Healthy living
Healthy eating
Smoked Haddock Creamy Stew With Shallots, Spinach and Saffron
Claire Macdonald, Food Writer and Hotelier, Kinloch Lodge, Isle of Skye, writes 'Our shellfish, caught locally, is the envy of the world. There is none better - anywhere! This is a heavenly dish using smoked haddock. The art of preserving fish by smoking is truly a Scottish art. I don't think you need anything else to eat with it - possibly bread, or even plain boiled potatoes.'
Serves
Six
Ingredients
900g-1.25kg undyed smoked haddock fillets
8-10 shallots, peeled
3tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
600ml double cream
2 good pinches of saffron strands
Freshly ground black pepper
100g fresh baby leaf spinach
1. Feel the smoked haddock with your fingertips for bones and pull any out. Cut the filleted fish into chunks about 3cm wide.
2. Chop the shallot very finely. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan and sauté the shallot until it is quite soft but not coloured. Add the pieces of fish, cream and saffron and gently simmer. The fish will take about 3 minutes to cook, depending to a certain extent on the width of your sauté pan.
3. Season with plenty of pepper - no salt will be needed for most tastes because the smoked haddock should be sufficiently salty. Add the spinach. It will be a high mound but cover the pan with a lid and the spinach will wilt very quickly.
4. When the spinach has wilted right down, carefully - so as not to break up the pieces of fish more than you can help - combine it evenly with the rest of the contents of the sauté pan. Ladle into warmed bowls to serve.
5. You can prepare your fish hours in advance or even the previous day. Keep it in a covered bowl in the refrigerator. Similarly, you can chop and sauté the shallots well in advance, so all you need to do before eating is to assemble the ingredients and cook them.
Recipes taken from Best of British Fish (ISBN: 1-840-00999-3) published by Mitchell Beazley, priced at £20.00. To order a copy please contact Littlehampton Book Services on 01903 828 500.
Information on this site is for interest only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult your own doctor about any specific health concerns.
