning it.
For details on filleting, boning and skinning these fish, see page 99.
Leon Pezzack grew up in Mousehole and his mother is one of the few surviving people who can remember the Fish Store in its original working order. In fact, her sister, Leon’s aunt, Elizabeth Ann Batten, worked there: it was her first job when she left school. Leon can recall eight serious fishing boats in the Mousehole harbour when he was growing up. Two, the Renovelle and Our Katie, were owned by the Madron family and the Mark H. Leach was owned by Mr Downs. Others were called Internos, Ocean Pride and Silver Dawn. Everyone in the village was either involved with the sea, mainly, or cultivated the land, like his mother’s brother, William Batten, a market gardener who employed six people to work ten acres at the top of Raginnis Hill. As a small boy, Leon remembers Mr Eddy going down to the harbour with his horse and cart to take the fish off the boats. Sometimes there would be salt, too, or coal. Mr Eddy had a son called Clayton, who was a bit simple, and a daughter called Bernice. She used to brush the gravel across the road so that the horse could go up Raginnis. Then she’d rush out and collect manure for the rhubarb. These days, Leon reckons only fifty houses here are inhabited by working-class people; the rest are second homes. Apart from singing in the Mousehole Male Voice Choir, and being heavily involved in the Rowing Club, Leon and his wife Sylvia organize a biennial Sea, Salts & Sail Festival (www.seasalts.co.uk), which takes place in the village at the beginning of summer. It’s an amazing occasion, when the harbour is full of traditional sailing craft, the luggers, gaffers and crabbers which were once a common sight. These beautiful old wooden boats with their huge flapping sails have been restored to their former glory or replicated in fibreglass. A highlight of the event-filled day is Leon’s photographic display, showing pictures of the village and harbour from the 1800s – not long before the Fish Store was built – to the present day. I got roped in to do a fish-cookery demonstration for the festival in 2004. Zach came along to help and we set up shop on the old quay, cooking our way through a carefully chosen menu of quick, easy dishes using fish landed that day. One lady and her husband drew up chairs and were the first to try everything and disappeared the moment they’d polished off the last of the soup invented for the occasion. No one cooks fish much these days in the village. Even ‘marinaters’ – the local name for herring cooked overnight in spiced vinegar and eaten cold with bread and butter (see page 44) – are a treat rather than the every-day-in-every-home standby they once were.
12 medium-sized new potatoes
salt and pepper
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large fennel bulb
3 plum tomatoes
5cm × 1cm strip of orange zest
½ chicken stock cube dissolved in 350ml boiling water
generous pinch of saffron stamens
400g cod, haddock, ling, huss or other thick, firm white fish fillets
170g raw or cooked tiger prawns
small bunch of flat-leaf parsley
Put the potatoes on to boil in plenty of salted water. When tender to the point of a knife, drain the potatoes, then return to the pan and cover with cold water. Leave for a minute or so to cool, then drain and tear off the skin. Halve the potatoes. Meanwhile, peel and finely chop the onion. Peel the garlic, chop coarsely and sprinkle with half a teaspoon of salt. Crush in a pestle and mortar or using the flat of a knife to make a juicy paste. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or similarly wide-based pan and stir in the onions and then the garlic. Sauté gently, stirring often, for about 5 minutes without letting the onions brown. Split the fennel bulb, cut out the dense core and slice across the layers very finely, reserving the fronds. Add the fennel to the onion, increase the heat slightly and cook for a further 5 minutes. Meanwhile, pour boiling water over the tomatoes, count to 20, drain and remove the skin. Chop the tomatoes. Add tomatoes, orange zest and ½ a teaspoon of salt to the pan, together with a generous grinding of black pepper. Let the vegetables simmer gently for 6–7 minutes or until almost soft. Dissolve the stock cube in the boiling water and stir in the saffron. Pour it on to the vegetables and bring to the boil. Simmer for a couple of minutes while you slice the fish into 2.5cm wide chunks. Check the seasoning, then slip the pieces of fish under the liquid. Cook for 2–3 minutes until the fish has turned white and opaque. Add the prawns and potatoes and warm through. If using raw prawns, cook slightly longer until bright pink. Chop the fennel fronds and parsley leaves, sprinkle over the top of the soup and serve.
