Kedgeree

We grew up with kedgeree as a breakfast dish of course, but I do believe this dish is ideal as a brunch, lunch or even supper dish. I like to use more than one rice, I also like to add in a little kipper to the traditional smoked haddock.

For this dish you will need,
500g of smoked haddock, undyed preferably
500g of cooked rice
4 eggs
1 onion
1 cupful of finely chopped parsley
200ml of milk
50ml of double cream
1 teaspoon of curry powder
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 lemon
Serves 4

Begin by poaching the fish in the milk for 3 to 4 minutes, just until the flesh becomes opaque. Allow to cool enough to flake the fish away from the skin and remove any bones you might find, there really shouldn't be many. While the fish is cooling, prepare the eggs. I place the eggs in a saucepan of cold water, bring them to a boil. switch of the heat, put on a lid and leave for 8 minutes. This method guarantees eggs that are not overcooked. Week old eggs are easier to shell, but whatever age the eggs are, plunge them into cold water as soon as the cooking process is over and crack the shells well all over. When the eggs have cooled completely in the water, the shells should be easy to remove.
In a large enough pan to hold all the fish and the rice, fry the onion gently in the butter and oil until translucent, they should take only 3 to 4 minutes and not take on any colour. Add the curry powder and cook for a further minute or two. Add the milk that the fish has been cooked in along with the cream, then bring to a simmer, add in the flaked fish and the rice. I find it useful to heat up the cooked rice in the microwave oven for 3 minutes, it cuts down the time it takes to heat everything through. Finally add in the finely chopped parsley (keep a little back to sprinkle on the finished dish) and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. I find as long as I have cooked the rice in salted water, there is no need to add any further salt, but some coarsely ground black pepper is always beneficial.

The kedgeree is ready to serve when all the ingredients are heated through fully, tip it out onto a large heated dish or shallow bowl and dress with the eggs cut into quarters, the lemons cut into quarters and the remaining chopped parsley.

Notes: the parsley in this dish is much more than a garnish, stirring in a decent amount, almost a cupful, as the dish is assembled, adds a really delicious and necessary flavour.