'A version of a medieval dish, very yellow and delicious'
So says Fergus' simple heading for this seemingly simple recipe. It begins with a basic steeping bowl of liquids, the least active being a healthy dose of water. I did not quite understand why one would choose to use flavorless liquid in the place of flavorful liquid (especially when they are even on hand as in this dish) but I trudged on. Vinegar, mustard and saffron are all called for in minuscule amounts and I immediately amped up the levels of the trio instinctively.
As previous, I substituted for the smoked haddock. This time I used a local smoked lake trout. Like in the Kedgeree recipe the already cured fish is briefly poached in the oven using the above outlined medium. However pure water is used in the Kedgeree recipe so that it can become 'infected' with fish/smoke flavor for addition to already thirsty rice. Here, the ingredients meld under heat and loosen the fish, and infect it with the flavors present.
The end comes quickly: the now heated fish is removed from its liquid and the already heated pan and its contents are referred to more direct heating on the range where they can further reduce and be mounted with butter.
I checked for seasoning after a few moments and found....nothing. Somehow the combination of similarly subtle flavors amounted to something quite bland. At that time I blamed a lack of salt and fresh pepper and added both in spades. I reduced as well as I could and buttered well.
I plated it with the fish and quickly cooked off some trimmed and frenched green beans I had blanched the day previous. Fergus' recommendation of mashed potatoes (again) seemed inappropriate to such a delicately flavored sauce. But in the end this recipe is a failure and I am secure enough to blame myself if I felt I was at fault. This is a bland dish with bland flavors and was quite disappointing. When the fish was gone I went so far as I drink a bit of the sauce from my dish. The sauce is yellow; it tastes...yellow.
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