Fish on Friday - smoked haddock fishcakes

Whenever M is away I take the opportunity to eat things he doesn't like - fish, peas, lamb... Of those the one I miss the most from our normal weekly meal plans is fish. A lot of the time, I cook smoked haddock like this but today fancied something different. 

My sister actually inspired this as I'm sure she mentioned making fishcakes for my nephew. I knew that I had some reduced smoked haddock sat waiting for inspiration in the freezer and as M is away tonight I thought I'd have a bash. I deliberately put this together out of things I had in the cupboard as I'm still spring cleaning so didn't want any new bottles of jars lingering around the flat. 

That said, I should just say that is it me or has smoked fish got even saltier than it used to be of late? I poached some smoked cod the other week and it was so salty it was inedible, and this was on the edge of being too salty. 

Storecupboard Smoked haddock fishcakes

500g (or therabouts) of smoked haddock, skinned and chopped into bite size peices
2 tsps cornflour
2 tbsps horseradish sauce
2 tbsps milk
Liberal amount ground black pepper
Zest of a lemon
4 tbsps polenta
Oil for frying

Put your smoked haddock in a biggish bowl and add the other ingredients
Use a hand blender (the type you use to bend soup - a stick blender maybe?) to mash it all up into a thick paste
Make your fishcakes up - I found that this quantity makes 6 grown up size ones, 2 each would be a good portion. You could halve the size if making them for children
Put on a plate and chill in the fridge for at least half an hour
Measure out the polenta onto a side plate
On taking the fishcakes out of the fridge, roll the cakes in the polenta, just gently so that it sticks.
Heat up a frying pan and cook the fishcakes for 5 minutes on each side so that they're cooked through

Serve with green veggies and potato wedges too if you fancy it

Meal planning Monday

Well I don't know what happened - there's been this big yellow shiny thing in the sky this week. I'm not sure what it is, but it's meant I've been able to relegate my collection of cardigans and tights in favour of maxi skirts & dresses. Does anyone have any ideas as to what this phenomenon may be?

Flippancy aside. For now at least. Another busy week in the pantry - I'm doing a fair bit of around and about-ing, and M is away for a couple of days (although I'm hoping to make the most of that and have put an order in for some more perfume and some amaretto - It's Jo Malone Nectarine blossom and honey if you're reading this M). As always I'll make the most of M's absence and eat fish :-) 

Breakfasts: Yoghurt, grape nuts and fruit - I'm out of rhubarb so it'll be apples for now.

Lunches: Salad, with salmon tomorrow and Tuesday - then possibly tuna later in the week

Dinners: 

Monday - home made smoked haddock fishcakes with broccoli

Tuesday -  Pantry pasta 

Wednesday - Risotto with bacon and mushrooms (I'm not sure if it'll work - but let's see)

Thursday - with any luck, leftovers

Friday - Pork fajitas

Saturday - I think we're out for Mum's and Noah's birthdays next weekend so I'm leaving this open for now. If we're at home I'll probably do a roast chicken at some point so that we've got a head start on next week.

Baking has been a lemon drizzle today - just a sponge on a 6:6:6:3 ratio, with the zest of two lemons in place of the vanilla. Cooked for 50 minutes at 175 degrees C and then smothered in a lemon and icing sugar glaze. Juice of 2 lemons and about 3oz of icing sugar. It's currently cooling but I have high hopes

Bread this week is the Paul Hollywood bloomer again, but it's gone a bit splodgy as I didn't shape it very well. 

That's it - pop back next week for a quiet week as M's in Le Mans and as we know my approach to eating alone can be summed up in two words. Marmite. Toast. 

Don't forget to pop over to At Home with Mrs M to see what the other meal planners have in store this week.

Meal planning Monday: the 3 day week

I've been awol on the meal planning front for a little while. The planning has still been taking place, it's the motivation to write it that's absent.

