by Joy Cooke

Created on: March 20, 2010

With Good Friday coming up we should start considering our menu for that day, many Christians abstain from meat on this day and not everyone likes plain fish so it's worth planning out a few fish dishes to add interest around the Good Friday dinner table.  Fish is expensive at the moment, but with a little forward planning you can create a delicious fish dish and still keep within budget.  The beauty of cooking with white fish is that is extremely easy, the most novice of cooks should be able to follow the recipes below and the fairly short cooking times mean you shouldn't have to worry too much about the fish becoming overcooked.

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SMOKED HADDOCK WITH CREME FRAICHE AND BUTTER SAUCE

This is one of Delias which I have adapted to suit a wider range of palates and is not only my daughters favourite fish dish, but actually one of her favourite meals full stop. It only takes around 15 minutes from start to finish and is a very cheap main meal to make especially if you have a good fish monger nearby.

You will need:

400g of golden smoked haddock cutlets, these are very cheap to buy and our local fish market sells some very good golden cutlets at 3 pieces for only £1 and this is about 150g in weight I would guess
2 large tablespoons of creme fraiche
1 heaped tablespoon of fresh chives, snipped into short pieces
10g butter
150ml of whole milk, this is the blue top one because the watery semi skimmed milk that everyone drinks these days will not give a very good sauce

What you need to do:

First place your golden haddock cutlets into a large frying pan. Use a good quality frying pan that has a heavy flat bottom. Use a little fresh black pepper to season the fish but because the cutlets are smoked you do not need to use any salt at this point. Pour in the milk and bring to a steady simmer and simmer it uncovered for about 8 minutes until the fish looks opaque which is when you can usually tell that fish is cooked properly.

Using a fish slice transfer the haddock cutlets to a warm plate. Add the creme fraiche to the milk and increase the heat but still do not allow the mixture to boil. You are trying to get a fast simmer but stopping on just the right side of bubbling. Simmer this uncovered for 2 or 3 minutes and the sauce will thicken slightly and start to reduce in the pan.

Dice the butter and whisk it through the sauce and then put the fish back in, add the chives and allow

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