Foodie Friday - the fishmonger, buying more British fish and a fish dish..

I'd never been a fan of fish, except battered fish from the chip shop.

There, I've said it. Call me what you will, but I just didn't like it. I suppose being allergic to shellfish put me off all kinds of fish, except a piece of cod,  haddock or salmon.. You know where you are with them.

Until this year that is. 

As the covid pandemic spread and the lockdown began, most of us only left our small village to buy food or fetch medicines. 

During the first lockdown, I was cooking lots of different recipes and decided I would try cooking with fish more. A fishmonger visits the neighbouring village every Tuesday afternoon so I wondered whether he would drive a mile up the hill to our village if there was enough demand.

Paul Farrell, or Paul the Fish as a few of us call him, said yes, he would come once to see if it would be worth it. So, was it? Let's just put it this way, like Julius Caesar, he came, he saw, he conquered.

It was a sunny Tuesday lunchtime, and as he arrived by the church gates,  there were about fifteen people waiting for him in a socially distanced queue. It was very convivial as we all saw people we hadn't seen for weeks, and everyone eagerly bought fish as if it were going out of fashion.

Paul has been coming to our village ever since, and do you know what? I'm really enjoying trying different types of fish.

His immaculately clean refrigerated vehicle always has a good selection of fresh fish and shellfish. Haddock....plain, smoked yellow and plain smoked, cod, plaice, hake, halibut, salmon, dressed crab, prawns, mussels, crevettes, lemon sole, Dover sole, trout and if you want lobster, he will order it in for you.

 

 

These days he visits each house individually and has built up a devoted following here. 

Paul lives in Grimsby but can be seen whizzing around the villages in Leicestershire, and at the market in Market Harborough.  

He's busy and works long hours, but he's thankful. This year hasn't been kind to the fishing industry in this country. In March,  the beginning of the first lockdown, he wondered whether his business would survive. 

Why we should eat more fish

Now in November, fishermen are in dire straights again during this second wave of Covid. So much so that we are all being urged to buy more fish from our local fishmongers or to buy direct from many fishermen who are now selling their fish directly online to customers' homes all over the country. Spread Christmas cheer, buy more fish this year.....or even send fish this year..

So I'm doing just that and enjoying many new recipes along the way.

A favourite though is Arbroath smokies or smoked haddock gratin, whatever you like to call it. This is a fairly vague recipe which was dictated to me via a friend of mine, but it's delicious...

Ingredients

large onion, finely sliced or died

large glass of white wine

6 rashers of bacon, cuts into strips

250gms of cheddar cheese, grated 

450 gms smoked haddock, cut into small pieces

half a stock cube - (fish, or vegetable,I use Swiss bouillon powder)

300 mls of water 

300mls of double cream

How to make it

Chop the onion and bacon.

Heat a few glugs of olive oil in a saucepan, and then brown the onion and bacon.

When browned, add the wine and the stock you have made with the stock cube and water.

Reduce by about a half, then add the cream. As soon as it starts to boil turn the heat down. Add the grated cheese

 

Add the cubed haddock and cook gently for about 6 minutes, then transfer to an oven dish.

Top with some more grated cheese and some chopped parsley.

Finally, brown under a preheated grill until the cheese bubbles. Or, like I do, put into the oven and bake for another 5 - 10 minutes before serving.

This is a very forgiving dish, and it will stay in the oven on a very low light quite happily for a while.  This week, I added mushrooms to brown at the same time as the onion and bacon, for a change, which worked well.

This serves four people and I usually serve this with some new potatoes either boiled or roasted, asparagus, tenderstem or purple sprouting broccoli, peas or french beans - whichever is in season.

Or for real comfort food on a cold, wintery night, you could just dunk a couple of hunks of good bread or toast in this tasty, cheesy, fishy dish and spoon up the rest of the sauce. It's filling.