Last updated 11:32, Saturday, 05 April 2008

Smoked haddock chowder

Serves four

This is a luxurious, chunky soup that is tasty and satisfying.

Serve it either as a posh starter or a lovely idea for lunch with warm bread and butter . . . yum!

It truly does taste and look more impressive than the effort it takes to make.

500g un-dyed smoked haddock. Skinned and pin boned

500ml water

500ml milk (any type)

2 bay leaves

A splash of olive oil

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 stick celery, diced

1 leek, washed and shredded

25g plain flour

Salt and pepper

Fresh chives

Put the fish into an oven proof deep tray or dish.

Pour over the milk and the water and pop the bay leaves into the liquid.

Season the haddock with a little pepper.

Cook in the oven for around 10 minutes at 200 degrees. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Put the splash of oil in a large-ish sauce pan. Add the onion, celery and leek and sweat down very gently for around 10 minutes.

Remove the haddock from the poaching liquor with a slotted spoon or fish slice and set it aside on a plate.

Discard the bay leaves.

Keep this haddock and milk stock and tip it into a jug.

Put the flour into the sweated vegetables. Stir around to coat them all and cook for a minute or so.

Very gradually, add the cooking liquor to the vegetable and flour mix bit by bit.

Stir after each addition to incorporate the milk into the vegetables.

Doing this gradually and carefully will eliminate any lumps.

Do not pour it in all at once or you will have a disaster on your hands.

Once it is all added, simmer very lightly on a low heat for around five minutes.

During this time you can add the fish to the soup.

Flake it into chunks.

Recheck it for bones or any remaining skin as you do so. Once it is added to the soup, the more vigorously you stir it, the more it will break up, so if you want your soup more chunky then be gentle!

Taste the chowder to check for seasoning and adjust to your taste.

Use fresh, finely chopped chives for garnish. But for an extra special treat, why not add a poached egg too.

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil then turn down to a simmer. It’s easiest to add the eggs to the water if you break each of them into a teacup or ramekin first.

Swirl the water in the pan round quickly with a spoon. As it is still spinning, add the eggs one at a time.

The swirling nature of the water will encourage the white of the egg to coat the yolk giving you a nice, even rounded shape and the movement will stop them sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Simmer the eggs for 3-4 minutes until set.

Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and drain briefly on kitchen paper to remove any excess water.