Smoked Fish Fritatta

The sun shines gloriously, fooling you in your cocoon that it is warm and spring-like outdoors. When you emerge, the weather nips and the air burns your lungs with its chill. So I've been in the kitchen more than usual this week experimenting with traditional Scottish winter food. It suits the weather and our sense of local and sustainable food but if you're not careful, you might find yourself eating turnip in various forms for six months of the year. Because of that, smoked fish and meat is common in Scotland, helping excite our taste buds and encouraging our winter diet to stray from the ubiquitous tunip.

This whole week has been spent in a fug of smoky air. I've had smoked haddock fishcakes, Cullen Skink, smoked salmon kedgeree and more than one flavour of fritatta. Today it smells like breakfast time in a wee country B&B. Smoked fish, whipped eggs and creamy potatoes are cooking placidly on the hob making a delicate but dense fritatta.

I love smoked fish, not just salmon but trout, mackeral, haddock even smoked mussels and crab. Only gentle cooking and some simple companions are needed to serve as a foil for its strength and showcase its gutsy flavours. This is based on a traditional Cullen Skink soup, rich, creamy and dense but, departing from tradition a little, it has light curry spicing.

Cullen Skink Fritatta
250g smoked, undyed haddock
100ml milk
6 eggs
100ml double cream
2 tbsp butter
1 leek, finely sliced
1 tsp medium curry powder
2 potatoes, cooked and diced
Salt and Pepper
Small bunch parsley

Poach the fish in the milk and enough water to cover for 4-6 minutes till lightly cooked. Drain and set aside
Beat the eggs and cream together till light and fluffy. Set aside.
Melt the butter in a frying pan and saute the leeks until soft and melting.
Add the curry powder and cook gently for a minute or two. 
Add the potatoes and stir gently for a few minutes to meld with the leeks and spices.
Flake the fish into the fritatta and pour the eggs and cream into the pan.
Cook on a low heat until the fish is cooked through and the eggs begin to set.
Sprinkle with a few grinds of pepper, some parsley and a scant 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt. 
Place the pan under a preheated grill until the frittata is set and golden on top.
Serve with oatcakes and salad and a curry spiced chutney.

Cullen Skink

My camera is not working.... but I wanted to post this anyway. The wind is howling a gale outside, the rain lashing against the windows and I have a huge list of things to do but can't be bothered so am staying home to make soup. It is time, finally, to lay aside the hot weather food of summer months and embrace winter flavours, I need to make food to warm our bones and comfort us as we pack away the holiday clothes and break out the thermal underwear.

This truly Scottish concoction is not just a soup, more of a stew, a bit like an American chowder, rich dense and warming - perfect for a day like this. Although my version is not entirely authentic, it is exactly what I crave today. Hot garlic, potatoes and cream all flavoured with salty smoky haddock.

The village we live inis a good drive to the nearest fishmonger so we rely on a couple of salt soaked vans travelling through each week to provide us with our fish course. This week its the smoked haddock I can smell as I walk through the village square.

Cullen Skink
500g smoked haddock fillets (undyed if possible)
500ml milk
25g butter
2 leeks, white only finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
500g potatoes, peeled and chopped into 5mm dice
Salt and Pepper
Double Cream to finish

Put the smoked haddock fillets in a pan with 200ml milk. Add a little water to cover the fish if necessary. Boil for 6-8 mins depending on the thickness of the fish, until the fish is just cooked. Remove the fish (reserve the liquid) and flake into chunks.

Add the potatoes to the reserved milk. Boil for 10-15 mins until the potatoes are soft. remove the pan from the heat and mash the potatoes into the liquid until thick, smooth and creamy.

Melt the butter in a large pan and saute the leeks and garlic until they are meltingly soft. Do not allow them to colour, this soup should be a pallid creamy shade, no speckles of green or brown.

Combine the potato mixture and cooked fish in one pan with the leeks and add the remaining 300ml milk. Season well with lots of pepper (white if you have it). Smoked haddock can be very salty so taste before you add salt - you may not need any.

Warm through at a low heat for a few minutes then serve with a swirl of double cream on top some buttered soda or country bread on the side.