Cornwall Life – October 2019

Cornwall Life: August 2019Š 21

Serves 4 as a main course

• 4 haddock fillets, about 200g
  each, trimmed and pin-boned


• light olive oil for cooking


• Cornish sea salt and freshly
  ground black pepper

For the potatoes

• 4 large new potatoes


• 150g smoked haddock
  fillet, skinned


• 20g Cheddar cheese, grated


• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley

For the broad bean purée

• 300g freshly podded
  young broad beans


• 100g full-fat cream cheese


• 100g full-fat
  Greek-style yoghurt


• juice of 1 lime

For the chowder sauce

• olive oil for cooking


• 50g unsalted butter


• 1 banana shallot,
  peeled and diced


• 1 leek, washed, trimmed
  and finely sliced


• 2 celery sticks, diced


• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
  and finely chopped


• 2 sprigs of thyme


• 1 bay leaf


• 50ml cider vinegar


• 100ml cider


• 200ml fish stock


• 200ml double cream


• 1 large potato, peeled
  and cut into 1cm dice


• 100g freshly podded
  young broad beans,
  cooked and skinned


• 1 tablespoon chopped
  flat-leaf parsley


• For the parsley oil


• 100g flat-leaf parsley leaves


• 300ml light rapeseed oil

First prepare
the parsley oil
If possible, do this a day ahead.
Bring a pan of salted water to a
simmer and have a bowl of iced
water ready. Add the parsley

to the simmering water and

blanch for 20 seconds. Scoop

out the parsley and plunge into

the iced water to cool fast. Drain

and squeeze out excess water.

Put the parsley into a blender

with the rapeseed oil and blitz

for two minutes. Transfer to a

container, cover and refrigerate

for at least 3–4 hours, ideally

overnight.

For the smoked

haddock new potatoes

Preheat your oven to 220°C/Fan

200°C/Gas Mark 7.

Put the potatoes on a baking

tray and bake for 1 hour. When

cool enough to handle, halve the

potatoes and scoop out the flesh

into a bowl, keeping the skins

intact. Leave to cool until barely

warm. Dice the smoked haddock

and add it to the potato flesh

with the cheese and parsley. Mix

well and season with salt and

pepper. Spoon the mixture back

into the potato skins and place in

a baking dish. Bake the potatoes

for 30 minutes until crispy.

To make the

broad bean purée

Bring a pan of salted water

to the boil and have a bowl

of ice-cold water ready. Add

the broad beans to the boiling

water and cook for three

minutes. Drain and plunge into

the cold water to cool quickly

and keep their colour. Drain

well. Tip the broad beans into

a food processor and add the

cream cheese, yoghurt and lime

juice. Blitz for three minutes,

then taste for seasoning and

adjust with salt and pepper if

needed. Spoon into a container.

Keep the purée in the fridge,

ready to reheat and serve.

To make the

chowder sauce

Heat a saucepan over a

medium heat then add a

drizzle of olive oil and the

butter. When the butter is

melted and bubbling, add

the shallot, leek, celery, garlic,

thyme and bay leaf. Cook,

stirring, for three minutes, to

soften but not colour. Add

the cider vinegar and simmer

until reduced totally. Add the

cider and fish stock and cook

until reduced by half. Add the

cream and potato and cook

until the potato is tender.

Remove and set aside.

To cook the haddock

Preheat the grill and oil the fish

and grill tray. Season the fish

well with salt and pepper. Grill

skin side up, without turning, for

4–5 minutes. Leave to rest on

the tray.

To assemble and serve

While the fish is grilling, reheat

the broad bean purée. Heat up

the sauce in a pan, then add

the broad beans and parsley

and heat for 30 seconds. Share

the sauce among four warmed

plates. Place two potato halves

and a grilled haddock fillet on

each plate. Add a generous

spoonful of broad bean purée

and finish with a drizzle of

parsley oil. Serve at once.

INTERVIEW

NATHAN’S HADDOCK, BROAD BEANS & SMOKED HADDOCK POTATOES

There is nothing wrong with battered
haddock and chips, but if you haven’t
yet tasted grilled haddock you are really
missing out. A fillet of haddock taken from a
medium to large fish, seasoned simply with

salt and pepper and grilled to perfection,

has an amazing flavour.

This is a lovely seasonal dish. Young, tender

broad beans are both added to a chowder

sauce and served as a purée on the side.

New potatoes are baked, then stuffed with

smoked haddock mixed with the scooped-

out potato, cheese and herbs, and baked

again. The grilled haddock fillets sit atop the

chowder sauce, all finished with parsley oil.