Neither soup nor stew, but a bit of both; a comforting dish with fresh, clean flavours. Serve with garlic bread (see page 319).
6 rashers rindless streaky bacon
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 medium onion
1 large garlic clove
1 unwaxed lemon
2 × 400g cans haricot blanc or cannellini beans
salt and pepper
1 chicken stock cube dissolved in 450ml boiling water
generous splash of Tabasco
4 ripe tomatoes, preferably plum
small bunch of flat-leaf parsley
4 × 175g fillets cod, haddock or huss
Slice across the bacon rashers to make little strips. Heat the oil in a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed pan and cook the bacon for a few minutes until the fat begins to crisp. Peel and finely chop the onion. Add it to the bacon and cook for about 10 minutes until tender and lightly browned. Peel the garlic and chop it very finely. Remove the lemon zest in wafer-thin sheets and chop into yellow dust. Stir both into the lightly browned onion and cook for a minute or so until aromatic. Tip the beans into a sieve, rinse with cold water and shake dry. Add the beans to the pan, season generously with pepper and lightly with salt. Add the stock and Tabasco. Simmer briskly for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cover the tomatoes with boiling water, count to 20, drain and peel. Coarsely chop. Chop the parsley. Cut the fish into big bite-size chunks and season with salt and pepper. Stir the tomatoes and most of the parsley into the beans. Cook for a further 2 minutes, then stir in the fish, making sure it’s all submerged. Cook for 5 minutes or until the fish is opaque. Check the seasoning: you may need a tad more Tabasco or a squeeze of lemon as well as extra salt and pepper. Serve in shallow soup bowls garnished with the last of the parsley and a wedge of lemon.
A serious contender for the most popular cod recipe. Extremely simple and very good. All credit to David Gibbs.
1.2kg King Edward or other ‘old’ potatoes
salt and pepper
5 tbsp olive oil
4 fillets cod, haddock or hake, approx.
200g each
1 small lemon
2 garlic cloves
100g watercress
splash of your best olive oil (optional)
Pre-heat the oven to 400°F/200°C/gas mark 6. Peel the potatoes, cut into even-sized chunks, rinse and put on to boil in plenty of salted water. Cook until tender and drain. While the potatoes are cooking, smear a suitable oven tray with about 1 tablespoon of the oil. Lay the fish, skin-side down, on the oil. Smear liberally with another tablespoon of oil, squeeze over the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Cook the fish in the oven for 10–15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets, until just cooked through. Peel the garlic, chop finely, sprinkle with a little salt and work to a paste. Put the remaining oil and garlic in the potato cooking pan and heat through for a minute or so. Return the hot potatoes and watercress and use a fork to mash, mix and amalgamate; you want the potatoes crushed rather than mashed smooth. Carefully drain the juices from the cooked fish into the potatoes, season with salt and pepper and give a final mash. To serve, spoon half the potatoes on to a warmed plate and lay the fish over the top. If liked (I do), splash with some of your best olive oil.
I love dishes like this which are perfect for any occasion and are easily adjusted to suit more or less people. It is mindless to prepare, looks suitably impressive, and is healthy and delicious. If you can’t find cherry tomatoes on the vine, use a 500g punnet of loose tomatoes and just scatter them over and between the pieces of fish, then spoon them over the top when it comes to serving. It won’t look quite as smart but is actually easier to eat and will taste just as good.
3 × 400g cans borlotti beans
½ chicken stock cube
2 tbsp coarsely chopped oregano or marjoram
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
6 fillets of haddock, cod or other firm white fish, approx. 200g each
6 sprays of cherry tomatoes on the vine
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
½ lemon
Pre-heat the oven to 425°F/220°C/gas mark 7. Tip the beans into a sieve or colander, rinse with cold water and shake dry. Place the drained beans in a medium-sized saucepan. Dissolve the stock cube in 300ml boiling water and add that too, together with half the oregano or marjoram and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Season lightly with salt and generously with black pepper, stir well and leave to simmer gently. Smear the base of a large oven tray with olive oil and lay out the fish fillets. Arrange the sprays of tomatoes around them and splash everything with the remaining olive oil. Sprinkle the fish with the balsamic vinegar and squeeze the lemon-half over the top. Season with salt and pepper. Place the oven tray in the hot oven and cook for 10–15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets, until the fish is just cooked through and the tomatoes are beginning to split and weep. Carefully drain all the juices into the beans and stir well. To serve, divide the beans and their juices between 6 large, shallow bowls, arrange a piece of fish on top and decorate with a spray of tomatoes. Serve immediately.
