3072. SMOKED HADDOCK with POTATO and BACON

serves two


100 grams unsmoked streaky bacon
3 tablespoons rapeseed oil
400 grams, potatoes, medium-sized
500 grams smoked haddock fillets
500 ml double cream
2 bay leaves
6 peppercorns
2 tablespoons curly parsley, 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 the potatoes 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.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Nigel Slater, for The Observer, January 8, 2012, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, UK