| Sunday, January 09, 2005 |
| Kedgeree and Scones |
When I was in London back in November, I had the opportunity to go to Sally Clarkes, a very swank restaurant around the corner from my host's house in Kensington. We went for brunch on the weekend, and I was tempted by the offer of Kedgeree on the menu, which is a very traditional Brit breakfast / brunch dish.
Kedgeree dates back to British colonial times in India and is a wonderfully strange combination of curry (d'oh), eggs, rice, onions, other spices, and finnan haddie (smoked haddock that's been poached in milk). Now don't knock this till you've had it. It was - as they are wont to say over the pond - smashing. Really, really, good, and I've been wanting to make it since I returned.
So today I did.
Finding a recipe turned out to be a bit of a chore, there are as many variations for this dish as there are for a good spaghetti sauce, but I finally found a couple that sounded good, took some elements from all of them, and damn - this turned out great.
The hardest part was the finnan haddie. Not something you'll find at Superfresh, and not something you'll find at WholeFoods either (trust me - I looked everywhere). Then I remembered Mark telling about a place here in Baltimore that specialized in smoked fish and meats - so I called him on the cell, and voila! Neopol at the Belvedere Market.
Well, even Neopol failed me on smoked haddock, but they did have a lovely smoked bluefish, so I punted.
What to serve with it? Well, it's pretty spicy and savory, so I found a recipe for Scones with Cheddar and Cumin. They rock. UPDATE: I forgot to link to the scone recipe and people are asking for it. Here you go!
So - if you feel adventurous, try this sometime. Since it's an amalgam of a couple different traditional recipes - I'll claim it as my own (although Jamie Oliver's version is pretty good!).
Here you go:
Linda's Kedgeree
1lb. of smoked haddock or bluefish
2 cups of milk with a bay leaf and some peppercorns added
3 cups of cooked basmati rice (cooked in chicken broth and a couple of bay leaves)
3 hard boiled eggs (6 min. and the yolks are still a little soft - that's the best)
1 tablespoon ghee or butter - try to get the ghee if you can - WholeFoods
1 large yellow onion - chopped
1 tsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. black mustard seeds (I get my Indian spices at the Punjab market on Broadway in Fells Point)
1 tsp ground cumin
2-3 heaping tsp fresh grated ginger
2 bird's eye or thai chilis - chopped
2-3 tsp good curry powder - I like more rather than less
a handfull of cilantro chopped - stems and all
Scallions - chopped
1/3 cup of cream
Fresh lemon wedges and cilantro for garnish
Poach the fish in the milk mixture for about 4 minutes.
Cool, take the skin off and flake it up with a fork.
Chop the eggs
Make the rice
So - brown the onions and all the spices, chilis, and cilantro in the ghee for about 8 minutes or so.
Add the rice, fish, chopped eggs, scallions and cream and warm everything through thoroughly.
Serve with the lemon and cilantro.
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posted by Broadsheet @ 11:22 AM   |
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| 6 Editorial Opinions: |
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Speaking of British breakfast reminds me of a cruise I took a few years ago. An English couple sitting at our table was somewhat dubious of my delight that the breakfast buffet served on the promenade deck had biscuits and gravy. Being a southern boy, I was really jazzed about it. Our English friends couldn't understand why someone would want to eat cookies with Bernaise sauce for breakfast.
Two peoples separated by a common language.
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That's 'Finnan Haddie', pet.
I'm just saying that's all
Baci
C
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Coming from a Scotsman - I appreciate the correction sweetie. Can you send some over? This backwater town has none to be found....
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What no Scotsmen at all?? Crivvens! How awful!
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Actually I wouldn't worry overmuch. I mean it is an Anglo-Indian dish so I can't imagine the memsahibs (or their cooks) had access to a very Scottish delicacy. in fact it is more likely that the haddock is a substitute, made by returned Brits, for some Indian fish or other.
C
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Now that you mention it - I'd rather have the Scotsman - there are no good substitutes for that.
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Speaking of British breakfast reminds me of a cruise I took a few years ago. An English couple sitting at our table was somewhat dubious of my delight that the breakfast buffet served on the promenade deck had biscuits and gravy. Being a southern boy, I was really jazzed about it. Our English friends couldn't understand why someone would want to eat cookies with Bernaise sauce for breakfast.
Two peoples separated by a common language.