Soon after In Praise of the Potato was published, I was invited to lunch by Anton Edelman in his office behind a glass wall overlooking the vast Savoy kitchen. After champagne and Savoy canapés (the ‘secret’ of which is tomato ketchup), I was served a fillet of sea bass covered with ‘scales’ made from wafer-thin slices of potato. The fish and its crisp, golden scales sat on a mound of silky mashed potato made with olive oil. My simplified version of Anton’s interpretation of a traditional way of cooking a whole John Dory – called St Pierre à Parmentier after Auguste Parmentier, who popularized potatoes in France – could be made with any firm white fish fillet. Accompany with a simply cooked green vegetable. This is also very good made with smoked haddock, in which case I would pour the fish juices into cooked petits pois and stir in a dollop of smooth Dijon mustard and another of clotted cream.
100g butter
salt and pepper
6 haddock fillets with skin, approx. 200g each
about 3 tbsp flour for dusting
3 large potatoes
3 lemons
Pre-heat the oven to its highest setting. Lavishly butter a heavy-duty baking sheet that can accommodate all the fillets. Season the fish on the flesh side. Sieve the flour over a plate or work surface. Wipe the fish skin through the flour, shake off excess and arrange on the buttered baking tray. Peel the potatoes and slice wafer-thin; a job simply done with a mandoline. Without being too neat about it, arrange overlapping potato slices over the fillets. Dot the ‘scales’ with butter and season with salt. Cook in the oven for about 20 minutes (30 for smoked haddock) or until the potato slices are crisp at the edges and the fish is just cooked. Use a fish slice to transfer the fish to warmed plates and nap with the roasting juices. Serve with a lemon wedge.
Another perfect way of cooking cod, this time from Roast Chicken and Other Stories. This is the book I helped Simon Hopkinson write and which inspired The Prawn Cocktail Years, both of which get a lot of use at the Fish Store. Most of the dishes became instant family favourites – Simon is Zach’s godfather and almost everything for both books was cooked in our kitchen – and this one is perfect Fish Store food because it’s as easy to make for two as it is for ten. The salsa verde is made in moments, the lentils require no skill or attention and the fish is poached in salted water with the juice of a lemon. It’s a dish that comes together like a dream and everyone always loves it: ‘The combination of moist and succulent flakes of fish, the earthiness of the lentils and the sharp punch of the sauce gives this dish a fine balance of flavours. This is one of the most satisfying plates of food I know, both for texture and flavour.’ Quite. If there is leftover salsa verde, it goes with simply cooked white fish, or all sorts of other foods, including warm new potatoes or hard-boiled eggs, or both together.
1 small onion
1 clove
1 bay leaf
225g Puy lentils
450ml water
½ chicken stock cube
salt and pepper
2 garlic cloves
80g bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
15 mint leaves
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
6 anchovy fillets
1 tbsp capers, drained
150ml extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
700g cod, descaled, filleted and cut into 4 pieceslemon and parsley, to serve
Peel the onion and push the clove through the bay leaf, then into the onion. Rinse the lentils and place in a pan with 450ml water, the onion and stock cube. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 30–40 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed and the lentils are tender. Season with salt and pepper.
Peel and crush the garlic and place in the bowl of a food processor together with the herbs, mustard, anchovies, capers and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Process for a couple of minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down what is thrown up against the sides of the bowl. With the machine running, add the rest of the oil in a thin stream, as if you were making mayonnaise; in fact, the finished sauce should look like coarse, green mayonnaise. Season with pepper.
