Smoked Haddock, Poached Egg & Hollandaise Sauce

I have always absolutely loved poached eggs. Whilst I am fond of scrambled, fried and boiled eggs, poached is the way to do as far as I am concerned. When I was a child, my mother used to make me a poached egg on toast most mornings for my breakfast before I went to school and as such they hold a certain nostalgia for me. If I had to choose, breakfast, or brunch would probably be my favourite meal. As an adult, during the working week, when I am usually dashing out of the house in the morning, so I tend to have something that is quick to prepare, but I love those types of weekends where I can indulge my passions for a proper breakfast, which would tend to include a poached egg on a split muffin and a few slices of bacon (along with plenty of generously buttered hot toast with lashings of homemade marmalade, all washed down with lots of tea. HEAVEN!

The thing about poached eggs is that if you want success to be guaranteed, you really need to use the freshest eggs possible. I am incredibly lucky to have a ready supply of the finest quality fresh eggs from the most fabulous hens reared by my neighbour Paddy. The eggs produced by these hens are free-range in the truest sense of the word and are the best quality that I have ever used in my cooking. Every now and again I toy with the idea of keeping hens but, to be honest, I don’t see the point when I can get such great eggs from Paddy! I am convinced that the reason the eggs are so great is because the hens are so well looked after and because they have such a happy life.

 

The recipe that I present here – a variation of Eggs Benedict, but substituting smoked haddock for the more usual ham, really relies on the quality of the eggs, which in addition to poaching I have also used in a rich, buttery hollandaise sauce. If you really aren’t keen on smoked haddock, you can of course resort to the more commonly used slice of ham or even some grilled bacon. Although there are relatively few ingredients, this dish is an incredibly luxurious breakfast/brunch dish and one that is really worth doing if you feel like spoiling yourself every once in a while.

 

You could sit the smoked fish and poached egg on a split English muffin, but here I have actually used half a homemade potato scone which I feel works perfectly with the smoked fish and poached eggs. If you feel like doing the same, the recipe can be accessed here.

Many people shy away from making their own hollandaise sauce, but it is surprisingly easy and if you approach the task with confidence and make sure that you add the melted butter in a thin stream, you should have no problems.

Of all the recipes that I have posted, this has to be one of my all-time favourites and I would urge you to try it out. This is a seriously sexy dish!
 

Ingredients:

For the poached eggs:
2tblsp white wine vinegar

4 eggs

1 medium sized bowl of iced water

For the smoked haddock:

300g smoked haddock (preferably undyed)

200ml milk or a little more if required

For the hollandaise sauce:

90ml dry white wine

90ml white wine vinegar

1tsp of whole black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

3 egg yolks

300g butter, melted

A little freshly squeezed lemon juice

Salt & white pepper to taste

To serve:

2 muffins/potato scones split and toasted

1tblsp finely chopped fresh chives
 

Method:

To poach the eggs:

1. Fill a large saucepan with boiling water from the kettle and set over a moderate heat so that the water is steadily simmering. Add the vinegar (NB do NOT add any salt to the water as this will cause the egg whites to disperse rather than set around the yolk as you want).

2. Crack the eggs and individually drop into the water – don’t do this at a great height from the water, but relatively close to the surface. Adjust the temperature so that it is barely simmering and allow the eggs to poach for 2 to 3 minutes depending on size of the eggs. Remove each egg when ready and place directly into the bowl of iced water. Set aside.

To poach the fish:

3. Place the smoked haddock in a small fring pan or shallow saucepan and barely cover with milk. Bring up to the boil and then reduce heat and allow to simmer gently for 6-8 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. Remove from the heat, but allow it to sit in the milk and set aside.

To make the hollandaise sauce:

4. Put the white wine, vinegar into a small saucepan with the peppercorns and bay leaf and bring up to the boil. Let it bubble for about 5 minutes until it has reduced to about 50ml. Remove from heat and allow to cool and then remove the peppercorns and bay leaf and discard.

5. Place the egg yolks into a large metal bowl and place the bowl over a pan of just simmering water making sure that the surface of the bowl is not directly touching the water. Whisk in a tablespoon of the reduced wine/vinegar solution. Continuously whisk until the mixture turns paler in colour and the eggs increase in volume to a point where a ribbon-like trail is left when you remove the whisk.

6. Remove the bowl from the heat and very slowly whisk in the butter, drop by drop at first making sure that it is well incorporated before adding some more. Keep whisking until all the butter is mixed in and the sauce is thick and creamy. Season and add in a little freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste. Set aside and keep warm.

To serve:

7. Boil some water in a small saucepan and re-heat the eggs for about 1 minute. Remove each egg with a slotted spoon and allow to drain briefly making sure that there is no excess water.

8. Remove the fish from the milk and break into large flakes. Divide the fish equally, placing it in large flakes on each toasted halved scone. Place a reheated poached egg on top of each portion of fish.

