Super-easy cullen skink

I’ve been feeling a bit poorly lately, which is no real surprise as my boyfriend was ill last week, the germy bugger. He spent a week lying in bed feeling sick and shaky and tired all the time, which is what I now have but with the added fun of what feels suspiciously like the beginnings of a migraine. I used to get them in high school but hadn’t had one in years – hopefully this isn’t a sign they’re coming back! I can’t really take any time off work at the moment either, nor do I want to as there is so much to do in the next couple weeks here. So my solution last night was soup. Soup will cure all!

We had a couple fillets of peppered smoked mackerel and one undyed smoked haddock fillet from Creelers – plus the leftover crushed jersey royals from Sunday dinner – in the fridge, so I thought I’d make Cullen Skink.

Cullen skink is traditionally made with finnan haddie, a smoked haddock. It’s a hearty fish and tattie soup, and you can find it on the menu of pretty much any restaurant up and down the country that claims to have even the vaguest whiff of Scottish theme about it. BIG favourite round the Royal Mile area. I’ve had some good ones and some bad ones, but the best I’ve had was probably in the Roseleaf in Leith, where it was more a stew than a soup, with big chunks of potato and discernable flakes of smoked fish. This is most definitely not a soup that should be served even remotely smooth.

I wanted to use up the leftover tatties and the smoked fish – I’d actually bought the fish in anticipation of making Cullen Skink, but didn’t get around to it at the weekend. We’ll usually make more potatoes than we’ll need so I can use them in soup or stovies during the week…our friend Andy turned up on Sunday evening for his dinner after the Highland Show, so I was quite lucky to have any potatoes left!

The onion came from the famers market from Phantassie Organics. I’ll usually buy our onions on a string from our favourite local butcher, W. Christie, but this time of year they don’t have any. Oh their onions are so good, pink ones that taste slightly stronger (but sweeter) than regular yellow onions, but more versatile than red. Phantassie’s onions are pretty good too, and I’ve stopped buying supermarket onions altogether. Supermarket onions tend to break down faster I’ve noticed, so even though they stay “fresh” for longer, when you cook them they don’t hold their shape as well. They also need more flavouring – I don’t cook with salt as a general rule, but I’ve noticed without salt they’re pretty much tasteless. I’d usually have to throw in some balsamic as well, just to get some flavour into the bloody things! Vegetables should not be that difficult! Now we use “proper” onions and I just need to sauté them in a bit of butter and oil for them to taste nice.

I don’t use salt in my cooking unless it’s for a large joint of roast meat, or for the crackling on a pork roast. I sprinkled the teensiest pinch of salt on a mutton joint recently, and if I’m honest, in the quest for the perfect crackling I have been quite liberal with the old saltshaker, but we use sea salt only, and a tiny box of Maldon flakes lasts us for aaages. My boyfriend doesn’t use any salt, and when we moved in together I stopped salting my food during cooking as well. If I’m totally honest, I sometimes compensate by using things like slightly salted butter, cheese, cream or organic stock cubes. I won’t “add” extra salt though. I think the smoked fish in this recipe is salty enough to flavour the soup without needing to add anything, and as the mackerel is peppered already the seasoning was 100% taken care of.

I’d originally planned to add some double cream to the soup at the very end to add richness, but discovered the cream had gone off (and my boyfriend wasn’t willing to risk it as he’d felt dodgy all last week). What we did have was half a pot of half fat crème fraiche left over from my lunch yesterday (see previous post “Turkey and avocado sandwich filling”), so I added that at the end instead. We don’t drink much milk at home but I’d bought a litre on Monday from RealFoods for when we have guests who drink tea. What I’d really like is to have our milk delivered in glass bottles, but I don’t think there is a milkman in our area.

I love the fact the parsley I used here was grown in our very own “garden”. If you can call the 7 x 3 foot balcony a garden!

It may not have cured my bug, but it was definitely what I needed last night in my pathetic sniffly state…and it definitely helped that the whole thing can be cooked in one pot.

Super-easy Cullen Skink

Rapeseed oil (Summer Harvest - farmers market)
1 medium to large onion, chopped (Phantassie – farmers market)
2 peppered smoked mackerel fillets, skin removed (Creelers – farmers market)
1 large smoked haddock fillet (Creelers – farmers market)
Semi skimmed milk, about half a litre carton (RealFoods)
Leftover crushed new potatoes (I used leftover jersey royals from M&S I’d crushed with some butter for a side to our Sunday tea)
Half a tub of reduced fat crème fraiche (Waitrose)
Parsley (own grown)

Sautee the onion in a little rapeseed oil until they’ve gone slightly translucent, but not too soft. The onions should still have a bit of bite to them as the next step is to poach the smoked haddock in the same pot. Add the smoked haddock fillet to the onions and pour about half a litre of milk over to cover. Poach gently for a few minutes until the fish is cooked – give it a prod with a fork to check, and if it flakes easily it is cooked.

Using a wooden spoon, gently break up the fish directly in the pot. In a bowl do the same to the smoked mackerel fillets. Now add the mackerel, as well as the potatoes, to the soup, gently breaking up the largest pieces but retaining the integrity of the potatoes and fish. Add more milk if necessary, but remember to keep the soup chunky and thick. Finally, stir in the crème fraiche and chopped parsley to heat through.