Smoked Haddock Kedgeree

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I've been making this kedgeree for family supper for many years. It originally came from a cooking magazine but has been changed enough over the years for me to call it my own. In fact it was the one of the first dishes my daughter learned to cook herself.

It works well and is popular for breakfast at the B&B. Though, if you are having it for breakfast, never eat it accompanied by a cup of coffee only tea. Coffee & curry does something very peculiar to the taste buds in my experience.

Traditional kedgeree will have boiled eggs in it. Mind doesn't cos I don't like boiled eggs. If you want to include them then just add quartered boiled eggs in at the same time as the fish. I prefer to serve mine with a poached egg on top. Kedgeree is a dry dish so the runny yolk of the poached egg adds an instant sauce.

You need a medium sized saucepan that will go in the oven with a tight fitting lid.

Ingredients

1 large fillet of undyed smoked haddock
basmati rice measured to 9fl oz in a measuring jug
16 fl oz of vegetable stock
1 tsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbs butter
1 sliced onion
1 tbs curry powder
Fresh coriander - about 1 tbs chopped
4 poached eggs ( see how I cook poached eggs earlier in the blog here )
Lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C ( for a fan oven )

In a large frying pan heat the oil on high and add the cumin seeds, stirring for a few seconds.

Reduce the heat to low and add the butter & the sliced onion. Cook the onion for at least 10 minutes on a low heat until it is softened but you don't want it too coloured.

Add the curry powder and stir till it is well mixed in with the butter & onion. Then add the rice, stirring again till it is all thoroughly coated in buttery curry juices.

Turn the heat up and add the stock, stir well. When the stock is boiling, stir again and then put on the lid. Put in the oven for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile get a large pan of water to a fast simmer for the fish ( or do in the microwave if you prefer ).

When the 25 minutes it up take the rice out of the oven but don't take off the lid. Leave for 7 minutes. Poach the haddock for 4-5 minutes. Carefully remove the skin & flake the fish into big chunks.

When the 7 minutes is up, take the lid off the saucepan, fluff up the rice then add the chopped coriander & haddock and stir through carefully.

Put into 4 warm serving bowls, top with the poached egg & serve with a wedge of lemon.

Scrambled Eggs & Smoked Salmon

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After the full English this is probably one of the most requested dishes at my B&B. There are several ways of cooking it but I've finally settled on this one. It's a creamy concoction of eggs, with the Salmon stirred in, all piled on top of an English muffin. You can use the recipe I did earlier for the muffin, or buy them ready made from most supermarkets.

I've used sliced smoked salmon for this recipe but it's great for using up cheaper smoked salmon trimmings. You can also use flakes of hot smoked salmon or flaked trout.

Ingredients

2 free range eggs
60g smoked salmon ( retain a couple of strips of salmon as a garnish if you like )
1 tbs cream
1 English muffin
1 tsp of butter plus extra to butter the muffin
Black pepper

Chop the salmon into small pieces and put into a small bowl with the cream and mix well.
Break the eggs into a small bowl & whisk until all of the yolk & white are well combined. Add a grind of black pepper.

When you're ready to cook melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat and put in the eggs, stirring all the time to scramble the eggs. When about half of the liquid had turned into curds then add the salmon & cream mix ( pop the halved English muffin in the toaster at this point too ), continuing to scramble until all of the liquid has gone and you have a pan of creamy eggs & salmon.

When the muffin pops, butter in well, put onto a warmed plate & pile the salmon on top.

I like to serve mine with a sprinkling of chives or parsley & a wedge of lemon, but check with your guests as not everyone likes chives.

Smoked Haddock Topped With a Poached Egg

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We have another food scare in the news today, declaring the perils of eating red & processed meat. I've only seen the headlines & haven't read the study so I can't comment in detail.

I'm sure that eating too much of anything isn't good for you. So my approach is to try & eat & drink everything in moderation ( that's the theory it doesn't always work when I'm testing recipes :0). I love sausages but will probably only have a full English once or twice a month.

I think that if you come to a B&B you can afford to treat yourself for 2 or 3 days - in fact 95% of my guests will have some version of the cooked breakfast on their first day. But I also like to provide some healthier choices. Everyday on the buffet table we have natural & fruit yoghurts, homemade granola, muesli, granary bread to toast & fruit.

On the breakfast menu we always have smoothies & porridge. You can choose poached or scrambled eggs if you prefer....even the fried bread is homemade bread with no additives fried in olive oil...OK trying to persuade you fried bread is healthy is one step too far.