9. Spoon a generous amount of hollandaise over each egg and sprinkle with some chives. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linzertorte

In my previous post, I gave my recipe for Fig & Hazelnut Cake, a cake which was made using ground hazelnuts which I had roasted, skinned and ground myself. Well, after making that cake which turned out to be far more delicious than I possibly thought, I actually had quite a lot of ground hazelnuts left over. I initially toyed with the idea of making one of my favourite desserts – a Raspberry & Hazelnut Meringue Cake but in the spirit of adventure that had overtaken me, I decided that I would do a little research and see what else I could bake using a hazelnut/raspberry combination.

The internet is a great thing… at the press of a button you can search for something and a whole raft of information will be offered up to you on whatever topic you wish to know more about. It’s hardly surprising that most of my internet activity is centred on researching new recipes and cookery techniques. When I carried out a search on hazelnut and raspberry combined together, there was one dish that kept cropping up, time and time again… Linzertorte!

There are a lot of things that are described as being a Linzertorte; simple raspberry jam tarts or raspberry jam filled biscuits are regularly referred to as Linzertorte… but they are not! Well, not in the traditional sense, because a true Austrian Linzertorte consists of a nut-based (usually hazelnut) pastry topped with a redcurrant, raspberry or plum jam which is then decorated with an open latticework of more of the pastry. Spices such as cinnamon, cloves or nutmeg are also usually included in the nut pastry and when the tart is baking the smells that emanate are incredibly evocative of Christmas. In fact, Linzertortes are very much associated with the festive season, but no-one said that they could only be baked at Christmas and given that I was awash with ground hazelnuts I decided that I would try making one.

The first couple of recipes that I tried were very highly spiced and to be honest, I found the amount of ground cloves very overpowering, even though it is one of my favourite spices. I’ve tweaked the recipe a little in terms of the spicing but also the ratio of flour to nuts in the pastry. I am delighted with the result and given the positive reaction of everyone who tried it, I can see this becoming one of those recipes that I am requested to make time and time again!

The uncooked dough is on the soft side, but this is the way that it is meant to be. Rather than try and roll out thin strips of the dough with which to create the lattice work, I found it much easier to put the mixture into a disposable piping bag fitted with a 1cm nozzle and pipe it instead!

The Linzertorte is served cut into wedges and although it does have a slightly cake or tart-like look to it, I would actually liken it more to a biscuit.

Ingredients:

140g caster sugar
140g butter, softened

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

3 egg yolks

140g plain flour

100g ground hazelnuts

40g ground almonds

¼ tsp ground cloves

1tsp of ground cinnamon

4 tblsp quality raspberry jam

To finish:

A little icing sugar for dusting
 

Method:

1. Grease and base-line a 20cm round springform tin with non-stick baking parchment. Set aside.

2. Place the caster sugar and butter into a large mixing bowl and using a hand-held electric mixer, beat together until light and fluffy. Add the grated lemon zest and egg yolks and mix again until fully incorporated.

3. Sift the flour and spices together and mix into the dough using a wooden spoon followed by the ground nuts.

4. Line the tin with two thirds of the dough, pressing it out evenly to the edges with the back of a metal spoon. Place the rest of the dough into a disposable piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle. Pipe a long strip around the outer edge of the dough to create a lip or edge to the tart. Spread the raspberry jam evenly in the centre of the tart bringing it out to the edges of the ‘lip’ that you have just created. Pipe the remaining dough in strips to create an open lattice design on top of the tart (See accompanying photos). Place in the fridge to chill a bit while you preheat the oven.

5. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4.

6. Bake the Linzertorte in the oven for 30-35 minutes until nicely browned and the jam is beginning to bubble a little. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature in the tin before removing to a serving plate and dusting with a little icing sugar.
 

Serves 8-10.

Fresh Fig & Hazelnut Cake

I am going to be honest; until I made this cake I really wasn’t sure about whether I actually liked the taste of fresh figs when they were used in baking. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love eating fresh figs in their raw state and I’m rather partial to poached figs. I also like to eat dried figs especially when they are used in fruit cakes or fig roll biscuits – so it’s not figs per se that I have a problem with… but fresh figs when baked in, for example, a cake, can sometimes have an unusual texture and a very assertive flavour which I think is definitely an acquired taste.

I was initially going to make an upside-down cake, laying the figs on the bottom of the cake tin and piling the cake batter on top prior to baking, but was afraid that they might soften and disintegrate too much into a shapeless purée. I decided to switch things around and place the figs on top of the cake batter as, when they baked, they would be more likely to retain their shape.

Having decided to bake a cake where the figs were arranged on top, I realised that I would need a cake batter that was not too soft and had a little substance to it, otherwise the figs would just disappear as the cake started rising around the fruit.  The problem with stiffer cake batters is that they can result in a drier cake when baked. Therefore, it seemed obvious that the best way to avoid this was to include some ground nuts in the cake batter. Nuts, when ground and used in cake batters and the like, have the wonderful advantage of preserving a certain moistness and extending the keeping quality of the bake… plus they taste wonderful. I regularly use ground almonds and ground hazelnuts in my baking and have recently started using other ground nuts more often. Ground walnuts, pistachios, pecans all have individually distinctive flavours which can be used to great effect when substituted for the more commonly used ground almonds. I would definitely encourage you to explore their possibilities.

