Smoked Haddock & Wild Garlic Caesar Salad

Smoked Haddock & Wild Garlic Caesar Salad

Whilst I’m very good and putting stuff into the freezer, that stuff has a tendency to stay in it’s frosty embrace for way too long so I’m trying to cook my way through it.  Today’s freezer find was a piece of stunning Smoked Haddock from local smokery Alfred Enderby.

I also have stuff in the fridge that needs to be eaten so I’m roasting potatoes in place of the traditional croutons and I’m using the last of the wild garlic leaves in place of actual garlic in the dressing, which is punchy and tangy and just wonderfully pistachio in colour.

It all comes together with more greenery and I couldn’t resist a poached egg because, well what is smoked haddock without one?

for the potatoes

• 500g new potatoes – cut into bite-size pieces
• oil – I’ve used cold-pressed rapeseed oil from Mellow Yellow Kitchen
• salt and pepper

 

for the haddock

• 1 skinless smoked haddock fillet per person
• 1 wedge of lemon
• a little olive oil
• salt and pepper

 

for the salad dressing

• 1 handful of wild garlic leaves – washed and dried (use 2 cloves garlic if you can’t find)
• 1 tablespoon fresh dill
• salt and pepper
• 1 heaped tablespoon greek yoghurt
• the juice of half a lemon
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 100g grated parmesan

 

for the salad

• a handful of lambs lettuce
• 1 baby gem lettuce  – cut into wedges
• 1 bunch asparagus – cooked until just tender
• half a cucumber – chopped

Preheat the oven to 200C / 365F

Start with the potatoes; place in a pan and boil until just tender.  Drain well.  Add a splash of oil and salt and pepper and stir well.  Tip out onto a roasting tray and roast until golden and crispy – roughly 25 mins.

Meanwhile place the haddock fillet onto a large piece of parchment, on a baking tin.  Add the lemon, salt and pepper and drizzle with a splash of oil.  Wrap it up loosely in the parchment and place in the oven and bake for 8 minutes.  Remove from the oven and keep it wrapped up with a tea-town over it until you’re ready to eat.

Make the dressing by placing all the ingredients into a food processor and blending until smooth.  I blitzed all the ingredients first, except for the cheese and then added the cheese and blitzed again.  Set aside.

Poach your eggs (one per person is enough.) I always try and undercook them (until the white is just set and the yolk is wobbly slightly,) remove them from the pan and allow them to sit in a warm space on the hob whilst I build the salad.

Build your salad in a large shallow bowl, add the warm potatoes last and then drizzle the dressing over the top.  Plate up and place a cooked haddock fillet on top followed by a poached egg.

For more salad recipes, check these out on Dom in the Kitchen.

Eat and of course, enjoy!