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Fishcakes with warm tartare sauce on teal dinner plate with mustard napkin on the side

Smoked Haddock Fishcakes with Warm Tartare Sauce

By: Deborah
Soft and smokey fishcakes with a lovely crust, on a bed of delicious warm tartare sauce.
PREP: 10 minutes
COOK: 20 minutes
TOTAL: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 people
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Ingredients

For the fishcakes:

  • 600 g (1.3 lb) potatoes peeled and roughly chopped
  • 400 g (14.1 oz) undyed smoked haddock fillet
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp capers drained and chopped
  • grated zest of 1 lemon
  • handful chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 medium egg yolk
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • plain flour for dusting
  • lemon wedges to serve
  • green vegetables of your choice to serve (optional)

For the warm tartare sauce:

  • 2 tsp vegetable oil
  • 1 medium shallot finely diced
  • 200 ml ( cup) double cream (I use Elmlea to reduce the calories!)
  • 4 tbsp fresh or good-quality mayonnaise (Heinz Light is my favourite!)
  • 8 cornichons diced
  • 2 tsp capers
  • a few sprigs of dill and parsley chopped
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

For the fishcakes:

  • Cook the potatoes in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Drain well, mash and set aside, covered.
  • Meanwhile, preheat the grill to medium high. Put the haddock in a roasting tin and brush with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Grill for 8 to 10 minutes or until just cooked through. Set aside to cool, then discard the skin and bones and flake into chunks.
  • Gently fold the fish, capers, lemon zest, parsley and egg yolk into the mash, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Shape the mixture into 8 fishcakes and cover and chill for 20 minutes or overnight.
  • Meanwhile, make the sauce and keep it warm on a low heat while you fry the fishcakes.
  • Heat the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Dust the fishcakes with a little flour and fry for 3 to 4 minutes each side, until golden.

For the sauce:

  • Heat the oil for the sauce in a small saucepan over a medium heat, then add the shallot and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until just softened. Add the cream and bring it to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and stir in the mayonnaise, cornichons, capers, chopped herbs and lemon juice.  Season to taste.
  • To serve, spoon the sauce between 4 serving plates, then top with 2 fishcakes per person and some green vegetables of your choice on the side (optional).

Notes

  • The fishcakes can be made the day before and chilled in the fridge overnight.
  • Both the fishcakes and sauce can be halved if making for less people.
  • The fishcakes can be frozen once they have been shaped (step 3).   I lay them flat in a sandwich/freezer bag on a layer of baking paper.   When defrosting, please note that the baking paper will end up quite wet from the process.   Once defrosted, I remove them from the bag onto a plate with kitchen roll and pat the tops dry with more kitchen roll.   I then refresh the kitchen roll they're sitting on and put them back in the fridge to firm up a bit.   They will be quite soft and delicate, so you may need to reshape them before dusting in flour and cooking them (step 5).

 

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Nutrition

Calories: 637kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 44g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Cholesterol: 188mg | Sodium: 1004mg | Potassium: 1128mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 905IU | Vitamin C: 31mg | Calcium: 111mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

KEYWORDS Islands to Highlands, James Martin, smoked fish fishcakes, tartare sauce recipe
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