Cullen Skink

Cullen Skink is one of my all time favourite recipes - the ultimate comfort food. Cullen is a small town in North East Scotland, and Skink means soup or stew. This soup can also be known as a smoked haddock chowder.

This rough recipe (adapted from this one) serves 6:

500g undyed smoked haddock, skin on
A bay leaf
Knob of butter

splash of dry white wine
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 cloves garlic
1 leek, washed and chopped finely
2 medium potatoes, unpeeled, cut into chunks
500ml whole milk or half milk and cream

salt and pepper
Chives, parsley or spring onions, chopped, to serve

Put the haddock in a medium pan and cover with cold water.  Add a bay leaf and bring to the boil slowly - when it reaches boiling point remove the fish and leave to cool on the side (reserve the water!).  In the meantime fry the onion, leeks and garlic (all finely chopped) in butter for about ten minutes until translucent., then add the peeled, chopped potatoes and stir to cover in butter.  Add a dash of white wine and pour on the water from the cooked fish and simmer for about twenty minutes. 

Remove the skin from the haddock and all the bones and flake into pieces.  Then remove a spoonful of the leeks, onions and potatoes and add most of the smoked haddock and mash or blend with a hand blender until you have a nice smooth soup - add the rest of the leeks and potatoes and the remaining fish to give a bit of texture and pour in the milk and cream, with salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with chives or parsley - I like to add a few finely chopped spring onions as well to boost the flavour.

Serve with a big chunk of crusty bread and enjoy!