Smoked Haddock with Creme Fraiche Butter Sauce and Ozeri Electric Grinder Review

Another fish recipe from me now... I was going through the freezer seeing what needed using up and found some smoked haddock I'd bought to make a fish pie. I've gone off home-made fish pie a bit though -for some reason when I make it, it's always more bland than the shop-bought versions. I think I need to play around with the recipe a bit!

I had a look online to find something else I could do with the smoked haddock and found a recipe from Delia Smith online for smoked haddock with crème fraiche and a chive and butter sauce.

It's easy and quick to make - put the fish in a frying pan and add some freshly milled black pepper. Pour in some milk and simmer until the fish is cooked.

Remove the fish from a pan, increase the heat and add the crème fraiche to the pan. Simmer until reduced, then whisk in the butter and return the fish to the pan to heat through.

 

You are supposed to then scatter with chives but I used dill instead as I didn't have chives!

 

I used my brand new Ozeri Artesio electric pepper grinder for this recipe; it was part of a set (with the salt grinder as well) that I received from the company to review.

It took me a while to get started as I hadn't realised each grinder needed four batteries, and I didn't have eight of the right type in the house. I'm hoping because it needs so many batteries that they will go a long time without needing changing but I haven't had the grinders for long enough yet to know!

I had to read the instructions to figure out how to unscrew the grinders as I hadn't used ones like this before, then put some whole peppercorns into the chamber at the bottom. For such tall grinders there isn't actually much space for the salt and pepper as the chamber is mainly for the batteries! But you only use a little bit of salt or pepper at a time so shouldn't have to refill too often.

The simplest touch of the button sets the device grinding and you get a fine dusting of freshly milled pepper which is really nice - I almost got carried away and used too much as I liked pressing the button and seeing the pepper come out!

The grinders are sleek and stylish, and with black for pepper and white for salt, you won't confuse which is which. You can buy the grinders from Amazon.

I don't actually use pepper that much and have never had electric grinders before but I think I'm converted!

WeightWatchers Curried Fish Pie

Fish pie is a comforting family staple and is usually topped with mashed potato or puff pastry. The former is carb-heavy and the latter high in fat, so using filo pastry is a much lighter option.

I adapted a recipe in an old WeightWatchers magazine to make this, which tasted really good and made a nice change from the usual kind of fish pie. The WeightWatchers recipe had 6.5 syns per serving and I don't think my changes will have affected that.

To serve 2 you need:

175g white fish like cod or haddock, cut into cubes
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
75ml double cream (the WeightWatchers recipe calls for less than 55% fat double cream)
100g cooked and peeled prawns
1/2 tbsp. mild curry powder
zest of 1/2 a lime
4 x 15g sheets filo pastry
low fat cooking spray (I use Fry Light)

Preheat oven to 180C. Place the cubed fish and prawns in the bottom of an ovenproof dish and mix with the cream, curry powder and lime zest.

Cut each sheet of filo pastry in half to make 8 squares. Spray one side of the pastry with cooking spray and crumble up each piece of pastry and sit it on top of the pie dish until it is covered. Once you have used all the pastry, spray over them all with cooking spray.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until golden brown.

 

Arbroath Toasties

In honour of Burns Night on January 25 I decided to make a Scottish recipe and came across this one for Arbroath toasties. Arbroath is a place in Scotland that is known for its smoked haddock and this recipe is basically haddock and cheese on toast. It's easy to make, a good source of omega 3 and tastes really good.

I used a recipe from a website called Rampant Scotland. I simply heated the fish in a pan of milk, added flour to thicken it and then added cheese and egg yolk. I'm not entirely sure why the recipe calls for the egg white to be whisked separately but I did that as well, and spread the mixture on toast and put it under the grill.

Eat and enjoy!

I'm sending this to the Food Year Linkup, hosted by Charlottes Lively Kitchen.

Two-Pastry Fish Pie

I was given a pack of Jus-Rol shortcrust pastry and another of puff pastry to take home after attending an event recently and decided to use them - both of them - to make a pie. I've never used more than one type of pastry before but thought that the shortcrust would work well on the bottom, and the puff pastry on the top to make a lattice. So this is more of an idea than a recipe post, but it worked pretty well so I want to share.

Take an ovenproof dish - I used a small pyrex dish that was enough for two servings - and line the bottom with rolled out shortcrust pastry. Line with greaseproof paper (I forgot this part but it makes it much easier) then fill with ceramic baking beans, or uncooked rice, and bake blind in the oven for 15 mins.

Meanwhile I poached some smoked haddock in milk

I also had a packet of salmon flakes (cooked) which I bought as they were reduced in the supermarket, and I decided to throw these in as well.

When the base of the pastry is cooked, spoon in the fish. I used the poaching milk as a basis for a small quantity of a white sauce which I poured over the top. 

I've written before about my lattice pastry cutter; it's definitely easier to use with shop bought than homemade pastry! Roll out your pastry and roll the cutter over the top, then use your fingers to gently prise apart the lattice - you can see here I've done the top section but not the bottom section yet.

Place over the top of the pie and cut off any excess, then brush with milk or beaten egg.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 mins until the pastry on top is risen and golden brown. I think the lattice effect makes the pie look nice and it reduces the amount of pastry you need on top so it's even a little healthier!

Jamie Oliver's Swedish Style Fishcakes

I was planning my week's meals  and wondering if I could find something Swedish-inspired for the Bloggers Around the World challenge. I was given Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals a while ago as a gift and hadn't made all that much from it, so I was pleased to come across a recipe for Swedish style fishcakes, as I love fish and fishcakes. I did have to substitute fresh tuna for tinned tuna though, as I was shopping for this recipe on the way home from work and my little local supermarket didn't have any fresh tuna. I also only realised when I got home that I didn't have any bread to make breadcrumbs, so had to use dried golden breadcrumbs out of a packet.

To serve two, you need:

2 slices stale or crusty bread, or 4 tbsp golden breadcrumbs

1 salmon fillet, skin off and de-boned if necessary

1 haddock fillet, skin off and de-boned

1 tuna steak or half a tin of tuna

1 lemon

small bunch fresh parsley or dill

1 clove garlic

If making breadcrumbs from scratch, whizz the bread in a food processor until you have crumbs.

Place the salmon, haddock and tuna in a food processor with the grated zest of the lemon and the parsley or dill. Pulse until combined.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl, season and shape into patties

Place the breadcrumbs in a bowl and press both sides of the fishcake into the breadcrumbs

Heat some oil in a frying pan and add a clove of crushed garlic. Fry the fishcakes on both sides until browned.

I enjoyed these, though to be honest I would have preferred to eat the piece of salmon as it comes. The fishcake tasted of haddock and tuna and I think the taste of the salmon was lost a little. They made a nice change though!

I'm sending this to Bloggers Around the World, hosted by Chris at Cooking Around the World, as the country this month (until the 13th anyway when it changes) is Sweden.