Kedgeree

My Curry Here

Smoked haddock kedgeree, with added petits pois and raisins why. Because they seem to go nicely. This recipe has been refined for more than a quarter century (I made it once in 1993, then suddenly again today). Wife says it's terrific, and she's a fantastic cook, so there's always that.

Preparation time: 15 minutes.
Cook time: 40 minutes.
Serves 4.
Main Ingredients:

• 300g smoked fillet of haddock
• 4 eggs
• 100g frozen petits pois
• 300 ml milk
• bunch of coriander
• 2 bay leaves

Rice Ingredients:

• 300g long grain easy cook rice (well rinsed)
• 1 large onion (finely chopped)
• 30g raisins
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp roasted curry powder
• 1 chicken or vegetable stock cube
• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil

Method:

1. Very important: partition your ingredients into rice and non-rice work areas!

2. Fry the onion in rapeseed oil until translucent (about 5 minutes).

3. Add the spices & salt seasoning; stir and continue frying for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the rice, raisins, crumbled stock cube, and 300ml of water.
5. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes, while...
6. ...poaching the haddock and bay in 300ml of milk, until flaky.

7. Drain the milk from the fish pan into the rice, then roughly flake the fish.
8. Cover the rice pan and remove from the heat.
9. Add the petits pois to the fish (they'll defrost almost instantly).
10. Boil the eggs for 4½ minutes, then plunge them into cold water.
11. After 5 minutes, peel and quarter the eggs, then add to the fish along with the rice and coriander.

12. Mix gently, season with black pepper, then serve with any additional herbage
(e.g. parsley, if you like that sort of thing).

Smiddy Shank Soup

A Photo Essay

A very hearty and rustic Ham Hough Red Lentil Soup. Seriously, if they had this recipe in Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it would break the cookery system. It brings health, stamina, attack and defence boosts, while simultaneously providing resistance to heat, cold and electricity. One plate of it would fetch at least two hundred and eighty rupees. Pro tip: for an additional speed boost, replace the carrots with "swift carrots".

Preparation time: 20 minutes.
Cook time: 3 hours 15 minutes.
Serves 8.
Ingredients:

• 800g Blair Drummond Smiddy smoked ham hough (shank)
• 2 baking potatoes
• 1 large onion
• 3 celery stalks with leaves
• 6 carrots
• 250g red split lentils (well rinsed)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 stock cubes (vegetable or chicken)
• 6-8 black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bouquet garni
• 2-3 bay leaves

Method:

1. To 3 litres of boiling water in a pot, add the ham, bouquet garni, peppercorns and bay.

2. Boil for 2½ hours.

3. Meanwhile, back at the vegetable station...

...peel the potatoes, onion, celery, carrots & garlic.

4. Dice the potatoes, onion, celery, and four of the carrots.

5.Crush the garlic and grate the remaining two carrots.

6. At the 2½ hour mark, remove the ham from the pot.

7. Skim the water, then add the potatoes...

...the chopped carrots...

...the celery...

...the onion...

...the grated carrots...

...the crushed garlic...

...the oregano and stock cubes...

...and finally the rinsed lentils. Simmer for 45 minutes.

8. Strip the ham off the shank and add back into the soup before serving.

9. It sticks tae yer ribs. Serve with a twist of pepper.

Acknowledgements

I am gratefully indebted to my beautiful assistant and arm model @catsjamas for her help with the visual production aspects of this project.

Sunday Dinner

My Cod Here

This isn't just a sea food platter for two. This is Marks & Spencer citrus cured Loch Fyne gravadlax with honey and dill dressing, salmon flakes, dressed mozarella crab, prawns, spiced prawns, king prawns in seafood sauce, calamari, French stick, pinot noir, and champagne. The occasion? Well you see, it was a Sunday.

Oh and also, we had a day off work together (which hardly ever happens).

Photo by Linda. Click to embiggen its cromulent scrumptiousness.