Smoked Haddock with Bubble & Squeek!

Ingredients (to serve 4):

• 4 Smoked Haddock Fillets
  
• Half pint of milk
  
• 4 large potatoes
  
• 4oz butter (unsalted)
  
• Handful of chpped cabbage (winter greens etc)
  
• 4 eggs
  
• Salt & Pepper
  
• Beurre Blanc Sauce - see recipes below
  

Do you spell squeak with 2 ‘e’s or an ‘ea’? Well who cares! This is a fantastic main course that will always impress and is guaranteed to get everyone finishing their plates.

There are 4 main parts – the bubble, the fish, the sauce and the egg – the sauce is as described earlier and so I will outline the other steps:

The Bubble can be prepared by boiling potatoes until tender, mashing – I prefer to use a potato ricer which always gives good smooth mash – and then whisk in plenty of butter. Season with salt and pepper.

When I say plenty of butter, I mean it! Cook some cabbage – winter greens  (I usually steam mine)  and when cooked, shred and then add butter to coat. This can then be stirred into the mash and left to one side, covered until ready to fry.

Meanwhile gently poach smoked haddock fillets in milk until just cooked – this only takes a few minutes per fillet. Transfer to a tray and keep covered and warm in the oven until ready to serve. I remove the skin just before serving to ensure they remain whole. The skin will come away easily and the haddock will flake sho be gentle!

You can now fry the bubble and squeak mixture until it starts to brown on the pan and then keep warm until it is ready to serve. I often cover the fying pan with foil and place in the oven.

Poach eggs carefully in boiling water (add vinegar to the water to help) to poach.

You can now prepare the plates, which have been previously kept warm – mash on the plate, next the haddock on the mash (skin removed), then the poached egg on the top and rounded off with a liberal pour of the beurre blanc sauce. Just great.

NB. You can prepare the poached eggs by cooking for less time and then removing early from the water and plunging into iced water. When you are ready to serve add to boiling water for 1 minute. I tend to time it all so that the eggs come straight out of the pan onto the haddock.