Ten minutes before you are ready to serve, bring to the boil some lightly salted water with the lemon juice added. Put in the fish, bring back to the boil and switch off. Leave for 5 minutes, then lift the fish out on to four warmed plates. Allow the excess water from the fish to drain away by tilting the plates. Add a wedge of lemon and tuck in a couple of sprigs of parsley. Pour a little olive oil over the fish, sprinkle with a little sea salt and a grinding of black pepper. Serve the lentils and salsa verde separately.
Succulent, moist flakes of cod or haddock are lovely with crisp slices of aniseedy fennel with crunchy lettuce and a chive-flavoured mayonnaise dressing.
2 cod or haddock fillets, approx. 175g each
1 tbsp vegetable oil
flour for dusting
1 small fennel bulb
3 cos, romaine or Little Gem lettuce hearts
1 tbsp mayonnaise
salt, pepper and sugar
½ tbsp wine vinegar
1 tsp smooth Dijon mustard
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp finely sniped chives
If you are counting calories, I would suggest steaming the fish. To do this, smear both fillets lightly with vegetable oil, lay them out in the steaming dish and place over a pan of vigorously boiling water. Cook, covered, checking for doneness after 5 minutes. If not, dust the fish fillets with flour, shaking away the excess. Heat a frying pan with the vegetable oil and, when hot, lay out the fillets. Cook for about 3 minutes a side, depending on the thickness of the fillets, until the fish is light golden and cooked through. Meanwhile, make the salad. Halve the fennel lengthways and use a small sharp knife to cut out the triangular core. Trim the ends and slice super-thin across the width. Trim the lettuce hearts, discarding any outer damaged leaves. Halve the hearts lengthways, halve again and cut each quarter in half. Rinse and shake dry. Spoon the mayonnaise into a mixing bowl. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar. Stir in the wine vinegar and then the mustard. Gradually beat in the olive oil to make a thick dressing. Stir the fennel into the dressing, then the salad leaves and most of the chives. Toss well. Serve the salad topped with a piece of fish and finish with a scattering of chives.
Fish pie can be as simple or elaborate as you like, but is always far tastier if it includes smoked haddock. Betty made hers with ling and its firm texture is a good alternative to more familiar cod and haddock, although I’ve started buying huss (the little shark formerly known as dogfish) because ling often isn’t available. Coley, pollack or even whiting are perfectly fine in fish pie, particularly if there is some cod and haddock. A few prawns give the pie texture and colour and add a bit of luxury, but I wouldn’t normally bother. The fish is held in a parsley and hard-boiled egg sauce under a crusty mashed-potato topping and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love this superior nursery food. It is the ideal party dish because it can be made up to 24 hours in advance but will have to be kept, covered, in the fridge. I have a soft spot for peas (frozen petits pois) with fish pie. Mixed with lightly cooked green beans, which I always cut in half to make serving easier, they become a bit smarter. Quantities given are generous; any leftovers will reheat perfectly. If you decide to choose coley (the cat-food fish) or hake, reduce the initial cooking time because the flesh is very soft.
1.2kg white fish fillets such as cod, haddock, coley, pollack, ling, whiting or huss, or a mixture
1.2kg undyed smoked haddock
1 litre milk
2 bay leaves
4 large eggs, preferably organic and free range
150g butter
75g flour
400g headless, raw or boiled tiger prawns
2 tbsp anchovy sauce
salt and pepper
5 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
2½kg ‘old’ potatoes such as King Edward
50g Parmesan cheese
Pre-heat the oven to 400°F/200°C/gas mark 6. Cut the fish into big pieces and lay out in an oven dish. Pour 750ml of the milk over the fish to cover it, add the bay leaves and cook in the oven or over direct heat for about 10–15 minutes, so the fish is almost but not quite cooked. Remove the fish to a plate to cool. Strain the milk from the pan and plate into a measuring jug and top up with sufficient water or extra milk to end up with 750ml liquid. Meanwhile, boil the eggs for 10 minutes in a small pan of water. Drain, tap all over and peel. Melt 75g butter in a medium pan and stir in the flour until smooth. Gradually incorporate the 750ml milk mixture, stirring constantly as the sauce comes to the boil, giving it a good whisk if it turns lumpy. Reduce the heat immediately and simmer for 10 minutes. If using frozen prawns, slip them into a bowl of warm water and leave for 5 minutes. Drain and remove the shells. Run a sharp knife down their backs and remove the black veins. Add prawns and anchovy sauce to the hot sauce, stirring as the prawns turn pink. Taste and adjust the seasoning: you might need more pepper, but it’s unlikely you’ll need salt. If using cooked, peeled prawns, simply stir them through the sauce. Tip the prawn sauce into a mixing bowl. Chop the eggs and add them together with the parsley. Run your forefinger over the fish to locate then remove any bones. Flake the fish off the skin into big pieces and stir loosely into the sauce. I used two large gratin dishes with a total capacity of 6 litres, but deeper dishes would be fine. Spoon in the fish mixture and leave to get cold: this avoids the mash sinking in the middle. Meanwhile, peel, chop, rinse and cook the potatoes in boiling salted water. Drain and mash with sufficient of the remaining milk and butter to make a fluffy but dense mash. Carefully spread the mash over the fish, smooth the surface, then fluff with a fork. Grate the Parmesan over the top, and bake for 35–45 minutes until bubbling and golden.
