Herderman's smoked haddock carpaccio & Gillette's, pumpkin puree, mustard pickle

William J Cooper

Serves 2-3 | Modern European | First course, light lunch
Prep Time: 45 mins mins | Cooking Time: 45 mins mins | Total Time: 1 hour, 30 mins mins

This is a different way of using Smoked Haddock… it’s not just for fish pies or fishcakes. Here, it’s sliced through the length very thinly without any cooking and decorated with some simple garnishes which can be prepared well in advance and all compiled at the last minute.

Sweet pumpkin, ginger and the delicious pickled mustard seeds bring bold flavours and textures to the plate. Smoked haddock in this way has a delightfully soft flavour and delicate mouthfeel, if you’ve not tried it before this way then you definitely should.

When it comes to slicing the haddock for the carpaccio, place the fillets on a chopping board, and using a sharp knife, slice across the length of the fish from one end to the other using a gentle cutting motion to create long thin slices. Don’t push and pull, too hard, keep it delicate and let the sharp knife do the work…

TIP Keeping the knife blade clean and rinsed in cold water between slices helps reduce friction, and makes the task easier.

Ingredients

2 pieces Hederman’s Smoked Haddock Fillets (Reserve a tail piece about 250 g for the rillettes, the remaining pieces are ready to slice for the carpaccio)



For the Mustard seeds:



• 60g of yellow mustard seeds



• 150ml of white wine vinegar



• 50ml of water



• 50g of sugar



• 1 bay leaf



• 2 star anise



• 1 pinch of salt For the Rillettes:



• 250g Hederman’s smoked haddock fillet( keeping the rest for the carpaccio.) use the tail end of the fillet for this recipe



• 1 Bay leaf



• 1/2 Celery stick – sliced



• 1 sprig thyme



• 1 sprig Flat–leaf parsley



• 1 small Shallot – sliced



• 250 ml milk



• 25 g Baby capers – chopped



• 1 tsp Lemon juice



• 2 tbsp Mayonnaise



• Peel of 1/2 a preserved lemon, finely diced



• 1 tsp chives chopped



• 1/2 tsp preserved stem ginger, finely diced



• a small handful of pretty leaves and fresh herbs – your choice.



For the Pumpkin purée:



• 800g pumpkin or butternut squash – peeled / de seeded – diced



• 1 small piece of preserved stem ginger in syrup



• 50g of Hederman’s Beech smoked butter



• 1 tbsp maple syrup



• olive oil



• Pinch of sea salt


Methodology
FOR THE SMOKED HADDOCK RILLETTES

Bring the milk to the boil with the celery, shallot, parsley, thyme and bay leaf

Place the haddock in a small tray, pour over the boiled milk and aromatics then cover with cling film. Set aside until the fish cools to room temperature

Lift the haddock out of the milk and place onto kitchen towel for a minute or two to absorb any excess moisture. Gently flake the fish into a large bowl, watch out for any little bones.

Mix together the remaining rillettes ingredients in a bowl then gently fold into the warm flaked haddock. Season with lemon juice and a little pepper. Add a little more mayonnaise if you prefer the texture more creamy. I don’t beat this too much as I like to keep a rougher texture.

FOR THE PUMPKIN PUREE

Drizzle the diced pumpkin with olive oil and place on parchment paper on a baking tray.

Sprinkle with a little sea salt and bake at 180c for 40 minutes, or until tender.

When soft, add the pumpkin to a blender with the Hederman’s smoked butter, ginger and maple syrup and blitz until it forms a smooth, glossy purée, then season with salt and set aside ready to serve. If it’s a little sticky, then add a couple of teaspoons of water to slacken.

FOR THE PICKLED MUSTARD SEEDS

Place all of the ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil. Stir a couple of times.

Turn down the heat and simmer gently for about 10 minutes

Switch off the heat and allow to cool down to room temperature

Have a taste and adjust with sugar or vinegar to suit your taste

Put aside a few spoonfuls for the garnish and transfer the rest to a jar and store in the fridge for another day.. You can put it on almost anything and it will last for a few weeks in the fridge…

THE SMOKED HADDOCK CARPACCIO

Place the Smoked haddock fillets on a chopping board, and using a sharp knife, slice across the length of the fish from one end to the other using a gentle cutting motion to create long thin slices. Don’t push and pull, too hard, keep it delicate and let the sharp knife do the work…

TIP…Keeping the knife blade clean and rinsed in cold water between slices helps reduce friction, and makes the task easier.

TO ASSEMBLE

Lay the long slices of the smoked haddock over the surface of a plate and drizzle over a little olive oil, then place spoonfuls of the pumpkin purée here and there.

Now drop little spoonfuls of the rillettes onto the plate, and then put a few little drops of the pickled mustard seeds as you please, to make a neat plate.

For the leaves and herbs, I’ve used red mustard frills, red cicorino, chives and fennel tops… though you can use whatever you have or you think will look pretty.

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