Cooking, Recipes, Wine............ and Ethical Foie Gras - At Last!

Half soup, half stew, this serves two as a main course.   You can substitute any fish - it doesn't have to be haddock and it can work with different fish combinations.

• 350g smoked haddock fillet, halved
• small bay leaf
• 3 sprigs of parsley
• 5 black peppercorns
• 350ml milk
• 200g raw prawn tails
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 30g butter
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 inner celery stalks, finely diced
• 1 1/2 tbsp flour
• 150 ml dry vermouth
• 150 ml double cream
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 200g fresh scallops
• 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Put the haddock in a saucepan with the bay leaf, parsley and peppercorns. Barely cover with milk, set over a low heat. Once the milk is simmering, poach the fish, covered until just cooked (approx. 5 mins). Transfer the fish to a plate. Leave the milk and herbs to cool in the pan.

Peel and clean the prawns, rinse and dry.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based pan on a medium-high heat. Add the prawns and fry for a minute until seared pink on both sides. Transfer to a bowl and toss in the lemon juice.

Melt the butter in the saucepan and gently fry the onion and celery until soft. Add the potato. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring, then add the flour and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the vermouth. Strain in the haddock milk and the bay leaf and stir in with the cream. Season, bring to the boil for 20 minutes or until the potato is soft.

Meanwhile, cut each prawn into 3 chunks. Peel off the haddock skin and break its flesh into chunks, removing any bones. Mix the fish into the prawns.
Now prepare the scallops. Check their girth and if they have either a thin black intestinal thread or a tough white muscle, remove by pulling away with your fingers. Rinse and pat dry. If they have corals, pull them off and cut in half. Cut the scallops into large chunks. Cover and chill until needed.

When the potatoes are tender, add the scallops to the soup and simmer gently for 3 minutes or until just cooked. Then add the cooked haddock and diced prawns with their juice. Gently reheat. Add a little more milk if it seems too thick. Season and, when piping hot, remove from the heat and mix in the chopped parsley. Serve immediately.