This week’s recipe produces a very sophisticated dish for very little effort and anybody who can cook a little can cook it so, unless you don’t like fish, there’s really no excuse. The measurements are in metric but if you want them in ounces just multiply them by 0.035273962 and exercise your brain.
Some people worry about cooking mussels and cockles. There are two useful rules: before you cook them, if any are open and won’t move of their own accord when tapped or squeezed, they’re dead so throw them away. Then, after cooking, if there are any not open, they must have been dead as well, so throw them away too.
INGREDIENTS
Serves two
Two 200g pieces of smoked haddock
A good handful of live cockles
A good handful of live mussels
One small leek - split in half, washed and finely chopped
Half a small onion – peeled and finely diced
One stick celery - chopped
150g baby leaf spinach - washed and dried
A pinch of saffron powder or 4 saffron strands
175ml white wine
200ml double cream
Sprig of parsley – roughly chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
Clean the cockles and mussels in plenty of cold water, scraping off any barnacles and pulling any beards off the mussels. Discard any that are open and fail to close when given a squeeze.
Preheat a deep saucepan and when hot, add the shellfish and cover with a lid. Cook for 2 minutes, giving the pan a shake a couple of times, then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and discard any that have remained closed.
Leave the pan on the heat and, in the liquor left behind from cooking the shellfish, gently cook the celery, leek and onion until tender.
Add the white wine and saffron and place the haddock pieces on top of the vegetables. Replace the lid and cook over a medium heat for 4 minutes.
Carefully remove the haddock with a fish slice and add the cream, spinach and shellfish to the pan. Bring to the boil, taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.
To serve, spoon the broth with its vegetables and shellfish into a warmed bowls and top with the haddock and a little chopped parsley.
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