Kitchen Aide

The Kitchen Fairy has been neglecting my dear readers. One suggestion from my beloved is to make my entries shorter but still as sweet. I guess as I like to strive for perfection I feel like I am cheating you with just a little here and there, so I will shoot for little and often when I cannot write as I want to due to the constraints of my “day job.”

So, what has been happening since we last spoke? Of course I have been cooking still….aside from the daily evening feed - a couple of weeks ago it was a Mexican Feast for Friends and to celebrate the latest addition to our family (no it has not been that long, it’s still just me and him) but I took delivery also a couple of weeks ago of a shiny new Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer. Show me a food fanatic that doesn’t have or want one…and I show you a foodie fraudster. It’s truly wonderful and I am sure will feature in blogs to come. The first thing I created with my new beauty was a replica of my favourite bakery, Konditor & Cook’s Lemon Chiffon Cake. I don’t have a picture as between, me and him, the in laws and the neighbours it was gone in 60 seconds! I feel I need to make a couple of tweaks to the recipe, although it was pretty good – so the Lemon Chiffon Cake will be coming soon…


We have an abundance of tomatoes from the final throes of G’s summer harvest. I am working on one or two things to make with these, red, yellow and green beauties, and last week, I made a tomato and caramelised onion tart tatin, with parmesan pastry (thank goodness I recently hired a personal trainer!) I will work on getting the recipes together.

Today’s recipe is an ode to G, or rather his to me!  He is far more than a competent cook – what I lack in patience and technique he makes up for and then some, and he spent much of today creating a wonderful dinner for me. So I have my new KitchenAid and now my Kitchen Aide!  To begin with, we have Smoked Haddock Scotch Eggs with a parsley sauce, to follow, Roast Venison wrapped in Serrano Ham, Bubble & Squeak, Candied Shallots and Blackberry Jus and to finish (me off) we had a Chocolate & Conitreau Tart. Amazing. For whatever reason, my favourite part of the meal was the beginning. Courtesy of G here are his fishy version of the infamous Scotch Eggs.


Graham’s Smoked Haddock Scotch Eggs

wonderful, oozing, delightful smoked haddock scoth egg


Firstly, boil 4 medium free range eggs for 6 minutes. Remove and run under cold water for a couple of minutes until cool. Set aside. Next; make mashed potato by mashing 4 large potatoes with 60g butter. (G used the flat beater on my new KitchenAid). You need 400g mashed potato, season with a sprinkle of Maldon Sea Salt.

Place 400g undyed smoked haddock in a food processor and blitz until you have a coarse consistency. Then add the haddock to the mashed potato and mix well.

Break 2 eggs into a bowl, add 200ml milk and beat together. Spoon some plain flour into a small bowl and some breadcrumbs into another. (I always
keep a packet of Waitrose Cook's Ingredients Breadcrumbs in my pantry cupboard for such occasions).

Carefully and patiently (a skill I sometimes lack!) remove the shells from the boiled eggs, trying not to break the whites. Then gently, using the palm of your hand, envelope each egg with the haddock and potato to get an even covering resulting in something the size of a tennis ball(ish).

Roll each ball, one at a time of course(!!), first in flour, then in the milk and egg mixture and then in the breadcrumbs and ensure an even coating. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (gas mark 4). Deep fry the breaded eggs (we use rapeseed oil) until golden brown and then place in the oven for five minutes.

To serve, make a parsley sauce by placing 125ml white wine in a saucepan and reduce by half. Add 250ml double cream, reduce by half again. Season with salt and pepper and stir in a handful of chopped parsley.

Serve the scotch egg whole and allow the recipient the pleasure of slicing in half and the egg should ooze a little. Delicious!

We are going to try this with quail’s eggs to make mini versions - will let you know when we do!  I hope you give this a go, it really is easy and so satisfying.

For now, a very contented Kitchen Fairy x

This recipe is a version of the nation’s favourite sausage meat-wrapped eggy snack. Using smoked haddock in place of sausage, it makes a lighter and novel alternative. Try to use the best eggs you can afford and un-dyed smoked haddock.