This is a recipe I've taken out of Nigella Lawson's book 'Feast', which is one of my favourite cook books. In fact, it's one of my favourite books and gives me a sense of well being just to leaf through it. I don't go in for the voluminous portions that she specifies in the book, for two reasons: at most I have only two people to feed and although I like good food, I can't eat mountains of it.
This is a fantastic recipe for using up mashed potato. I am terminally incapable of judging how many potatoes I need to make the right amount of mash, so I always go overboard. The choices are either eating it all and ending up with what Andy and I call 'potato tummy', chucking it out and feeling guilty about the third world or putting in a freezer bag and fridging it until I get some fish. This is the best choice for so many reasons. You feel virtuous somehow knowing you are being a good household manager and can almost convince yourself that you made too much on purpose. It also means that the hardest part of the recipe is already done. And when the hardest part of a recipe is peeling and chopping potatoes, then you know you're onto a winner. Obviously you can make this from scratch, just use the same weight of raw potatoes as specified for mash.
And one last thing. PLEASE use undyed smoked haddock. The really yellowy-orange fillets aren't really smoked, they're painted with smoke flavour and if you're anything like me, you'll react to that stuff with little encouragement. Yes the naturally smoked stuff is more expensive but it's also better.
Ingredients
300g mashed potatoes
250g haddock (about 1 fillet)
250g smoked haddock (about 1 fillet)
1 hard boiled egg, chopped
juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
parsley, dried or fresh
100g crushed Ritz crackers or breadcrumbs
125ml milk
125ml water
If you are making mash from scratch then peel and chop your spuds, and boil them until cooked, drain the water and then mash. Don't add too much extra liquid, you want them to be quite solid.
Put the milk and water in a frying pan and bring to a gentle simmer (milk will boil over on the smallest provocation, and that can be dangerous if you cook with gas) and lower the fish into it. I tend to cut my fillets up into 2 or 3 pieces to cut down the cooking time and get them to fit in the pan. They're going to be flaked anyway so we don't need to be precious about it. Cook for about 8 minutes or until the flesh has gone opaque. This can be more difficult to tell with the smoked stuff, but if your unsmoked fish is cooked then use that as a guide.
Once the fish is cooked, remove from the milk and leave to cool on a plate until you can handle it. Remove the skin then flake it, but do leave some chunky bits too. I also recommend putting the skin from the fish into your outdoor bin immediately and washing up the fish related cooking equipment straightaway. I love fish, but I don't want to smell it for days.
Once the fish, mash and egg are all cooled or even cold, mix them together and add the parsley, lemon zest and SOME lemon juice. Go steady with it, you don't want the mixture to be too sloppy or they won't bind together and keep a nice shape. Season as required.
Using a resonably flat plate, pour out your Ritz crumbs or breadcrumbs and shuggle the (please consult a Scot for the meaning of this word) plate until you have an even layer on the plate. Using your hands, shape about one eighth of your mixture into a patty shape, then place in the crumbs, pressing slightly. Turn it over to cover the other side, then place on it's side and roll it to get the sides coated. Repeat until you have run out of mixture. (This is a messy job, but impossible with utensils, and I speak as someone with a positive hatred of having food on my hands. I've been known to eat doughnuts with a fork.) As each one is ready put them on another plate. I find this makes about 8 fishcakes of 6cm diameter.
If you are eating them straightaway, heat the oven to 200°C/390°F/Gas 6 then cook on a baking tray for 15-20 minutes until warmed through. If you are not eating them now, cover them in clingfilm and fridge them until they are needed. Do remember that they will need to come up to room temperature before being cooked or you'll have a piping hot outside and a cold inside. Nasty.
You can serve these with anything you fancy really. They are almost a meal in themselves but I like a tomato salad: slice a very ripe beef tomato, drizzle with salad dressing and sprinkle with parsley. Whenever I went to France on holiday we used to eat lots of this salad and it's fantastic. You could use normal tomatoes, I think my preference is nostalgic rather than culinary.
This is a fantastic recipe for using up mashed potato. I am terminally incapable of judging how many potatoes I need to make the right amount of mash, so I always go overboard. The choices are either eating it all and ending up with what Andy and I call 'potato tummy', chucking it out and feeling guilty about the third world or putting in a freezer bag and fridging it until I get some fish. This is the best choice for so many reasons. You feel virtuous somehow knowing you are being a good household manager and can almost convince yourself that you made too much on purpose. It also means that the hardest part of the recipe is already done. And when the hardest part of a recipe is peeling and chopping potatoes, then you know you're onto a winner. Obviously you can make this from scratch, just use the same weight of raw potatoes as specified for mash.
And one last thing. PLEASE use undyed smoked haddock. The really yellowy-orange fillets aren't really smoked, they're painted with smoke flavour and if you're anything like me, you'll react to that stuff with little encouragement. Yes the naturally smoked stuff is more expensive but it's also better.
Ingredients
300g mashed potatoes
250g haddock (about 1 fillet)
250g smoked haddock (about 1 fillet)
1 hard boiled egg, chopped
juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
parsley, dried or fresh
100g crushed Ritz crackers or breadcrumbs
125ml milk
125ml water
If you are making mash from scratch then peel and chop your spuds, and boil them until cooked, drain the water and then mash. Don't add too much extra liquid, you want them to be quite solid.
Put the milk and water in a frying pan and bring to a gentle simmer (milk will boil over on the smallest provocation, and that can be dangerous if you cook with gas) and lower the fish into it. I tend to cut my fillets up into 2 or 3 pieces to cut down the cooking time and get them to fit in the pan. They're going to be flaked anyway so we don't need to be precious about it. Cook for about 8 minutes or until the flesh has gone opaque. This can be more difficult to tell with the smoked stuff, but if your unsmoked fish is cooked then use that as a guide.
Once the fish is cooked, remove from the milk and leave to cool on a plate until you can handle it. Remove the skin then flake it, but do leave some chunky bits too. I also recommend putting the skin from the fish into your outdoor bin immediately and washing up the fish related cooking equipment straightaway. I love fish, but I don't want to smell it for days.
Once the fish, mash and egg are all cooled or even cold, mix them together and add the parsley, lemon zest and SOME lemon juice. Go steady with it, you don't want the mixture to be too sloppy or they won't bind together and keep a nice shape. Season as required.
Using a resonably flat plate, pour out your Ritz crumbs or breadcrumbs and shuggle the (please consult a Scot for the meaning of this word) plate until you have an even layer on the plate. Using your hands, shape about one eighth of your mixture into a patty shape, then place in the crumbs, pressing slightly. Turn it over to cover the other side, then place on it's side and roll it to get the sides coated. Repeat until you have run out of mixture. (This is a messy job, but impossible with utensils, and I speak as someone with a positive hatred of having food on my hands. I've been known to eat doughnuts with a fork.) As each one is ready put them on another plate. I find this makes about 8 fishcakes of 6cm diameter.
If you are eating them straightaway, heat the oven to 200°C/390°F/Gas 6 then cook on a baking tray for 15-20 minutes until warmed through. If you are not eating them now, cover them in clingfilm and fridge them until they are needed. Do remember that they will need to come up to room temperature before being cooked or you'll have a piping hot outside and a cold inside. Nasty.
You can serve these with anything you fancy really. They are almost a meal in themselves but I like a tomato salad: slice a very ripe beef tomato, drizzle with salad dressing and sprinkle with parsley. Whenever I went to France on holiday we used to eat lots of this salad and it's fantastic. You could use normal tomatoes, I think my preference is nostalgic rather than culinary.
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