This week I've taken today and tomorrow as leave in a bid for a bit of a rest. However,  I then made a list of all the things I need to do, and suddenly it's not so restful. Which is why I'm writing this on the phone in the dentist surgery.

Breakfasts: I've switched back to yoghurt with a sprinkling of grape nuts and fruit. 0% fat Total Greek is my favourite

Lunches: I've been starting the switch from soups over to crudités,  salad and home made houmous or smoked mackerel pate. 

Suppers: we're trying to clear down the freezer so I can defrost it.  Much of what we're eating has had part of it previously frozen!

Monday: leftover lasagne and salad

Tuesday: chicken and vegetable enchiladas, and salad

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Mark's at his archery AGM so poached smoked haddock with peas for me

Friday: Mark's night - a new development in the pantry to give me a night off!

Saturday: we're off to see Matilda so supper will be out. Any suggestions of somewhere lovely for a pre theatre meal?

Sunday: Mark's off to see the Touring cars at Thruxton. I'm undecided about what I'm doing

So that's us this week. Not wildly exciting. I'll add links to recipes when I'm at the laptop, but don't forget to pop on over to the linky At home with Mrs M to see what the other meal planners are up to. 

Meal Planning Monday: if you change your mind

So, I wasn't going to meal plan yet this week - we have next to no food in the house and I was waiting to do a shop with M. But then today turned into a really crappy day - I had two allergic reactions this morning and ended up taking Piriton, I travelled to one of our satellite offices only to be caught in some kind of freak blizzard which ended in me having to cut my trip short, then it took me double the usual time to get home because it never snows in this country*, wasn't even forecast** so the train company couldn't cope*** Then M found out he needs to work away this week. We haven't seen each other for 2 weeks, and he's away again tomorrow. *sobs* 

So yep, crappy day. So I am now cwtched up under a blanket with my peppermint and licquorice tea watching old episodes of How I met your Mother and meal planning. 

This week's meal plan is going to be creative... 

Breakfasts: poached eggs, or porridge, or a toasted bagel with peanut butter.

Lunches: soup is still the order of the day. Tomato and cannelini bean or Split pea and frankfurter

Dinners: 

Monday: I would love to put something healthy and well balanced in here. Truth be told, I've just eaten two crumpets with marmite and a fairy cake.

Tuesday: Smoked haddock, peas, bread & butter

Wednesday: Slow cooker sausage and sweet potato casserole (recipe to follow)

Thursday: We're doing a sponsored walk for Comic Relief, so an after Brownie supper of Pantry pasta

Friday: Pork carnitas (recipe to follow) made into fajitas. 

Saturday: I'm at ICANDO all day with the Brownies so maybe a takeaway as it's guaranteed I'll be shattered

Sunday: A rare day together so I think a roast. 

A busy week as usual. We've got Comic Relief fairy cakes in the cake tin, and I've got a Simnel cake to make ready for Easter. 

Enjoy your week, and be sure to pop over to At home with Mrs M to see what all the other meal planners are up to. 

* This is a lie
** This is also a lie
*** This isn't

Meal Planning Monday: He's not here

A week at home and it's just sod's law isn't it, that M's away. Skiing. In Austria. If I could ski or had any interest in being cold I'd be jealous. As it is I'm just missing him. Already. 

But enough of such soppy stuff. M's week away means I get to eat all the things he doesn't like. Hurrah! *dances* And as such my meal plan looks like this:

Breakfast: Porridge or a poached egg on toast

Lunches: Smoked mackerel pate with cucumber and carrot sticks. Or soup - tomato and cannelini bean or split pea and frankfurter.

Dinners:

Monday: Crock pot lamb stew (recipe coming up later this week)

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Poached smoked haddock, with peas

Thursday: Pantry pasta (anchovies added back in as M's away)

Friday: Nigella's muttar paneer (from Feast)

Saturday: Baked white fish with steamed veggies

Sunday: M's back *woohoo!* He's having lunch out for Mother's day while I'm at Church Parade, so I think I might do soup and sandwiches.  