For this cake the obvious choice was to use hazelnuts as they go so well with figs. I was really pleased with how the cake turned out and for perhaps the first time after using fresh figs in my baking I wasn’t left undecided about whether I was a fan of figs or not.
 

I roasted, skinned and ground the hazelnuts myself. This creates a slightly coarser texture than the commercially ground hazelnuts that you can buy but I prefer to grind them myself as I think the taste is far superior and I quite like a nuttier texture.

One piece of advice; just gently place the figs on top of the cake batter once you have placed it in the cake tin. There is no need to embed them in the batter as it will rise around the figs to envelope them without the fear that they will completely disappear as the cake bakes. You will see in the photos that accompany this post, that one of my figs did become slightly submerged, but this was because it was slightly smaller than its companions.

Although I am a devoted tea fan, I have to admit that this cake was just made to have with a good cup of strong coffee, so that was exactly what I did!

 

Ingredients:

125g butter
150g caster sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

150g self-raising flour, sifted

125g ground hazelnuts

25ml milk

5 fresh figs, halved
 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4. Butter and line a 20cm round cake tin with non-stick baking parchment and set aside.

2. Place the butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl and using a hand-held electric mixer, beat together until light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well after each addition.

3. Add the flour and mix briefly to incorporate. Add the ground hazelnuts and fold into the batter using a large metal spoon. Add the milk and mix through to create a dropping consistency.

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and level and smooth the surface with the back of a metal spoon or a spatula. Arrange the fresh figs, cut side facing upwards on the cake batter without pushing them in. Bake in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes but check it after 30 minutes and if it is browning too quickly cover with a little tin foil for the remaining baking time.  The cake is ready when it is well risen, a golden brown colour and a thin skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.
 

Serves 6-8.
 

Smoked Haddock Vichyssoise

Homemade soups are a great way of getting fussy eaters to eat vegetables and other ingredients that they might not normally be inclined towards. I have an on-going battle with my gang to try and get them to eat more vegetables in their diet and I definitely find it frustrating that they are so reticent. However, they love the soups that I make and during the colder months, there is rarely an evening when I don’t have a pot of soup ready to dish up to them – and quite amazingly their favourite soup and the one that they demand is vegetable soup. I vary this to include a combination of the following, onion, celery, leeks, potatoes, carrots, parsnips… basically whatever I have on hand. I don’t have a blueprint recipe for this soup, because it varies depending on what I have in the vegetable basket. The basis of all the soups I make is a well-flavoured stock. Sometimes I use vegetable stock and other times I use chicken stock. Mostly I use homemade stocks, made from scratch, but if I have none I use stockpots – concentrated stocks that can be bought in tiny little tubs, flavoured with herbs and meat extracts which can be popped into the soup as you are simmering the vegetables.

Although, I like both chunky soups, where the vegetables are discernible and I also like puréed soups, my gang much prefer the latter, so this is what I tend to make most often.

Every now and again, I like to make something a little different, to vary the ingredients a little to try and try and introduce my three to different flavours in the hope that they will become less conservative about what they eat. This soup is my attempt at doing so and uses one of my favourite ingredients – smoked haddock.

I didn’t overwhelm the soup with a large amount of fish, but used enough so that the slight smokiness of the fish came through. The finished soup was absolutely delicious and packed full of flavour. We all loved it.

Try and get natural dyed smoked haddock; it is far preferable to the bright orange smoked fish that can be bought, but can be a little tricky to get your hands on.

This soup is intended to be served silkily smooth so it is puréed, but if you want to add a little bit of texture, you can add a few flakes of the cooked flaked fish on top, when you serve it. After puréeing the soup, I pass the soup through a fine sieve to make sure that it is like liquid velvet when you eat it, but this is not absolutely necessary. After that a little cream and a few finely chopped chives is all you need to finish the dish off.

The soup is lovely served with the potato scones that I recently gave the recipe for. The recipe can be accessed here.

Ingredients:

50g butter
250g onions, chopped

250g leeks, sliced (white parts only)

100g potatoes, peeled and diced into small cubes

A sprig of fresh thyme
A pinch of curry powder

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

600ml vegetable stock

200ml single cream

180g smoked haddock, cut into bite sized pieces

To garnish:

Cream

Fresh chives, finely chopped
 

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a low heat and add the onions, leeks, potatoes and sprig of thyme. Allow the vegetables to sweat, without colouring for about ten minutes until they are tender and the onions and leeks are translucent.

2. Add a pinch of curry powder and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix everything together and then add the stock and smoked haddock. Bring up to the boil over a moderate heat and then reduce the temperature and allow simmer for ten minutes.

3. Remove the sprig of thyme. Place the soup in a blender and purée for a couple of minutes until smooth. If you want a flawlessly smooth soup, you can then pass the soup through a sieve into a clean saucepan.

4. Add the cream and stir through. Check the seasoning and adjust as necessary. Heat the soup over a moderate heat until piping hot and then serve in warm bowls garnished with a swirl of cream and a few chopped chives.

Serves 4-6.