Elegant Fish on Friday: Easy Smoked Haddock au Gratin Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why cook smoked haddock in milk? ›

Poaching haddock in milk adds a sweetness to the flavour of the fish; you can enhance this flavour by adding aromatics such as black pepper, thyme, garlic and onion. For a more exotic flavour, try adding chilli and ginger or even a spoon of curry powder.

Oven Frozen

Pre-heat oven Fan 180°C/Gas 6. Remove required amount from packaging. Wrap loosely in foil. Place on a baking tray near the middle of the oven for 20-22 minutes.

If you use your local fishmonger regularly you will get to know how salty his smoked haddock is. Sprinkle on a few herbs if you like. Seal the foil into a parcel and bake in an oven at 175C for about 20 minutes. For the sauce, heat some yoghurt but do not let it boil.

In a 3-quart bowl, soak fish in milk for 15-20 minutes. The casein protein in milk binds to the trimethylamine in the fish flesh, reducing the “fishy” odor.

Arrange haddock fillets on the prepared baking sheet. Mix onion powder, paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl; sprinkle seasoning over fish, then dot with butter. Broil in the preheated oven until fish flakes easily with a fork, 6 to 8 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

Cooking fish fillets straight from the freezer may produce a slightly different texture than fresh fish, depending on which recipes you are cooking, so we would advise on planning things ahead and gently thawing your fish if possible, in order to get keep quality at its best.

You can skip the thawing process altogether and cook frozen fish straight from the freezer. You'll have to add a few minutes to the cook time in your recipe to account for the lack of thawing, but you can poach, steam, bake, broil, or grill fish straight from the freezer!

Taste and nutrition are no different

In blind taste tests, trained panelists have actually preferred fish frozen immediately after harvest over fresh fish. Chefs also agree that properly frozen fish can be just as good, if not better than fresh. Check out this video to hear what chefs around the country have to say.

Before cooking, soak the fish in milk for 20 minutes

What's left behind is sweet-smelling, brighter flesh with clean flavor. (Just make sure you pour that milk down the drain.

A haddock meal contains phosphorous and selenium. Phosphorous can support healthy bones and teeth. Selenium helps combat free radicals that can destroy your cells, leading to chronic illnesses. Smoked haddock provides 66% of your daily selenium needs and 17% percent of the phosphorous you need.

What is the best way to cook frozen haddock? ›

This is because frozen fish tends to release a lot of moisture while cooking, so pan searing is not recommended. Instead of the fish browning in the pan and becoming crisp, the water released while cooking steams the fish and prevents it from browning. Instead, stick to baking, broiling, steaming, or poaching.

Brush both sides of frozen fish with olive, canola, peanut or grapeseed oil. Place fish in heated pan and cook, uncovered, about 3 minutes, until browned. Turn fish over, season with spices, and cover the skillet tightly. Reduce heat to medium, and cook 6 to 8 minutes more until opaque throughout.

Bring to the boil, add the smoked haddock or smoked cod fillets and bring back to a gentle simmer. 3. Poach the fish for 3 – 4 minutes until it is firm to the touch and the flesh has turned opaque, then remove.

In this scenario, the protein in the milk binds with the compounds that cause that fishy odor, in essence extracting if from the fish. What's left behind is sweet-smelling, brighter flesh with clean flavor. (Just make sure you pour that milk down the drain.

The milk helps to infuse the fish with a rich and creamy taste, while also keeping it moist and preventing it from drying out during the cooking process. One of the main reasons for cooking smoked haddock in milk is to remove any excess saltiness.

Poaching the fish in milk adds a rich flavor and creates a creamy poaching liquid that you can spoon over the cooked fish.

Pour in the milk until it nearly covers the fish. Add a good grind of black pepper and the chopped chives. Bring to a gentle simmer. Cover with lid or foil and poach gently for 12 minutes.