I also want rice and in this weather that means risotto. And I want fish too - the smoked haddock here produces a sunny yellow that lifts the spirits as the snowflakes drift past my windows.
What you need:
1 fillet smoked haddock
1/2 mug of risotto rice
1 small onion, finely chopped
Vegetable oil
Knob of butter
1/2 litre (1 pint) vegetable stock
2 spring onions, sliced diagonally into 1/2cm pieces
Chopped fresh dill
A little grated Gruyère or Emmenthal
What to do:
Heat the oil and butter in a sauteuse over a medium heat and fry the onion until it's soft and translucent. Add the rice and stir it through so every grain gets coated in the fat. Pour in a little stock and stir well, turning up the heat so it stays on a simmer.
Simmer the fish in a little water until it's just cooked, around 4-5 minutes. Lift it out, break it into large flakes with a fork and set it aside. Add the water to the rice, then keep ladling the stock into the rice and stirring until almost all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is just turning from al dente. Add the smoked haddock and spring onion and grind in a little black pepper. As soon as the stock is absorbed stir in the cheese and dill and dish up.
I've discussed the difference between dyed and undyed smoked haddock before. You won't get the lovely bright yellow colour if you use undyed fish - the colour leaches into the cooking water and the rice takes on the yellow when you add the water to it. Tastewise there is no difference.
I don't bother to add salt as smoked haddock can be salty and there will also be salt in the stock. But, as always, check the seasoning before you dish up and add it if you need it.
Don't use parmesan, the traditional risotto cheese, for this, as the fish will overpower its flavour. I like the Swiss cheese as it adds a nice stringy texture as it melts and it's just strong enough to balance the fish. A medium strong cheddar also works well.
Looks delicious. I can't get smoked haddock in my town, I might have to make do with smoked salmon.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure this would work well with other kinds of smoked fish!
DeleteTotes amazed, as they say on Kermode & Mayo: only the second time in history there's been a sauteuse without the heavy adjective :). Please can we have a photo of this famous pan (Google Images, and even Dehilleren's site, don't really explain what you're using)?
ReplyDeleteHi San, I promise I will photograph the pan next time it pops up in a recipe! Basically a sauteuse is like a very deep frying pan but with a lid (usually glass). I say heavy, because heavy pans conduct heat better but also give you more control of the cooking. A thin-based pan will get too hot and possibly even buckle and the food may cook too quickly. Aluminium is cheap and thin so it's better to get a pan made of steel. I always say get the best you can afford - the initial outlay may seem steep but a good pan will last many years. It's worth looking on cookware websites for good pans as they often do really competitive offers (40-50% off, and I know ProCook, which I really like - web prices are much cheaper than in their stores).
ReplyDeleteThanks.
ReplyDeleteI've thought a lot in the last few years about buying "the best you can afford", though more in relation to tools than kitchen equipment. It's what I was always taught, and it was true for the spanners and socket sets I looked at back then. Now though, for the amount of use I'll give an electric drill, or a Dremel-alike (a Dremel, yesterday), should I spend the money, or should I get the copy from Aldi or Lidl? I've been happy with the copy. 3-year warranty too.
10 or 15 years ago, I discovered Netto and Aldi and Lidl. Just then, I bought a larger and a smaller frying pan from two of them. Both cheap. Both solid. Aluminium, but chunky. They've been great. The Teflon coatings are now not as good as they were, but they'll last a few years more. Meanwhile, my expensive Le Creuset frying pan continues as a wall decoration :).
However, maybe we've gone through the Golden Era of cheap Chinese equipment, and with wages there increasing we will be back to "best you can afford".
I'm glad you've mentioned Aldi and Lidl because I've had two frying pans from Lidl although they are steel rather than aluminium. Both are still going strong! With Teflon, you do need to treat with care - no scouring. I use the soft sponge side of a washing-up pad and a little washing up liquid. It's enough.
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to cook a lot, it's definitely worth shopping around. That said "best you can afford" can be flexible - my cast-iron griddle pan came from Tesco and cost £9.99. It's just as good as Le Creuset in terms of weight and quality and also has the Le Creuset cast-iron handle, so you can put it in the oven too. Meanwhile, my genuine Le Creuset casserole is at the back of the cupboard because it's too big for one person. I bought it back in the days when cooking for 4-6 people was common for me. So it's all relative.
I've been thinking about this a lot since your first comment and I'm going to make a separate page to show my kit, so I'll be photographing more than just the sauteuse!
And as if they'd been listening, Lidl have a sauté pan, plus various frying pans, on sale from the 28th January :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/SID-98A4B082-7A6D7458/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/offerdate.htm?offerdate=38191
Indeed. My workhorse has one long handle rather than two side handles but yes, that's a sauteuse!
ReplyDelete