Creamy Smoked Haddock Saffron Kedgeree Food

SMOKED HADDOCK KEDGEREE

Steps:

• Melt 50g butter in a large saucepan (about 20cm across), add 1 finely chopped medium onion and cook gently over a medium heat for 5 minutes, until softened but not browned.
• Stir in 3 split cardamom pods, ¼ tsp turmeric, 1 small cinnamon stick and 2 bay leaves, then cook for 1 minute.
• Tip in 450g basmati rice and stir until it is all well coated in the spicy butter.
• Pour in 1 litre chicken or fish stock, add ½ teaspoon salt and bring to the boil, stir once to release any rice from the bottom of the pan. Cover with a close-fitting lid, reduce the heat to low and leave to cook very gently for 12 minutes.
• Meanwhile, bring some water to the boil in a large shallow pan. Add 750g un-dyed smoked haddock fillet and simmer for 4 minutes, until the fish is just cooked. Lift it out onto a plate and leave until cool enough to handle.
• Hard-boil 3 eggs for 8 minutes.
• Flake the fish, discarding any skin and bones. Drain the eggs, cool slightly, then peel and chop.
• Uncover the rice and remove the bay leaves, cinnamon stick and cardamom pods if you wish to. Gently fork in the fish and the chopped eggs, cover again and return to the heat for 2-3 minutes, or until the fish has heated through.
• Gently stir in almost all the 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, and season with a little salt and black pepper to taste. Serve scattered with the remaining parsley and garnished with 1 lemon, cut into wedges.

CREAMY SMOKED HADDOCK & SAFFRON KEDGEREE

Steps:

• Cook basmati rice, leave to cool. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease a large ovenproof dish with some of the butter. Push the egg yolks through a sieve and roughly chop the whites.
• Gently heat the cream in a frying pan until just below boiling point, then add the fish. Cover and poach for 4 mins. Place the wine in a pan with the saffron and warm to infuse. In a large bowl, mix together the rice, cayenne, curry powder, nutmeg, seasoning, chopped egg whites and saffron-infused wine. Lift the fish out of the cream and flake into the bowl - removing any bones as you find them. Scrape in the cream and gently mix together once more.
• Tip everything into the buttered dish and dot the top with the remaining butter. Bake to heat through for 20 mins, then serve scattered with the parsley and sieved egg yolk, with lemon wedges on the side.

SMOKED HADDOCK KEDGEREE

Steps:

• In a non stick pan place the smoked haddock and cover with water, bring to the boil then simmer till cooked (approx 5 mins).
• Once cooked remove from the water and strain the cooking liquid through a sieve into a bowl and put to the side.
• Take 1/1/2 cups of the cooking liquid and pour into a saucepan with the long grain rice. Cover and bring to the boil, then turn heat off, leaving lid on allowing the rice to absorb the water and fluff up.
• In the meantime fry the onions and garlic in the butter, when soft add the spices to the frying pan and fry off for a few minutes.
• Add the mushrooms and keep stirring. Add more butter if necessary.
• Once the rice has absorbed all the liquid tip the onion mixture into the saucepan and stir well.
• Scramble the eggs and then add them to the rice mixture.
• Pour in the sour cream and mix well. Check seasoning and if needed add some black pepper.
• Flake the smoked haddock into the mixture, stir in the lemon juice and put into the oven for about 15 to 20 mins on 180 degrees. If the mix looks a little too dry you can add a few extra tablespoons of the fish cooking liquid.
• When thoroughly heated through stir in the chives and parsley and serve.