Smoked Haddock Fishcakes With Saffron Cream Sauce

Total Time: 40 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 500 g potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 500 g undyed smoked haddock
• 1 cup whipping cream or 1 cup whole milk
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes or 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 lemon, zest of
• 3 -4 saffron strands
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs, beaten
• salt and pepper, to taste
• oil, for frying

Recipe

• 1 cook the potatoes until soft, then drain and mash.
• 2 meanwhile, put the cream in a large saucepan along with the onion and garlic and heat gently.
• 3 lay the haddock, flesh side down, in the cream and let it poach for 10-15 minutes, until the flesh flakes away easily from the skin.
• 4 the cream does not need to cover the haddock entirely.
• 5 as long as the flesh is mostly submerged it will be fine.
• 6 once the haddock is cooked, take it out of the cream and leave to cool on a plate for a few minutes.
• 7 when cool enough to handle, separate the flesh from the skin, remove any bones and place the flesh in a large bowl.
• 8 strain the cream, put the onions and garlic in with the fish and return the cream to the saucepan.
• 9 add the potatoes to the bowl with the fish and onions.
• 10 add the chile, lemon zest, salt and pepper to taste then mix all ingredients well and form with your hands into fishcakes.
• 11 dip each fishcake into the beaten egg and then into the breadcrumbs.
• 12 set aside until you have them all formed.
• 13 at this point, you can either continue to cooking the fishcakes or freeze them for later use.
• 14 if you are going to cook them, heat up the oil and fry the breaded fishcakes for 2-3 minutes on both sides until nicely browned.
• 15 separately, mix the cornstarch into the cream, add the saffron and heat gently until the sauce is just slightly thickened.
• 16 if you are using milk instead of cream you may need a bit more cornstarch to help it thicken.
• 17 serve the cooked fishcakes with generous spoonfuls of saffron sauce, some cooked greens or a salad on the side and a wedge of lemon.