Another way of making fish pie, with a bottom layer of spinach and tomato hidden under the fish.
750g ‘old’ potatoes such as King Edward
salt and freshly milled black pepper
100g butter, plus an extra knob
225g undyed smoked haddock fillet
500g white fish fillets such as coley, pollack or ling
400ml milk
2 eggs
50g flour
100g spinach
3 tbsp finely grated Parmesan
Pre-heat the oven to 400°F/200°C/gas mark 6. Peel the potatoes, cut into big, even-sized chunks, rinse and boil in plenty of salted water. Set aside 3 chunks and leave to cool, then slice them thickly. Mash the rest of the potatoes with half the butter. Meanwhile, place the fish and milk in a pan that can accommodate the fish in a single layer. Simmer gently for about 6 minutes until the fish is just cooked. Lift the fish on to a plate to cool. Boil the eggs for 9 minutes, drain, crack the shell all over, peel and chop. Melt the remaining 50g butter in a small saucepan and stir in the flour. Strain the hot fish milk into the mixture and stir briskly to make a smooth, creamy sauce. If it turns lumpy, take a globe whisk and give it a good beating. Simmer for 5 minutes to cook the flour. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes. Count to 20, drain, peel, quarter and scrape away the seeds – this is an occasion when the juicy seeds will make the mixture too wet – and dice the flesh. Shred the spinach. Smear a suitable dish – I favour a deep, 2 litre china dish – with the knob of butter. Break the fish into chunks and place in the bottom. Season with salt and pepper, then scatter tomatoes and spinach over the top. Stir the egg into the sauce and pour over the fish. Cooling the fish mixture before adding the mash avoids the possibility of the middle sinking, but if there isn’t time, spoon the mash round the outside of the dish and spread it evenly towards the centre with a fork. Make a border with the discs of potato. Scatter the Parmesan over the top and bake for 20 minutes or until the top is nicely brown with crusty edges.
This Anglo-Indian rice and fish dish can be dry and dull. Here, it’s made traditionally with smoked haddock and basmati rice but the mixture is held together in an untraditional curried cream sauce, the textures and flavours offset by hard-boiled egg and chopped parsley. Kedgeree is a favourite Saturday lunch dish at the Fish Store.
450g undyed, naturally smoked haddock (the thicker the piece the better)
1 bay leaf
4 black peppercorns
350ml milk
1 onion
40g butter
1 level tbsp curry powder
1 level tbsp flour
100ml single cream
black pepper
3 hard-boiled eggs
small bunch flat-leaf parsley
Wash the rice until the water runs clean and place in a saucepan with 450ml water. Bring to the boil, cover and then turn the heat as low as possible. Cook for 10 minutes, take off the heat and leave without removing the lid for 10 minutes. The rice should be light and fluffy, having absorbed all the water. Meanwhile, place the smoked haddock in a large frying pan or similar, add the bay leaf and peppercorns and pour over the milk. Simmer gently for 5 minutes or until the fish is just cooked through. Lift the fish on to a plate, peel the skin off, flake the fish into big chunks (taking care to remove all bones) and keep warm. Peel, halve and finely chop the onion. Melt the butter in a small pan and cook the onion over a gentle heat until limp and golden. Stir in the curry powder and flour and continue stirring for a minute or two to allow the curry power and flour to cook. Strain the milk into the mixture, stirring vigorously as the sauce comes to simmer. Cook, stirring every now and again, for about 5 minutes. Add the cream and bring back to simmer. Season with black pepper, remove from the heat and stir in the flaked fish. Have ready a warmed serving bowl. Tip the rice into the bowl and gently fold the sauce into the rice. Quarter the hard-boiled eggs lengthways, arrange on top of the kedgeree and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Sublime comfort food.
