Friday Fish

Friday is usually beans on toast night but tonight we will be having something a little different.  Larry and I have a friend, Jackie, who will be 90 this September.  He is a wonderful man and treats Larry like a son.  The other day he came up to me and asked if I had anything planned for tea tonight (Friday) because if not, the fish man will be stopping so he is going to get some golden cutlets for us.  Golden cutlets are fillets of smoked haddock and they are Larry's absolute favourite fish.  Jackie knows this and every so often surprises him with some.  Usually I just put it under the grill and we have it on buttered toast but tonight I have decided to try something different.  I found this recipe and photo at Delia Online.  It looks quick, easy, yummy and not too unhealthy.  The only change I will make is to substitute finely chopped spring/green onion tops for the chives as that is what I have in the fridge today.  We will have it with a nice Greek Salad and some fresh bread.

Smoked Haddock with Creme Fraiche, Chive and Butter Sauce

For the salad, we will use mixed greens (from a bag), black olives, pickled yellow peppers, red onion and feta cheese.  I make my own salad dressing which we absolutely love on pretty much anything and everything!  You can easily switch out ingredients to change the flavour or to use what you have on hand.  If you want a nice emulsified dressing you need to use a blender, food processor or stick blender, if  you don't care if you have to shake the dressing before using you can just finely mince the garlic and shallot and then mix it up in a cruet.  Make this up at least a few hours before serving to allow the dried herbs to soften and the fresh garlic to mellow.  You could use all fresh garlic instead of half powder but you might find you need to add a bit of sugar if you do, to cut the sharpness of the garlic.

Greek Salad Dressing

In a blender combine until smooth(ish):

1 Teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 Teaspoon sea salt (adjust to taste)

Juice of one lemon plus enough balsamic vinegar to make 3 ounces

3 ounces red wine vinegar

2 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 shallot, peeled and cut in half

1 Teaspoon onion powder

1 Teaspoon garlic powder

1 Tablespoon dijon mustard

With the blender still running, slowly add 6 ounces of olive oil so the mixture emulsifies.  Turn the blender off and add 2 Teaspoons each of dried basil and oregano and just pulse to combine, you don't want to make them invisible.  Pour into your cruet or bottle and store in the fridge.  This dressing tastes best served at room temperature so remove from the fridge about an hour before you want to eat. This is also delicious used to marinate meat for grilling.