Smoked haddock croquettes with tartare sauce

                                                                              Smoked haddock croquettes with tartare sauce

Phew, another weekend gone. This one went too quickly. We've had a nice time catching up with friends on Friday and Saturday nights and spend the days relaxing. We had a walk up to the farmers market and I've been working my way through the papers. The weather has been playing games with us; looking all warm and inviting but really being quite chilly when you are out and about.

This little Sunday night supper recipe reflects this time of year. It's a bit of a winter warmer with the smoked fish and celeriac and a touch of lighter spring with the salad and tartare sauce.

Tartare sauce - serves 2

1/4 pint of vegetable oil

2 egg yolks

2 tsp dijon mustard

1 tsp white wine vinegar

a good pinch of salt

grind of pepper

2 tbs chopped parsley

2tbs chopped gherkins

3tbs chopped capers

Don't panic, don't panic this recipe only takes 10 minutes to make and that includes the tidying up. 

Separate the yolks from the whites and put them in a clean bowl. You can put a wet dishtowel under the bowl to stop it moving.  

Beat the egg yolks with an electric whisk on a medium speed add the mustard, vinegar and salt until well blended. 

Very slowly, one drop at a time (seriously) add the oil continuing to beat the whole time. 

It will look very thin at this stage but as you continue beating it will start to thicken up.

Once almost half the oil has been added you can then start to add it as a slow steady drizzle. 

After all the oil has been added you may wish to add more vinegar, mustard or seasoning to suit your tastes.

Add the parsley, gherkins and capers and there you have it... homemade tartare sauce.

The patience pays off as I’ve never split the mixture by making it this way.

I defy the sunny, yolky colour not warm your heart just a little and to vow never to buy tartare sauce in jar form again (for this week anyway).

It can be made up to 24 hours in advance.

Smoked haddock and celeriac croquettes - serves a greedy 2

200g floury potato (1 large one roughly)

200g celeriac

2 fillets of lightly smoked haddock

pint of milk

2 bay leaves

a few strokes of grated nutmeg

small bunch of chopped parsley

knob of butter 

salt

black pepper

100g polenta 

lemon wedges to serve

Chop the potato and celeriac into small cubes and boil in salted water for about 10 minutes or until soft.  

One the vegetables are cooked, strain, pat dry with kitchen towel and leave to steam for a few minutes to dry off further. 

Start gently poaching the fish at this point with the bay leaves, nutmeg and a good grind of black pepper.

Returning to the veggies, mash well and add the butter, parsley, and a very good pinch of salt.

The fish will take about 4 minutes to poach and once cooked should be drained and added to the mash.

Keep the fish in quite big chunks for better texture.

Make fat sausages and dust with the polenta.

Shallow fry for a few minutes on each side until golden brown.

Serve with a watercress salad dressed with lemon and olive oil and have lots of lemon wedges for the croquettes on the side.

I’m not sure if this dish is quite enough to make me delight at the prospect of another looming Monday morning but it has given my quite Sunday night evening a bit of a boost.