Saturday and Claremont Farm were selling the first of this seasons asparagus.
I wasn’t sure how many I was feeding so I made sure I bought too much.
I had thought about making an asparagus tart but when they are this new it didn’t take long to convince myself to cook them simply in boiling water and then slather them with plenty of butter, salt and pepper.
The asparagus were followed by smoked haddock croquettes. Having had them a few weeks ago in London it appears they are turning into my favourite food. There is a need for a small assembly line when making them.
They are one of those dishes that can be made up over the course of an afternoon. I started by weighing out the fish and then weighing up a similar amount of potatoes. The potatoes were peeled, boiled and then mashed with a small amount of butter.
As they cooled the haddock was poached until just done in milk.
The potatoes and haddock were then turned into each other with some English mustard, finely chopped parsley and dill, some of the milk from the potatoes and plenty of salt and pepper.
The assembly line was then set up; a small dish of flour, followed by egg and then breadcrumbs.
The potatoes and haddock mixture was taken in hand and cupped into a suitable croquette like shape, covered in flour, dipped in egg and then covered in breadcrumbs. They went into the fridge until I was ready to cook.
The cooking was done in hot oil. We had them with salad dressed with gherkins and capers, vinegar and plenty of good oil and eggs boiled until the yolk was still soft.
They were followed by blueberry syllabub. A dish that is almost too easy to make.
Sheep's Head Food Company 