Colcannon Haddock Fish Cakes

I had some fish that needed using up today, and so I decided to make my husband some fish cakes for his tea. He loves fish cakes, and so he was a very happy man.

I mixed some fresh haddock along with some smoked haddock. I find smoked haddock has a nice flavour, but can be a bit strong on it's own, so mixing it with fresh haddock kind of tempers it a bit. 

 Don't use the dyed stuff . . . all that dye is nasty and it just doesn't look very good in my opinion.

You could use all fresh haddock if you didn't want to use smoked.  

To give them a bit of colour I added some finely shredded savoy cabbage and chopped spring onion. Some low fat mayo and grainy mustard add another depth of flavours.

Bound together with mashed potatoes, shaped into little cakes, rolled in bread crumbs and then cooked until golden brown in some butter, these went down a real treat, with a tasty rocket and tomato salad on the side.

*Colcannon Haddock Fish Cakes*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

A delicious mixture of fresh haddock, smoked haddock, potato and finely shredded cabbage.

1 pound of baking potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
salt and black pepper
4 ounces of finely shredded savoy cabbage (1/4 pound) (about 3/4 cup)
8 ounces un-dyed smoked haddock, skinned (1/2 pound)
8 ounces fresh haddock fillets, skinned (1/2 pound)
a squeeze of lemon juice
2 TBS low fat mayonnaise
1 to 2 TBS grainy mustard
2 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
2 TBS chopped fresh dill
2 slices of bread made into crumbs
A knob of butter for cooking

Boil the potatoes in a pan of lightly salted water to cover until nearly tender, 15 minutes or so. Add the shredded cabbage and cook for a further 3 minutes. Drain very well. Return to the pot and shake over the residual heat of the burner to dry further, then mash. Season to taste with some salt and black pepper. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Butter a large piece of foil. Place on a baking sheet and then arrange the fish on top of the foil. Season with pepper and lemon juice. Wrap the foil tightly around the fish so that none of the juice will excape and then pop into the oven. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, until the fish is just cooked.

Remove the fish from the foil, reserving the juices. Break into large chunks in a mixing bowl, discarding any bones. Leave to cool. Stir the cooled fish, along with any juices, the mayonnaise, mustard, chopped onions and dill, and a touch of salt and pepper into the mashed potato mixture. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

Place the bread crumbs onto a shallow plate. Divide the mixture and shape into 12 small cakes. Pat the cakes all over in the bread crumbs.

Heat the butter in a nonstick frying pan, just until it begins to foam, over medium heat. Add the fish cakes and cook until golden on the bottom. Flip over and continue to cook until they are heated through and golden on the other side. Serve immediately with some salad.