Smoked mackerel with onion rice and greens

Nicked from Hugh Fearnley-Whearnley in the Guardian at the weekend, but no worse for it. This made a really nice, quick mid-week supper.

Makes enough for three. You'll need

200g rice
1 medium onion, finely chopped
greens - the cabbage, chard, spinach type of thing
1 clove garlic, minced
a couple of tablespoons olive oil
a couple of teaspoons of cider vinegar
smoked mackerel - a fillet or so each

Fry the onion gently in a little olive oil until it turns translucent. Add the rice, and swirl around to coat in the oily onion, before pouring in 450ml water. Leave on a low heat until the rice has absorbed all the water and is cooked (this will take about 10-12 minutes).

Meanwhile, chop up your greens into thin ribbons. Fry the garlic in the 2 tablespoons of olive oil until it colours slightly, then add the cider vinegar and take off the heat. A couple of minutes before the rice is ready, plunge your greens into some boiling water, and cook until al dente.

Then all you have to do is plate up - assemble a fillet of mackerel, and a spoonful of rice (or three) on each plate. Drain the greens, then toss in the olive oil/cider vinegar/garlic dressing, and dole out.

Smoked haddock, potato and sweetcorn chowder

Not many posts recently, as there haven't been many new recipes - when I'm snowed under with work tea tends to head towards the family classics.

This one was new though, and inspired by the lovely Nigel's suppers on BBC1.

Makes enough for 4 greedy adults. You'll need:

a large fillet or two of smoked haddock (undyed is probably nicer, but day-glo yellow means it looks pretty...)
a large onion, finely chopped
a large tin of sweetcorn, or a mugful of frozen sweetcorn (defrosted)
lots of potatoes - 4 or 5 large ones, peeled and diced
milk - about a pint

First of all, poach the fish in the milk. Bung both into a large pan, and gently heat the milk until it's almost boiling. Turn down, and simmer for 4-5 minutes until the fish is cooked through. Drain the fish (keep the milk!), and flake into large chunks (removing any bones, and discarding the skin).

Fry the onions in a little olive oil until they're translucent. Add the potatoes, and swish round in the oil. Add a mugful of boiling water to the potato/onion mixture and the rest of the fishy milk. Season with lots of black pepper, and simmer until the potato chunks are cooked.

Add the sweetcorn/fish, and warm through.

Serve with lots of fresh crusty bread, maybe topped with a little cream cheese.

Kedgeree

You were quite taken with the idea that this used to be eaten for breakfast. I'm not sure anything could come between you and your cereal, toast and dried apricots combo though.

You'll need (makes enough for three adults):

two eggs, hardboiled and chopped
an onion, finely chopped
a tablespoon of butter
a mugful of rice
about 350g smoked fish (eg cod or haddock)
a teaspoon of mild curry powder
lots of fresh parsley, finely chopped
lots of lemon juice

First of all, poach your fish in two mugfuls of cold water. Bring it to the boil, and simmer for 8 minutes. Drain the fish (keep the liquid), and keep it warm under a plate.

Gently fry the onion in the butter for 5 minutes, until it's softened. Add a teaspoon of curry powder, and cook for half a minute. Stir in the rice, and swish it all about until it's coated with the curry mixture. Add your drained fish liquid, bring to the boil, and then simmer for 10-12 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed. If the rice is still too al dente, you may have to add a little more.

Flake the fish and take out any bones. Add to the cooked rice, along with the boiled egg and lots of fresh parsley (ours is still going strong in the front garden, despite snow, ice and tumultuous wind and rain). Add lemon juice to taste, along with lots of black pepper.

This goes well with a green salad, or some peas. In fact green stuff of any description looks lovely against the yellow fish and rice.