Comfort food 2

Once again, as I write this, the rain pours down and another grey day.  Thankfully, yesterday was lovely and I got a lot of gardening done, having recently dug out a bed full of nettles and weeds and found a whole piece of new garden to plant up.  The new hens have bonded in beautifully with the old and have soon learnt that when they see me with a spade, worms and grubs will follow.  They actually try to stand on the spade as I dig, toppling over in their eagerness to see what is underneath!  I really love my “girls” and thank them all the time for their great, completely free range, eggs.

So in the light of them – and the need for comfort food yet again – something to warm me up and give a little sunshine on a plate, this week’s recipe is kedgeree – 2 versions so no one misses out. And with a touch of curry to the dishes, even The Husband has no cause for complaint!

Smoked fish Kedgeree

• 100g undyed smoked haddock fillet (you can also do this with smoked mackerel fillets (in which case no need to cook!)
• a little milk
  1 bay leaf
  50g basmati rice, cooked
  1 free-range egg, hard boiled
  25g frozen peas (optional) cooked
  20g butter
  1 dessertspoon rapeseed oil
  1/2 – 1 small onion, finely chopped
  1 dessertspoon medium curry powder
• a couple of chopped tomatoes (optional, but gives some colour)
  1 tablespoon double cream
  1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or coriander (you could go mad and add both if you have them!)
  ½ lemon, juiced
  freshly ground black pepper

Place the haddock in glass dish. Pour over a little milk, add the bay leaf and cook in a microwave  for about 5 minutes until it is just done and flakes easily. Drain in a colander and discard the bay leaf. Melt the butter with the oil in a large pan and cook the onion (and tomatoes, if using) over a low heat for five minutes until well softened, stirring occasionally. Add the curry powder and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the cooked rice into the pan with the peas, cream, parsley and a few twists of ground black pepper. Flake the fish into chunky pieces and add these to the pan. Gently stir the lemon juice and cook for 1-2 minutes. Cut the eggs into quarters and place them on the rice. Cover the pan with a lid and heat through for 2-3 minutes or until the eggs are warm, then serve.

And so the vegetarians don’t miss out :

PS I am off the Scotland tomorrow for the weekend to spend some time with my Scottish family hence an early blog.  With the weather the way it is, though, perhaps a good day to spend in the kitchen – and hope the weekend turns out better!