Smoked Haddock Fishcakes with Warm Tartare Sauce
Soft and smokey fishcakes with a lovely crust, on a bed of delicious warm tartare sauce.
Ingredients
For the fishcakes:
- 600g potatoes peeled and roughly chopped
- 400g undyed smoked haddock fillet
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp capers drained and chopped
- grated zest of 1 lemon
- small handful chopped fresh parsley
- 1 medium egg yolk
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- plain flour for dusting
- lemon wedges to serve
- green vegetables of your choice to serve (optional)
For the warm tartare sauce:
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 shallot finely diced
- 200ml double cream we use Elmlea to reduce the calories
- 4 tbsp fresh or good-quality mayonnaise
- 8 cornichons diced
- 2 tsp capers
- a few sprigs of dill and parsley chopped
- juice of 1 lemon
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
For the fishcakes:
- Cook the potatoes in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Drain well, mash and set aside, covered.
- Meanwhile, preheat the grill to medium high. Put the haddock in a roasting tin and brush with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Grill for 8 to 10 minutes or until just cooked through. Set aside to cool, then discard the skin and bones and flake into chunks.
- Gently fold the fish, capers, lemon zest, parsley and egg yolk into the mash, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Shape the mixture into 8 fishcakes and cover and chill for 20 minutes or overnight.
- Meanwhile, make the sauce and keep it warm on a low heat while you fry the fishcakes.
- Heat the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Dust the fishcakes with a little flour and fry for 3 to 4 minutes each side, until golden.
For the sauce:
- Heat the oil for the sauce in a small saucepan over a medium heat, then add the shallot and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until just softened. Add the cream and bring it to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and stir in the mayonnaise, cornichons, capers, chopped herbs and lemon juice. Season to taste.
- To serve, spoon the sauce between 4 serving plates, then top with 2 fishcakes per person and some green vegetables of your choice on the side (optional).
Notes
- The fishcakes can be made the day before and chilled in the fridge overnight.
- Both the fishcakes and sauce can be halved if making for less people.
- The fishcakes can be frozen once they have been shaped (step 3). I laid them flat in a sandwich/freezer bag on a layer of baking paper. When defrosting, please note that the baking paper will end up quite wet from the process. Once defrosted, I removed them from the bag onto a plate with kitchen roll and patted the tops dry with more kitchen roll. I then refreshed the kitchen roll they were sitting on and put them back in the fridge to firm up a bit. They will be quite soft and delicate, so you may need to reshape them before dusting in flour and cooking them (step 5).