Mussel, haddock and salmon stew

From BBC Saturday Kitchen
Serves 4
Ingredients

1litre/2 pints fish stock
1kg/2lb 3¾oz mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded
pinch saffron
¼ tsp curry powder
500ml/1pint double cream
For the stew
250g/9oz smoked haddock, cut into 1.5cm cubes
200g/7oz salmon, cut into 1.5cm cubes
4 carrots, cut into 1cm cubes and blanched
2 potatoes, cut into 1cm cubes and blanched
1 leek, cut into 1cm cubes
2 tbsp flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
4 slices country bread, griddled

Bring the stock to the boil, then add the mussels and cook for 3-4 minutes until the mussels are open. Discard any mussels that do not open.
Strain the stock into a saucepan, reserving the mussels.
Pull the mussel shells in half, discarding the halves without the mussel meat, and keep to one side.
Place the pan with the stock back on the heat and reduce the temperature to a simmer.
Add the saffron, curry powder and cream, then bring it back to a simmer.
Add the fish, carrots, potatoes and leek and simmer for 2-3 minutes until tender.
Add the parsley and cooked mussels and stir through.
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Serve with the griddled bread.

This is now my current favourite cream based fish stew. The addition of saffron and curry powder brings this stew to a completely new level!

Smoked mackerel with kale mash

From GoodFood Fish and Seafood Dishes
Serves 1
Ingredients

1 medium potato, peeled and chopped into small chunks
200ml vegetable stock
large handful of kale, finely shredded
small knob of butter
140g piece skinned smoked haddock
25g butter
1 heaped tbsp dijon mustard

Boil the potato in the stock for 6 minutes until potato fluffs round the edges and the stock has reduced slightly. Stir in the kale and butter, lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Lay the haddock on top of the kale and potatoes, cover the pan and steam gently for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a microwave or a pan on top of the stove, then whisk in the mustard, a splash of water, a tiny pinch of salt and a good grinding of pepper.

Using a fish slice, lift out the cooked haddock and set aside, keeping it on the fish slice. Mash the potato and kale in the pan with the pan juices. Scoop the mash onto a plate, sit the haddock on top and pour over the sauce.

Gratin of smoked haddock, spinach, emmental and crème fraîche

From Masterchef

Serves 4
Ingredients

2kg/4lb fresh spinach
2 large smoked haddock fillets, skinned and boned
4 large ripe tomatoes
240ml/8fl oz crème fraiche
125g/4oz emmental cheese, grated

Pick off the stems and wash the spinach.

Put on a large pan of salted water to boil. When rapidly boiling cook the spinach for 2 minutes, pour into a colander and refresh under cold water. Squeeze dry with hands.

Slice smoked haddock into bite-sized pieces.

Take a large earthenware baking dish or gratin dish, roughly chop the spinach and sprinkle on the base of the dish.

Next place on the smoked haddock, smear over the crème fraiche, then place sliced tomatoes sparingly onto the cream.

Finish with the grated emmenthal cheese.

Place in an oven at 160-180C/325-350F/Gas3-4 for 30 minutes and finish under a medium grill for 5 minutes.
Serve with crusty bread

Not too sure how far the cook for this dish – Sam Clifford advanced in Masterchef but I like this recipe, wonderful combination of ingredients and easy to cook as well. Being unadventurous when it comes to cheese, I decided to stick with the safer choice of cheddar.

Creamy haddock and tatties

Taken from BBC 101 One-Pot Dishes
Serves 2

Ingredients

400g smoked haddock, skinned and chopped into chunks
1 trimmed leek, finely sliced
handful of parsley chopped
142ml carton double cream
2 medium baking potatoes, unpeeled and sliced as thinly as possible

Scatter the haddock, leek and parsley over the base of a shallow microwave dish and mix together. Drizzle over half the cream and 5 tbsp of water. Season with a little salt and plenty of black pepper and drizzle over the remaining cream.

Cover the fish with cling film and pierce a few times. Microwave on High for 8-10 minutes until everything is bubbling away and the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife. While the dish is in the microwave, preheat the grill to high.

Remove the cling film and put the dish under the grill until the potatoes are golden. Leave to stand for a minute before serving.

Because I don’t have a microwave, I brought the cream mixture to the boil on the stove before adding the potatoes on top. I then popped the dish into an oven at 200 degrees for 30 minutes before switching it to the grill until the potatoes are nice and brown on top. Nice simple fish pie sort of dish and less effort is involved as you don’t need to mash up the potatoes before spreading it on top of the fish.