So that's me. What're you up to? With any luck this week I'll remember to link up with Mrs M

Fish on Friday: comfort food

Poached smoked haddock, with parsley, egg, tomato and peas

Yes, I know it's not Friday - but I'm working away this week, so a meal plan is pointless. And besides, I'm really excited about this dinner. And it's rare this happens. Well, that's not entirely true - I also get excited when I don't have to cook. Anyway... I've been planning to cook fish as M's away working this week, but this week has been difficult and eating hasn't been a priority.

Poached smoked haddock - about 10 years ago this my ultimate comfort food. Always poached in mik, served with peas, bread and butter. I try to avoid dyed fillets of smoked haddock these days so eat it less, but picked up an undyed fillet in my favourite section of any supermarket. That little bay at the end of an aisle with the markdown stickers. You know you love it too.

Initially I planned to recreate that dish of (not quite) yore. However, M's been away this week and an early night - well, I could explain but if a picture paints a thousand words, this should explain better

Nigella of course, picked up on my poaching idea and took it to a new level. And that's what brought us here. To a Friday night, after much baking of Christmas cakes and steaming of puddings, where an oven proof dish sits on my kitchen worktop, ready to be filled with a variety of ingredients to pull together a step up from my poached smoked haddock.

1 fillet undyed smoked haddock

250ml skimmed milk

Small bunch flat leaf parsley

1 cup of frozen peas

2 plum tomatoes

1 egg

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C

Butter an ovenproof ramekin, and put the haddock in it. Add the milk, frozen peas and tomatoes, grind some pepper over and tear in the parsley. 

As you're about to put the dish in the oven (on a baking tray) crack in an egg

Bake for 20 - 30 minutes, depending on how well done you want your egg

Eat from your knees, in front of the television.

 

 

 

If you leave your egg yolk runny this would be fab with bread and butter.

Meal planning monday: the cold, stressed edition

It's cold, wet and quickly darkening outside. I'm cold, stressed and grumpy. What better situation to put together this week's meal plan? Really, no need to answer, that was rhetorical.

I don't know if it's the weather, or trying to combine keeping our home lovely, clean, calm and restful with busy lives. Who knows? What I do know is that if work continues to be busy and life continues to be chaotic I'm going to be thinking about a cleaner. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really am beginning to consider it. 

Anyway, back to usual. It's another busy week, work, training, running, Guides, Brownies and then the annual Remembrance sleepover next weekend. M and I should get to catch up on Wednesday, but otherwise it's ships that pass in the night!

Breakfasts: so, as winter has finally taken hold, it's definitely porridge. I'm going to stew some blueberries to go on top. I try to have one of the Sainsbury's bags of frozen fruit in the freezer as they make for such convenient ways to add in extra fruit

Lunches: Definitely soup. Soup all the way. Salads and sarnies are a no go from this point onwards until - let's say June?

Dinners, always the interesting bit of these posts

Monday: I was hoping to have leftover Minced beef hash, but I only had half a pack of minced beef so at the moment I don't think it'll stretch. Mind you M's at Welsh so if I get a potato to bake it may well. Watch this space. 

Tuesday: I'm at Guides, so I'm going to get out some chorizo, butternut squash and cannelini bean chilli out of the freezer for M to have with rice. 

Wednesday: Seeing as it's our only night in together this week I should make something lovely - I was thinking of putting a casserole in the slow cooker to have when we get in.

Thursday: hopefully there'll be leftover casserole! 

Friday: M's going up to his parents, and I'm going to be getting ready for the Guide sleepover. I've got some undyed smoked haddock in the freezer, and I think I'll poach that in milk with bay and peppercorns, and have it with peas and some bread and butter. 

So that's it... a quick week in the pantry - the next few weeks are going to be non stop. I'm hoping M and I will do better than one night together in seven as we go on! Be sure to pop over to At Home with Mrs M to see what all the other meal planners are up to.