One of the best plates of food I ate last year was a new take on risotto, made with milk and stock, the whole dish deeply infused with smoked fish and positively glistening with butter. Eaten by the sea on a sunny, freezing day, the warmth of smoked cod set me up for an afternoon outdoors, the Nordic wind cold enough to make your eyes water. As with any dish eaten way from its homeland, it has the advantage of not having to carry traditional baggage with it. A new location invites some free thinking.
This memorable risotto was made partly with stock and partly using the milk in which the smoked cod has been poached. This is part of the long history of smoked food and dairy produce. The two go together hand in glove. Haddock baked in milk is awonderfully peaceful, nannying sort of dish. A recipe that takes you to asafe place. Cured seafood and milk or cream appear together throughout culinary history, but are best known in soups of Finnan haddock enriched with cream, fish and shellfish pies with a creamy, parsley sauce and the gorgeous dish of Arbroath smokies cooked with cream and cheese.
Smoked fish and milk (or butter or cream) is one of those marriages that seems more appropriate in cold weather than on a sunny day. It is not exactly the sort of food anyone wants to eat on a sun-soaked terrace. Its warm, faintly soporific notes haveaquality that makes you feel allis well with the world. Comfort food in its truest sense.
My risotto had a thread of spinach running through it. Actually more of a dawdle. They were baby leaves, the sort that are equally appropriate in a salad – perhaps, considering the season, with sliced blood oranges and sunflower seeds. The spinach had been added raw, so that it kept its freshness, but larger leaves would need cooking briefly first, squeezed oftheir liquid, then folded through the buttery rice.
Using milk in place of some of the stock ran the risk of producing a savoury rice pudding instead of a main dish, but the extra creamy quality was just what the cod needed. Carnaroli was the rice I used, but the more usual arborio would work, too.
Haddock is probably the easiest and most affordable of the smoked fish to get hold of. A piece of haddock fillet, poached in milk or cream, is one of my favourite dishes, but even better with a little carefully thought-through embellishment. Earlier this week I cooked a fat piece of haddock with a few strips of bacon and some thick shreds of potato. The effect of the fried bacon with the smoked haddock and cream gave one of those rather impromptu sauces that leaves everyone reaching for a piece of bread to mop their plates. A picture that will leave any cook with a warm glow.
Smoked haddock with potato and bacon
Lightly steamed and shredded greens would be a suitable accompaniment to this quick supper. Cavolo nero or perhaps some savoy cabbage, cooked briefly then served without butter or oil, is my preference.
Serves 2
unsmoked streaky bacon 100g
rapeseed oil 3 tbsp
potatoes 400g, medium-sized
smoked haddock fillets 500g
double cream 500ml
bay leaves 2
peppercorns 6
curly parsley 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Cut the bacon into pieces roughly the size of a postage stamp. Warm the oil in a nonstick frying pan and add the bacon pieces, letting them colour lightly.
Cut the potatoes, without peeling them, into 1cm thick slices then cut each slice into short pieces, like tiny chips. Tip into the pan with the bacon and fry for about 15 minutes until golden and cooked right through.
Meanwhile put the smoked haddock into a pan with the cream, a couple of bay leaves and 6 black peppercorns. Bring almost to the boil, then turn down and simmer for 5 minutes. Put the lid on and leave to infuse for 15 minutes or so while thepotatoes finish cooking.
Divide the potatoes and bacon between two warm plates, lift the haddock out of the cream and place a fillet on each plate. Stir the chopped parsley into the cream, then spoon over the fish and serve.
A risotto of smoked cod and spinach
The smallest drop of Pernod, stirred in with the wine, would be good if you like aniseed flavours.
Serves 2
milk 450ml
smoked cod or haddock 400g
bay leaves 2
black peppercorns 6
fish or vegetable stock 450ml
onion 1, small
butter 50g
Arborio or other risotto rice 250g
white wine 1 glass
butter a thin slice to finish
spinach leaves 2 handfuls
Pour the milk into a saucepan large enough to take the fish. Place the fish in the milk, add the bay leaves and peppercorns, then bring to the boil. As soon as the milk shows signs of foaming, lower the heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until the fish is just tender. Turn off the heat and leave the milk to infuse with the fish and aromatics.
Gently heat the fish or vegetable stock in a saucepan. Peel and finely chop the onion, then fry gently in the butter in a broad, heavy-bottomed pan. When the onion is soft and translucent, but before it colours, add the rice and briefly stir it through the butter to coat the grains. Pour in the wine, let it almost entirely evaporate, then add the stock a ladle at a time, allowing each one to be soaked up by the rice before adding the next.
Once all the stock has gone, change to the milk, strained of its peppercorns and bay leaves. By the time almost all the liquid is absorbed the grains should be tender and plump yet with a slight bite to them. Fold in a thin slice of butter and season carefully. The total cooking time will be about 20 minutes, maybe afew minutes longer.
Wash and tear the spinach leaves into small pieces then stir them into the rice. Break the fish into large, juicy flakes and add them to the rice, folding them in, but keeping the flakes as whole as possible. Check the seasoning and serve.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or visit guardian.co.uk/profile/nigelslater for all his recipes in one place
