Oh, I know I should feel bad, over 5 months since my last post. If you make this dish though, I feel sure you'll forgive me. It is inexcusably bad for you but what the hell!
I first made this, gosh, around 10 years ago when I was given Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, which just goes to show that life, sometimes, imitates art. As always, I play it by ear now when I make it, but my favourite Discworld witch (Nanny is a hedonethicist too I think!) was definitely the inspiration for this filling brunch.
Ok, so the first thing you need is a big ole fillet of smoked fish. Tartrazine yellow is not a colour I associate with a tasty fish dinner, so I tend to buy the undyed variety. I understand that some fishmongers sell naturally yellowed fish (undyed but turned yellow from smoking in a certain way), if you find that then buy it for some colourful fun! Vegetarian? Try chickpeas or lentils instead, they work very nicely with the same accompaniments.
Cook a cup of rice, either the old fashioned way or using a ricebot, at the same time boil up a couple of eggs until hard boiled. When the rice is almost ready, put the fish into a deep frying pan with a half and half mix of water and milk; the liquid should come to halfway up the side of the fish.
Poach the fish, skin side down, until almost cooked through, then flip over and cook for a further couple of minutes to finish it off. The fish should be opaque, but still tender. Drain the fish and place it to one side - don't leave unattended in the presence of greedy cats.
Chop up an onion, I like purple in this because they are sweet but any will do, and a good handful of mushrooms if you have any. Aubergine or any leafy greens work with this too. Heat an obscene amount of butter, as much as you dare, in the frying pan (wiped clean) and gently fry the vegetables.
When cooked, sprinkled over a good tablespoon or more, to taste, of curry powder, plus seasoning and give it 30 seconds to heat up before adding all the rice and coating well in the aromatic buttery sauce. Finally, flake in the fish, taking care to remove any bones, and top with chopped egg.
This is an on-the-hoof creation, so I'm sure there are lots of improvements that could be made. Nonetheless, if you're hungry at brunchtime on a Sunday and haven't made any bread yet, savoury crêpes are the perfect carby vehicle for whatever you have in the fridge.
I still had some green beans left that needed using up and had bought gorgonzola, along with a couple of other cheeses, to make up a cheeseboard to go with the redcurrant relish I made earlier in the week from this recipe.
Crêpes are basically just pancakes, I checked the ratios in my old copy of the Good Housekeeping cookbook (the link takes you to a more recent version but I'm sure the recipe will be in there too).
Take a pinch of salt and 125g of flour and drop an egg into it. Measure out 300ml of milk and start whisking it into the egg and flour bit by bit. There's your batter. I like to add fresh herbs, in this case basil, and freshly cracked pepper to it.
Pop the beans on to blanch, that'll only be a few minutes because you want them to still be firm, to offset the softness of the crêpe and cheese. Drain them and leave to one side, you want all the water to evaporate so the beans are dry.
Heat up a non-stick pan with a little bit of oil and stick a ladleful of batter in, swirling it around until you've made a thin layer across the bottom. Leave it to cook, occasionally lifting up an edge to see how it's getting along. It should have little brown spots all over the bottom of it, and not be stuck to the pan, before you try to flip it. It only takes a very short time to do the other side.
Take each cooked one in turn and lay it on a plate, dress it with some beans, slivers of cheese and fresh pepper. Roll it up and cover with another plate to keep it warm while you do the rest.
