SMOKED HADDOCK & CHEDDAR FISHCAKES WITH WATERCRESS SAUCE

Smoked haddock & cheddar fishcakes with watercress sauce image

Serve these smoky, cheesy seafood bites with a vibrant green dipping sauce as a party nibble or sharing starter

Provided by Sarah Cook

Categories Buffet, Canapes, Side dish, Snack, Starter

Time 2h

Number Of Ingredients 15

Ingredients

425g floury potatoes , cut into large chunks
1 bay leaf
6 peppercorns
small bunch flat-leaf parsley , leaves and stalks separated
225g smoked haddock fillets, skin on (we used dyed haddock to give the mash a lovely golden colour)
200g unsmoked haddock fillets, skin on
75g mature British cheddar , grated
4 spring onions , 0.5 very finely sliced, 0.5 roughly chopped
50g plain flour
2 medium eggs , beaten
100g fresh breadcrumbs
sunflower oil , for frying
50g watercress (weighed after discarding the thickest stalks)
4 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 lemons , 1 juiced, 1 cut into small wedges to serve (optional)

Steps:

Put the potatoes, bay leaf, peppercorns and parsley stalks in a big pan of cold water. Cover with a lid, bring to the boil and cook for 15 mins until tender. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the potatoes to a colander and leave to steam-dry. Turn the heat down, add the fish and poach gently for 5 mins until it flakes easily. Tip the potatoes into a big bowl and put the fish in the colander to drain for a few mins.
Add the cheese, some pepper and a little salt to the potatoes and mash well. Flake in about half the fish, discarding the skin and bones, and mash in too. Flake in the remaining fish in big chunks, scatter over the sliced spring onions and gently mix together. Roll the mixture into golf-ball-sized cakes.
Tip the flour onto a plate and season. Tip the egg and breadcrumbs into 2 shallow bowls each. Roll each fishcake first in the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs. Sit on some parchment-lined trays that fit in your fridge. Chill for at least 1 hr or up to 24 hrs.
Fill a deep frying pan with 1-2cm of sunflower oil, heat until shimmering, then brown a few fishcakes at a time, turning regularly. If the oil gets too crumby, change halfway through. You can serve them straight away, or cool and chill for up to 24 hrs in the fridge, then simply warm for 30 mins in an oven at 180C/160C fan/ gas 4 before the party.
Make the dipping sauce up to 1 hr before serving - put the roughly chopped spring onions, the parsley leaves, watercress, rapeseed oil, 2 tbsp lemon juice and 5 tbsp water in a food processor or blender. Whizz to the consistency of single cream.
Pile the warm fishcakes onto a platter with a bowl of watercress sauce on the side and some lemon wedges for squeezing over, if you like.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 245 calories, Fat 11 grams fat, SaturatedFat 3 grams saturated fat, Carbohydrate 20 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 1 grams sugar, Fiber 2 grams fiber, Protein 15 grams protein, Sodium 1 milligram of sodium