My recipe was featured in the Waitrose Weekend magazine
I used to work with a Food Buyer at Waitrose who had a serious passion for Cullen Skink. He would indulge his love for this classic Scottish soup once a year when he made the trip to Moray to visit the Baxter’s soup factory in Fochabers. The small town of Cullen is down the road, so you know you’re getting the real thing.
This was the first time I had ever heard of this soup even though I had been working in the food industry for years. I thought the name was just brilliant and had to try it. The canned stuff wasn’t my cup of tea, but made from scratch this soup is seriously wonderful. It's creamy, smoky, so satisfying and above all, warms you to the core of your soul. When it’s made in season (during the winter) it is fairly cheap particularly as one of the ingredients is fish.
Miraculous ingredients: smoked natural haddock, bay leaf, whole organic milk, Maris piper potatoes
Ingredients
350g smoked natural Haddock
1 bay leaf
1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
1 ltr whole organic milk
1 small leek, finely sliced
2 large floury potatoes (Maris piper is good) peeled and chopped into cubes
25g unsalted butter
150ml single cream
Black pepper to taste
Method
Put a medium size sauce pan onto a medium heat, melt the butter and fry the finely chopped onion until it has cooked through and become translucent, about 5 minutes. Lay the haddock fillets on top of the onions with the bay leaf and pour in half of the milk so it covers the fish.
Bring the milk to a gentle simmer and cook the haddock for about 5 minutes until the flesh is opaque and the fillets can be easily flaked. Don't be tempted to overcook as the haddock will become dry and chewy.
Remove the haddock fillets and leave on a plate to cool. Add the sliced leeks, potato cubes and the remainder of the milk to the pan. Gently simmer for another 10 minutes until both the leeks and potatoes are cooked through. Take out the bay leaf. Use a hand blender to blitz the soup until smooth.
When the haddock is cool enough to handle, gently break the fillets into small flakes and remove all the skin. This is also a good opportunity to check for any bones.
Add the haddock flakes to the pureed soup. Add black pepper and the single cream to taste.
Preparation time 10 minutes, cooking 20 minutes, serves 4
Add the haddock flakes to the pureed soup. Add black pepper and the single cream t