750g undyed, naturally smoked haddock fillet
1 bay leaf
50g butter
1 small onion
250g arborio rice
300ml dry white wine
½ tbsp smooth Dijon mustard
2 heaped tbsp clotted cream or crème fraîche
4 tbsp finely grated Parmesan plus extra to serve
2 tbsp freshly snipped chives
Place the fish in a suitable pan that can accommodate it in a single layer. Add the bay leaf, 1 litre water and 20g of the butter. Bring the water to the boil, then turn the heat down slightly so that it simmers gently for about 10 minutes until the fish is just cooked through. Lift the fish on to a plate to cool. Discard the bay leaf, pour the liquid into a saucepan and keep just below boiling. Peel, halve and finely chop the onion. Melt the remaining butter in a wide-based pan with a capacity of at least 2 litres. Stir in the onion and cook gently for about 8 minutes until wilted. Meanwhile, flake the fish off the bones in bite-sized chunks. Stir the unwashed rice into the onion and cook for a couple of minutes until all the grains are covered with butter. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half. Stir in the mustard and then add a ladleful of the hot fish water. Cook, stirring constantly, for a few minutes until absorbed into the rice. Continue thus until all the liquid is used up and the rice is creamy but still retains a bite at the centre. Stir the cream and 2 tablespoons of Parmesan into the risotto, followed by the flaked fish and any juices. Cover the pan, turn off the heat and leave for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, give a final stir, dredge with Parmesan and garnish with the chives. Serve immediately with extra Parmesan.
I was writing this recipe for Jake one day when an old friend from London turned up at the Fish Store out of the blue. When I mentioned what I was doing, he asked for a copy. Everyone loves smoked haddock in a creamy, cheesy sauce, particularly when it’s served with mashed potato.
2 undyed, naturally smoked haddock fillets, approx. 175g each, skinned
250ml milk
25g butter
25g flour, approx. 1 tbsp
100g mature Cheddar, grated (traditionally Gruyère is used)
black pepper
chopped parsley for garnish
Place the fish in a shallow, heavy-bottomed, heatproof dish and pour on the milk, which should more or less cover the fish. Cook over a medium-low heat for 4–5 minutes until just cooked through. Cover with foil to keep warm.
Melt the butter in a small pan and stir in the flour until smooth. Remove from the heat and carefully strain the fish-cooking milk into the pan. Return to the heat and use a globe whisk to thoroughly beat the sauce as it warms through, whisking continually as it comes to the boil. Reduce the heat to quite low and keep whisking until smooth and thick. (You can do this with a wooden spoon, but using a whisk guarantees no lumps.) Leave to cook for 3–4 minutes. Stir in the grated cheese with a wooden spoon and heat through. Season with black pepper. If you want to pep the sauce up a bit, add a pinch of cayenne pepper and/or a pinch of grated nutmeg. To make the sauce richer, beat a couple of egg yolks with a couple of tablespoons of single cream and stir into the sauce. Do not let it boil once the eggs are added.
Lift the fish on to two warmed plates and pour over the sauce. Garnish with the chopped parsley and serve with mashed or boiled potatoes and green veg, if liked.
Another idea is to spoon mashed potato around the fish in the cooking dish, smooth/fluff it with a fork and pour the sauce over the top. Cover with more grated Cheddar and pop into a hot oven – 400°F/200°C/gas mark 6 – for about 15 minutes until the top is crusty and golden.
This method means the dish can be made up to 24 hours in advance and popped into the oven when you’re ready.
