Smoked Tuesday

It was wet and windy outside and I was still feeling the effects of a chilli con carne and strong coffee that I had consumed the night before at The Temple. Despite the late night, at work the next day I had felt in the one place you want to be; in the zone. It meant that I ploughed through what on first blush seemed an impossible task.

Jaded I returned home and with some eighties synth pop by a short-lived chart topping act playing in the background I set about making a dish with Smoked Haddock. The ingredients were as follows:

2 Carrots- topped, tailed, peeled and then cubed.
1 Turnip- topped, tailed, peeled and then cubed.
1 Leek- topped, tailed, peeled and then sliced thinly.
A pinch of Mustard.
1 Teaspoon of dried Parsley.
1 Smoked Haddock Fillet.

I started by steaming the vegetables for around thirty-five minutes until a fork could go through them pretty easily. I then mashed them with the Mustard and Parsley and mixed them together to form a square. I then put this "food cube" in a frying pan filled with Rapeseed Oil and placed the frying pan under a grill on a low heat for about ten minutes. This trick means the cube becomes crisp and sticks together a little more. It is an approach that's used in making dishes such as Duchess Potatoes.

I made sure the end of the cooking of the cube was done to coincide with the preparation of the Smoked Haddock which I grilled for eighteen minutes and turned it half way through cooking.

I served the food by placing the cube, which had lost its shape a little, on a plate with the Haddock Fillet balanced on top of it.

The Leek and Carrot were certainly flavoursome as was the Parsley but the Turnip and Mustard had a slightly bitter taste. Luckily the rich taste of the Smoked Haddock balanced this out very well to make this dish an ideal "pick me up" after the action- packed day at work, trip to the Temple and also after a wonderful weekend in the north country with old and good friends.

Smokin' Aces- the Smoked Haddock sits well on top of the vegetables.