Cullen skink with malted bread rolls
Phil Vickery is here for St Andrew's Day to cook us a Scottish feast - it's the traditional dish of cullen skink, rich with flavour and perfect with his homemade malted rolls.
Ingredients
For the culllen skink
350-400g natural smoked haddock, skin removed and boned560ml whole milk2 fresh bay leaves¼ tsp ground black pepper50g butter 2 onions, peeled and very finely chopped 1 medium leek, washed and cut into small chunks 3 medium potatoes, unpeeled, cut into small chunks200mls water roughly1 fish stock cube, crumbled plenty of chives, chopped, to serveDouble cream (optional)
For the malted rolls
550g malted flour 10g salt 200mls warm, bottled water 200mls warm milk 7g quick acting dried yeast 10g castor sugar 50g melted unsalted butter or olive oil 1 beaten eggA few porridge oats
**Method**
Place the fish into a pan large enough to hold it comfortably, and cover with the milk
Add the bay leaf, and pepper and bring to a gentle simmer
Once simmering turn off the heat, and leave to infuse whilst you get on with the rest of the soup
Meanwhile melt the butter in another pan on a medium-low heat, and add the onion and the leek. Cover and allow to cook for about 10 minutes until really well softened, but little or no colour.
Add the potato chunks and stir to coat with butter
Lift the cooked haddock out of the milk and reserve
Pour the haddock cooking liquor and bay leaf into the onions and potatoes
Add the water and stock cube and bring to a simmer then cook gently for 10-15 minutes until the potato is cooked through
Meanwhile with a fork gently break into cooked haddock into chunky flakes
Once the potatoes are cooked add the haddock and lots of chopped chives
Add a little double cream to enrich if you like, I sometimes add a poached egg to the finished soup
Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl and mix well. Mix 150mls of each of the liquid and add the yeast, sugar and melted butter. Pour into the flour and mix well to a soft dough. Check the consistency and add a little more liquid to form a soft dough but not too sloppy. It’s always very difficult to give exact measurements when talking about flours. All flours have different absorption rates, so it’s best to be on the side of caution.
Knead the dough well for at least 5 minutes non-stop to work the gluten. It was a strict rule when I was an apprentice. Then return to the bowl and cover with cling film and leave to prove in a warm place until about doubled in size. This should take about 25-30 minutes.
Once proved, cut into small pieces about 40-50g, roll into a ball and place onto a lightly greased tray. Cover with cling film and prove until about doubled in size roughly, again about 30 minutes. Do not over prove.
At this point preheat the oven to 220°C, Gas 7. If however you do over prove, then just remove from the tray, re roll and prove again. Once proved, lightly brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with porridge oats.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until light brown and golden. Once baked cool on wire racks and just rewarm in a moderate oven before eating.
Hot bread straight out of the oven is not good to eat. It needs to cool completely, and then re warmed for a perfect result. They also freeze well.