You could vary this recipe by using fresh haddock or cod, and substitute a tablespoon of Dijon mustard or a couple of tablespoons of finely chopped parsley for the cheese.
If you are lucky to come across a fine piece of undyed, naturally smoked haddock, then this way of cooking it, with a soft-poached egg, a creamy mustard sauce and a few potatoes, is hard to beat.
8 medium-sized new potatoes
salt and pepper
2 fillets undyed, naturally smoked haddock, approx. 175g each
250ml milk
salt and pepper
1 large shallot
25g butter
1 small glass of white wine
1 tbsp thick cream
1 tbsp vinegar
2 large eggs
½ tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp chives or chopped flat-leaf parsley
Scrub or scrape the potatoes and cook in plenty of boiling, salted water. Leave, covered in the cooking water, until ready to serve. Place the fish in a frying pan or similarly wide-based pan that can hold the fillets in a single layer. Pour over the milk and season with pepper. Now begin the sauce. Peel and finely chop the shallot. Melt the butter in a small pan and stir in the shallot. Cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes until the shallot is golden and tender. Add the wine, which will bubble and seethe, and cook until reduced and syrupy. Stir in the cream and remove from the heat. Cook the fish over a medium heat for 5–6 minutes until cooked through. Meanwhile, boil a small pan of water. Add the vinegar. Crack an egg into a cup and slip it into the boiling water. Repeat with the second egg and cook for 1–2 minutes until the egg white is set and the yolk still runny. Turn off the heat. Strain 150ml of the cooking milk into the sauce, add the mustard and cook briskly, stirring constantly to finish the sauce. To serve, drain the potatoes, cut them into thick slices and arrange in the middle of two warmed dinner plates. Place a fillet of fish over the potatoes, season with black pepper and place an egg (lifted from the water with a perforated spoon) on top. Pour the sauce over the egg and around the fish and potatoes. Garnish with chives or parsley and serve.
When the Cornish Range reopened as Mousehole’s answer to Rick Stein’s Seafood Restaurant, they put a version of this dish on their early menus, made with John Dory. I had a go with inexpensive huss and its firm but tender, sweet meat is perfect for this delicious, simple dish. Good with very creamy mashed potato.
2 huss fillets, approx. 175g each
juice of ½ a large lemon
handful of flat-leaf parsley
50g unsalted butter
salt and pepper
Slice each fillet on the slant to make three or four thin, long pieces. Pat the slices dry and place in a bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice over the top and toss around so that all the pieces come into contact with the juice. Finely chop the parsley. Add 30g of butter to a frying pan placed over a medium heat. As soon as the butter bubbles but before it gets a chance to brown, lay out the fish. Cook for a couple of minutes a side until the fish cooks through whilst adjusting the heat so neither butter nor fish browns. Now add the parsley, any lemon juice left in the dish and the last of the butter. Turn the pieces around a couple of times, so the parsley wilts, season with salt and pepper and serve on warmed plates.
Another lovely recipe from Roast Chicken and Other Stories.
When I haven’t had all the herbs required for the crust mixture, I’ve resorted to just using parsley and it works deliciously well on its own with the zip of garlic and lemon zest. Firm white fish such as haddock, huss or cod would work similarly well in this recipe.
1 garlic clove
4 heaped tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
2 tbsp chopped parsley
½ tbsp chopped tarragon
½ tbsp chopped dill
1 tbsp chopped chives
grated rind of 1 lemon
6 × 175g skinned hake fillets
salt and pepper
flour for coating
1 egg
olive oil
1 quantity beurre blanc (see page 104)
Pre-heat the oven to 425°F/220°C/gas mark 7. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Mix together with the breadcrumbs, herbs and lemon rind. Season the fish fillets with salt and pepper and dip one side of them only first into the flour, then into the beaten egg and finally into the herb-and-breadcrumb mixture. Lay on a buttered baking sheet and, if there are any bald spots, fill in with more of the breadcrumb mixture. Drizzle with a teaspoon or so of olive oil.
Bake in the top of the oven for 10–15 minutes or until golden and crusty. Serve on warmed plates with beurre blanc.