Smoked haddock & sweetcorn

This is something we learned from the previous managers in the first pub we had; it makes a very tasty filling for jacket potatoes (which is how we had it last night) but could also be the base for a delicious chowder ... in fact, that's probably what we'll do with the leftovers, as we made a huge amount!  (Warren had found a big bag of smoked haddock in Tesco for around £1.70 and a bag of frozen sweetcorn for £1.00 - of which we used half - so it made for at least two very cost-effective but wholesome meals!!)

First, we put the fish into a large, deep Pyrex dish, covered it with milk and put some foil tightly over the top of the dish.  That went into the oven (the potatoes were already in there) to poach for about half an hour (there was a LOT of fish!) and the sweetcorn was simply boiled in lightly salted water for 5 minutes.  When the haddock was cooked, the skin and (very few) bones were removed and the flesh flaked, retaining some large chunks for texture.

In a large pan, Warren fried some chopped red onion in some oil, then added a fish stock cube and a little Vermouth, which he simmered for a while ... he actually got into trouble for this bit, as the red onions spoiled the look of it (in my opinion), although they did taste nice.  His defence was that he can't cook anything without an onion and we didn't have any white onions!!  It's not actually necessary to use onions in this dish ... or Vermouth!!

Anyway ...

Once they were cooked, he added some butter and made a roux with some plain flour, then stirred in the cooking liquid from the fish, a bit extra milk and some black pepper, then brought it all to the boil, stirring continuously.  When the sauce was the consistency we like (fairly thick!) he put the haddock and sweetcorn in to re-heat through, then added a little grated cheddar and cream ... the last two ingredients are optional, but do make it a little more luxurious-tasting!

We piled plenty onto our jacket potatoes and topped it with some chopped parsley (in the pub, we used to shove it under the grill for a couple of minutes, to give a nice brown-speckled finish, but couldn't be bothered last night ... I was too hungry!).  We served it with a steamed veg mix, but green salad is also a nice accompaniment.  It's very filling, by the way!