Dominic Jack recipe: smoked haddock en cocotte
Enjoy Dominic Jack’s delightful recipe for smoked haddock en cocotte this Easter
Tom and I had a lot of fun trying out some different Easter recipes. I think this smoked haddock en cocotte is the real winner though. It’s pretty simple to create, and can be served in individual bowls or ramekins, or even made in larger dishes and shared if you prefer. Eggs en cocotte is a traditional French dish, and essentially translates as “eggs in pots”. The dish always includes eggs and a Mornay sauce but beyond that you can pretty much add any ingredients you like for a really tasty starter, lunch or light supper. We always like to serve it with plenty of fresh crusty bread to dip in too. It’s one of the easiest ways to make eggs as you simply have to create the pots, and then place them in a deep oven-proof dish filled with water to around half way up the pots and leave them to cook until the whites are just set and the yolk is still runny – usually about 8 -10 minutes. Perfect eggs on the table in no time.
Ingredients
- 120g smoked haddock fillets
- 150ml-200ml double cream
- 4 free-range eggs
- 4 small potatoes, skins on, boiled
- 1 tbsp chopped dill
- salt and pepper
- cracked black pepper
- Mornay sauce
- 60g butter
- 60g plain flour
- 1 litre milk
- 4 gratings of nutmeg
- salt and pepper
- 100g Mull cheddar, grated
Serves: 4 Difficulty: Medium Time to cook: 30 mins
Method
To prepare the haddock
1 Chop the haddock fillets into large chunks. Put the double cream into a saucepan with the fish, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for a couple of minutes, then remove the haddock and transfer to a plate to cool.
To make the Mornay sauce
2 In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour. Whisk over a low heat for 2-3 minutes until there are no lumps. In a separate pan bring the milk to the boil with a little grated nutmeg and pour it over the cooked roux. Bring the mixture to the boil and cook for 10 minutes, stirring gently. Season, pass through a sieve and stir in the grated cheese.
Assembling the dish
3 Pre-heat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4. Take the four small potatoes in their skins and cut into a small dice. You will need four small ovenproof dishes. Place some haddock in each dish and cover with Mornay sauce. Crack an egg on top in the centre of each dish, sprinkle the diced potato on top and season with salt and pepper.
4 Put the dishes in a baking tin, pour in boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the dishes and bake for 8-10 minutes. The egg yolks should still be soft.
To serve
5 Serve straight from the oven. Place the piping hot dishes on a plate. To finish, sprinkle with chopped dill and cracked black pepper.