Monday, February 06, 2006
Smoked Coley the Yummy Way
OK, I admit it, I'm incredibly bad at keeping up with anything. Every time I decide to do some kind of exercise routine, I stick to it for all of two months and then I let it slip, once, twice, then one week, and then long enough for it to not qualify as a routine anymore, so I stop altogether. I am exactly the same when it comes to household chores (one of the best excuses for buying new dishes is so you don't have to wash the ones you've got), to fixing my bicycle and, unfortunately, to blogging. Good thing nothing of any real interest happened today. I spent the day staring at websites, mostly ones of a pornographic nature. Before you ask, yes, my boss knows about this habit of mine; it is part of my job. And before you ask again, no, I cannot give any details, nor do I think that this would be appropriate here. I'm sure there are plenty of blogs of this nature out there (in fact, I have reviewed a few myself). Most of them, however, are not the sort you want to look at while thinking of food. Whatever the case may be, I seem to always be a day behind...So I will keep it short today and move straight on to dinner. We noticed yesterday that we've been overdoing the fish of late, if this is at all possible. We had fish & chips on Friday, Cod in butter sauce on Saturday and sweet and sour fish on Sunday. So we really needed a change. However, yesterday my food order was delivered from Tesco - a service I can highly recommend, the delivery charge is well worth not having to carry water bottles and the like home on the bus - and what was one of the items they had had on special when I ordered? Smoked Coley. We had tried it before and knew it was quite nice, so had I ordered a fairly large portion. And of course fish wants to be eaten fresh, so fish it was for dinner. But it wanted to be completely different than the days before, so I opted for a creamy poached fish on mashed potatoes and with a side of what people from my native Bavaria call Blaukraut, red cabbage cooked with a mild glaze of vinegar and sugar. I know, at first it seems odd to combine something sour with a creamy sauce, but I thought that the three parts of the dish actually complimented each other quite well.
For the fish you will need:
400 to 500g smoked Coley (Haddock would work just as well)
125 ml white wine
200 to 300 ml milk
2 tbsp olive oil
I also added some young garlic, halved lengthways and briefly poached in boiling water, but this is optional
For the mash:
4 to 5 medium sized potatoes, peeled and halved
a generous knob of butter (about 20 to 30 g)
some milk
a pinch of salt
For the cabbage:
1 small head of red cabbage, finely shredded
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (the original recipe calls for red wine vinegar, but I find this too strong with the creamy sauce; it's great for making real Blaukraut to go with roast duck or goose. If you don't have balsamic at hand, use a different vinegar, but make sure not to overdo it.)
1 tbsp brown sugar (more if you have used a stronger vinegar)
1 to 2 tbsp butter
a small amount of salt to taste (remember, the fish is quite salty)
For the creamy sauce:
½ onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
the reserved poaching liquid from the fish
salt and pepper to taste (or, even better, a fish stock cube for about 250 ml of liquid)
3 to 4 tbsp thick cream (or mascarpone cheese)
This dish calls for a bit of multi-tasking, which will make the recipe quite confusing. I recommend you read it through to the end and rearrange it to suit your own liking if you feel like it. Just keep temperature and texture in mind. Everything wants to be cooked just right and ready at the same time.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof pan that is big enough to hold the fish (and garlic if you're using it) in a single layer. Gently fry the fish for 2 minutes on each side.
While the fish is cooking, bring enough water to the boil to cover the cabbage. Add a drop of the vinegar. This will prevent the cabbage from bleeding too much and loosing all its colour. In a different pot, make a start on the sauce. Melt the butter over medium low heat. Add the onions and sweat until translucent. Do not allow to brown!
Finally, while all this is happening, put the potatoes and enough water to cover them in a medium sized saucepan, cover with a lid and bring to the boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, add some salt (fresh water boils more quickly than salt water, which is why for time and energy reasons the salt should always be added to the hot water) and reduce the heat to low. Continue to boil until soft, about 20 minutes.
When the fish is sealed on both sides, add the wine and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 2 minutes, then add the milk. It should be enough to almost cover the fish. Add the poached garlic, if using. Put the pan in the oven. It will need to cook for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Boil the cabbage until it is almost cooked. It wants to have a little bit of bite left so it does not go mushy while it is being finished off, but it certainly does not want to be crunchy. This is one of the few dishes where I like my veg well cooked. Drain thoroughly and return to the pot. Turn the heat right down and put it back on the hob. Add the rest of the vinegar and the sugar and heat through slowly. Add the butter, cover and turn the heat off underneath it. It now just steams while longer in its own juices.
While the cabbage is still cooking, your onions will probably be soft and golden. Sprinkle with the flour and continue frying, stirring constantly. Pull the fish out of the oven (obviously, you can stop stirring the onions briefly) and drain the poaching liquid into the onion pot. Don't worry if the mixture has separated. This will not affect the taste. Turn the oven off and return the fish to keep it warm. Bring the fish sauce to the boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper of just add the stock cube. Turn the heat off.
Finally, turn the heat under the potatoes off, drain thoroughly and return the pot to the stove. Add the butter and melt with the lid off, allowing the steam to escape. Mash until smooth (if you don't have a masher and are using floury potatoes, just mix them up with an electrical whisk, the result is surprising), adding milk (my boyfriend Lofty prefers more butter, and I have to admit that his mash is the best I've ever tasted) if the mash appears dry. When all this is done, add the cream to the sauce.
To serve, put some mash on a plate. Arrange some cabbage around it, put the fish on the top (which can itself be topped by the garlic) and drizzle with a generous amount of sauce.
Christine at 9:33 pm
