Kedging a ride

The weekend after the May Day Bank Holiday seems a time away now; a little like looking at a distant landmark through the wrong end of a telescope. At that time I was still basking in the afterglow of my career best bowling performance in league cricket a week earlier. I had been lucky to follow this up in the next match, after a controversial last minute selection, with another strong performance on a wet wicket. I bowled tightly to remove the opening batsman of a team who are based in the industrial midlands. 

Their home ground , which that particular game was played on, sits in a park in the middle of rundown housing estate where, in a previous life several years earlier, I had walked through on a one-off date with a local mattress saleswoman. 

After the game I headed east for some spontaneous frames of snooker  with a fellow law professional before hitting the sack.

The Dogg woke me early the next morning, by pawing me in the head, and to help recover from my sporting adventures the day before I cooked up my own take on Kedgeree. 

The ingredients were as follows: 

2 Banty Eggs hard-boiled sourced from brilliant local greengrocer The Strawberry Box.

2 Bay Leafs.

2 Smoked Haddock Fillets.

1 Bunch of Broccoli- also sourced from the Strawberry Box. 

2 Shallots.

8 ounces of Rice.

3 ounces of Pine Nuts

3 Spring Onions.

4 sprigs of Fresh Parsley.

2 tablespoons Curry Powder. 

The juice of 1 Lemon.

On the player was Robert Cray's funky and bluesy album "Strong Persuader". I was introduced to this talented and witty blues guitar man at a gig last October and following the gig was inspired to buy this album which stands as the high watermark of his recorded output. 

The method for this recipe is as follows:

1. Fry Haddock 8-10 minutes turning regularly then place on the side once cooked. 
2. Boil Rice for 15 minutes while the Haddock is frying. 
3. Boil Eggs for 5 minutes to make them hard boiled while Rice and Haddock are cooking. 
4. Steam Broccoli 20 for minutes while above ingredients are cooking.
5. Fry in a frying pan in Olive Oil the Shallots, Spring Onions and Bay Leafs for 15 minutes stirring regularly. Add Pine Nuts, Curry Powder, Parsley.
6. Once they have been cooked, using the method above, and cut into pieces add the Haddock, Rice, Broccoli and the Eggs once their shells have been peeled from them and the Eggs quartered.
7. Warm all the contents of the frying pan through and place in a Pyrex dish to serve.

When I'm holidaying, Kedgeree is one of the luxury breakfasts that I plump for. I really enjoy the smokiness of the Haddock coupled with the curried flavours. My take on it was motivated by my cricket adventures and promise to the Dogg and others to walk in a wider range of more taxing terrain which in turn required me to improved my fitness. Part of improving my fitness naturally means watching my diet. That's why the fresh Broccoli and rich Pine Nuts ended up in the recipe and they in turn made the dish rich yet healthy. 

Colourful Kedge- bright Haddock and lots of greens give this recipe a healthy glow.