I do a daily special and this will sometimes be smoked haddock topped with a poached egg. I always use undyed smoked haddock. I poach it in fast simmering water ( most recipes suggest milk for smoked fish but I haven't noticed any difference using water ) for about 4 minutes then top with a grind of black pepper & a poached egg.

Hopton House Omelette

I have to confess that I'm not very keen on eggs. With 26 hens & an egg glut at the moment this is a bit unfortunate. It's also a bit of a nuisance when you're running a B&B. One of my cooking rules is that I never cook anything I wouldn't eat myself, but an egg-free B&B breakfast is probably one step too far.

Luckily I have a husband who loves eggs so I'm able to practise poaching, frying &  boiling eggs on him.

The 2 exceptions are scrambled eggs & omelette. I'll occasionally eat scrambled eggs with a cooked breakfast. But only ever with the beautiful gold yolked eggs from my own hens and never when we're eating out or staying at a hotel or B&B.

I do however quite enjoy a good omelette. It's one of the simplest breakfast, lunch or supper dishes you can do, ready in just 2 minutes. In the summer I serve it for lunch with red ripe tomatoes with lots of olive oil, sea salt & basil. In the winter I'll dish it up with some Heinz Baked Beans.

I also serve a 3 egg omelette for breakfast at the B&B. Guests can choose from plain or any combinations of mushroom, cheese, tomato, smoked salmon or bacon.

For a great 3 eggs omelette. First preheat the grill. Then whisk together 3 free range eggs in a bowl till the whites & yolks are well combined. Just before you're about to make the omelette add a pinch of salt & a grind of black pepper.

Take an omelette plan ( I use a small black cheap supermarket frying pan that does the job perfectly ).
Put the pan on a high heat & add a knob of butter. The butter will start to sizzle. As soon as it stops sizzling pour the eggs into the pan & leave for about 30 seconds to set. Then tilt the pan & start to draw all the edges of the omelette into the centre. When you've done this add your filling of choice - my favourite is our local Little Hereford cheese, and cook for about 30 seconds to a 1 minute.

I like my omelette completely cooked ( the French will probably disagree with me ) so I then pop it under the grill to melt the cheese and cook the top. This causes it to puff up beautifully.

Then slip it out onto a hot plate, folding it in half as you do so ( if you struggle to fold it then use a spatula )

To try these breakfasts at Hopton House B&B please visit
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Poached Eggs

Poached Eggs

I thought I would tackle the tricky subject of poached eggs early on in the blog as they're useful in lots of different breakfast recipes.

Many people are scared of making poached eggs ( including B&B owners ) and rightly so in my opinion! They are the type of egg most likely to go wrong. There can be nothing worse, when you have a full english ready to go, you pop your egg into poach & it goes terribly wrong.

There are, of course, egg poachers & pods & cling film methods. But I find most guests like to see a poached egg made in water with the egg white perfectly enclosing a runny yolk. So here's my method. I'd like to call it foolproof but that would be telling porkies. It does, however, have a high probablity of working out ok.....

First, choose your chicken. Your poached egg will work much better if you choose an egg from a young hen. As the hen gets older I find their eggs don't quite work so well. If you don't have your own chickens in the garden make sure you buy nice fresh free range eggs.

The eggs do need to be as fresh as possible. I try only to make poached eggs with eggs that are a few days old. The older the egg, the thinner the white and the more chance that they'll spread & disperse in the pan. I always use room temperature eggs but I know other people swear by cold eggs......my blog, my recipe :0)

Now you need to take a small pan and fill with water. Add a good slug of vinegar. I've seen some chefs using white wine vinegar but I just use ordinary white distilled vinegar.

The water needs to be at a fast simmer, so lots of bubbles on the top but not boiling. Break the egg into a small bowl. Stir the water so it's swirling. Don't go mad here or you could just find the egg being dispersed around the pan. Slip the egg quickly into the water and cross your fingers. Hopefully you'll get a lovely shaped egg. Simmer for about 3 mins 45 seconds. This will give you just set egg white & a runny yolk.

The trick I use to take the stress out of poached eggs is to pre cook them before I start on the rest of the breakfasts. Take a bowl & fill with water & lots of ice. As soon as your egg is ready plunge it into the iced water. This means you can prepare all eggs up front then, when the rest of your breakfast is ready, just reheat for a minute in boiling water. Use a slotted spoon to take the egg out, rest on kitchen towel to absorb the water then serve.

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