Kedgeree

A Victorian era Anglo-Indian colonial breakfast dish (possibly invented in a Scottish regiment?). History is interesting.

Ingredients

• 8-12oz haddock, cod, or similar fillet
• 2 eggs
• 2 bay leaves
• 1c basmati rice
• 2tbsp butter
• 2 small onions, chopped
• 2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp ground mustard
• 2 tbsp madras curry powder
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2c cilantro, chopped
• 2 lemons, juiced
• salt
• plain yogurt

Place the fish in a pan and add a little water - not enough to cover, I think. Add the bay leaves, bring to a boil and cook about 5 minutes. Remove the fish and set to cool, at which time you can flake it apart. I think smoked fish might be a good alternative here (and more flavorful) so if you can get smoked cod, I'd say go for it.

Set up the rice cooking. If you use a rice cooker, do that. I use 1c rice and 1.25c water. If you use a pot, use those ratios, bring to a boil, simmer covered on low for 10 minutes, then set aside covered for 10 minutes. Done.

Meanwhile, set a small saucepan of water to boil. When it's boiling, add the eggs. Boil for 10 minutes, then remove and run under icy cold water to stop the cooking.

OK. Now, in a large-ish saute or similar, add the butter and onions. Cook until softened, then add the garlic and ginger. Cook another minute or two, then add the mustard and curry. Cook another couple minutes, then add the tomato and lemon juice.

When that's done, remove from heat. Add the rice to the onion / tomato mixture, along with the cilantro and the flaked fish, and toss to coat. Peel the hard-boiled eggs and cut into quarters. Top the dish with the hard-boiled eggs, then serve with a little yogurt.

Thoughts: This dish was a little too lemon-y for our taste, and it needed a bit more salt. The fish lost some flavor to the weird boiling process (leave it to the Brits, amirite?) but if we had smoked fish, that might have worked well. I think next time we go with one lemon, smoked fish, and more salt. That would make this a pretty damn good dish.

Disaster Index: 3/10

Cullen Skink

We got the recipe at Doune Castle. I made some modifications, and it worked!


Ingredients

• about 8oz mashed potatoes
• 1.5 leeks (you could reasonably use one), chopped
• pint of 2% milk
• about 1lb cod or haddock (we used cod)
• salt
• pepper
• bay leaf
• some olive oil

In a soup pot, heat olive oil. Add the leeks and cook until they're just getting tender - 8 minutes or so. Add the milk, bay leaf, and cod. Heat to boiling, then reduce to a simmer until the fish is cooked through. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the fish, about half the leeks, and the bay leaf. Add the mashed potatoes and blend what remains until smooth. Flake the fish apart and re-add that and the leeks to the pot. Salt and pepper to taste (takes a LOT of salt because of the potato - don't be afraid of seasoning.)

Thoughts: This was pretty great. It's basically vichyssoise, except with cod in it. In the future, I would probably do this SLIGHTLY differently. I might cook most of the stuff in water rather than milk, because the milk tends to separate (though blending with the potato helps this). I would want chunks of potato, too. I'm not sure exactly when I would add this. Otherwise, pretty awesome. Everyone kept saying they liked it and I do not THINK they were lying to me.

Disaster Index: 1/10