Smoked fish risotto with bacon & a poached egg
on Nov 05, 2014, Updated Jul 30, 2019
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It was my birthday just over a week ago, and so Mr. Scrummy and I decided to go out for a meal to celebrate. Having just moved into the city, we weren’t too sure where to go so we took a little advice and booked ourselves into a place with a pretty good reputation for Sunday lunch. We’d left it a little late to book, so ended up with an early midday booking, but that didn’t bother us at all. We just made a mental note not to eat too much breakfast (and then did anyway – oh well, it was my birthday …)
When we arrived, we were seated at a little table for two that was ominously placed less than an arm’s length from the next. Sure enough, no sooner had we ordered our starter, than another couple arrived and were shown to their table … you guessed it, right next to our own, despite the almost empty restaurant.
So this is what ensued. We chatted fairly quietly, they chatted fairly quietly, and we all heard every word the others said. No matter how hard we tried to concentrate on our own conversation, all myself and Mr. Scrummy could do was listen to theirs. When you’re that close, it’s almost impossible not to.
You might think this would make for the meal out from hell, but actually the whole thing ended up being pretty entertaining. The other couple were certainly quite different to us (their conversation was a little more ‘high-brow’ than our own, let’s say), intellectually discussing this thing and that before moving onto an in-depth critique of the food and service (maybe they were undercover food critics?) Nothing wrong with all this, of course, but before long Mr. Scrummy began to roll his eyes and pull faces, which of course made me want to giggle.
In the end we gobbled down our dessert rather more quickly than we would have ordinarily done and got ourselves out of there asap. Awkward? Just slightly. I’m sure the minute we left the other couple breathed an equally as loud sigh of relief as we did when we walked out of those restaurant doors.
The upside of this whole experience was that my fish risotto starter gave me a little inspiration for today’s recipe. I was going to call it ‘smoked haddock’ risotto because that’s the fish that you’d use for any dish like this in the UK, but after doing a little research I realised that you may not be able to get smoked haddock where you are. If not, any uncooked smoked white fish will work, or indeed any ordinary white fish, although the smoked aspect gives the finished risotto such a hit of flavour … and goes brilliantly with the bacon and poached egg.
You make this risotto pretty much like you would any risotto, except when you fry up your onion at the beginning you add a little curry powder. You then add stock (fish stock, of course) to risotto rice ladleful by ladleful until it’s all used up. Poach the fish in a little milk for a couple of minutes, flake it into the risotto, stir in some frozen peas, parsley, and a little butter and crème fraiche (or mascarpone if you can’t find crème fraiche) and you’ve got yourself a creamy, intensely flavourful and comforting bowl of deliciousness. Top it with a couple of slices of bacon and a runny poached egg and for me this is pretty much food heaven.
Unfortunately, though, not for everyone. I suspect that this dish may fall into that ‘love it or hate it’ category. Like olives and brussels sprouts and blue cheese and licorice, beets, sushi, tofu, liver, prunes and … well, I could go on and on, of course. Poor Mr. Scrummy just HATED everything about this and declared that it was his food hell. I suspected he would, to be honest, but naively thought I might be able to win him over because there was bacon with it. So my pre-dinner spiel went something like this: Now I know you don’t really like ‘fishy fish’, I know you aren’t so keen on risotto and I know adding an egg on the top of things isn’t your favourite thing to do … but there’s bacon on it so maybe you’ll like it! Hmm … turns out he doesn’t get the wool pulled over his eyes so easily.
So would this be your food heaven or food hell? Come on, you can be honest. What else would be your food hell? For me it would be a big fresh cream slice with layers of pastry in it. Yuck.
Smoked fish risotto with bacon & a poached egg
Ingredients
- 1 small to medium onion, finely chopped
- a little olive oil
- 1 bay leaf, optional
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon curry powder, medium strength
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 2 cups fish stock
- 10 ounces smoked fish, uncooked – not smoked salmon, for instance - I used undyed smoked haddock
- 1 handful chopped parsley
- 2 1/2 ounces small sweet frozen peas
- enough milk to poach the fish in
- 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons crème fraiche, or mascarpone cheese
- 1 rasher of bacon per person, pan-fried
- a few squeezes of lemon juice
- 1 poached egg per person
Instructions
- In a large high-sided wok or pan, fry the onion in the olive oil for a few minutes until soft, then add the bay leaf, thyme & curry powder and cook for another minute or so.
- Add the rice and stir really well, then add the fish stock one ladleful at a time until it’s all used up. If the rice still isn't cooked, add ladles of water until it is.
- Meanwhile, cook the bacon and keep warm while you poach the fish. Bring the milk to a simmer, then poach the fish in it for a couple of minutes until cooked through. Discard the milk (or save it to make a fish pie!) then flake the fish into the risotto. Add the parsley, peas, butter & crème fraiche and give it all a good stir.
- Finally, serve out the risotto and top each plate/dish with a squeeze of lemon, a rasher of bacon and a soft poached egg.
Notes
Nutrition
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Oh Helen I love the ingredients you used for this risotto. Fish and peas go so well togheter. Great recipe 🙂 but I need to practice a little bit more to make such an beautiful poached egg like yours 😛
Ha ha! Thanks so much for the compliment on the egg! I have indeed practiced for many years to get it that good! 😉
This would fall into my I Love It pile. And why on earth do restaurants seat people so close. I like to talk without everyone else listening in 🙂
Haha … totally agree … it was so distracting! So happy this falls into the ‘love it’ category for you. So far I’ve got 100% ‘food heaven’ answers … result!
Heaven, heaven!! Your posts always crack me up. I want to know what the other couple were talking about!! Jeez I hope for your sake they don’t discover your blog!! That egg yolk pouring out literally made my knees weak. And my mouth water……
Hahaha … yes, can you imagine if they did discover it! Thankfully (in this instance) I’m not so well known! At least I didn’t name the restaurant … now that might have been a bad move.
Happy to have made your knees weak, Nagi. That’s the kind of thing I want to hear!
Oh, and just to put you out of your misery … they were mostly talking about people they knew and also about the food and service … it was the slightly ‘posher than average’ way they were speaking that had us cracking up!
haha oh man, I hate it when restaurants do that. I get it but still … do you need to sit us that close!? And happy belated birthday!! Risotto, bacon, egg?? Sounds delicious!
Awful, isn’t it? A couple of times we’ve actually started chatting to the couple next to us and it’s been quite nice, but this time was just awkward and funny.
Thanks for the bday wishes and … glad you like the fishy, eggy, bacony risotto! 🙂
Hi Helen, sounds like heaven on a plate, I bet you guys are a hoot to go out with. Happy Birthday!
Hahaha … I’m not sure about that, but thanks for the compliment! Glad you think this is heaven on a plate, too! 🙂
Your dinner story had me laughing out loud! My husband and I are always saying we need to learn Swahili for the purpose of communicating when in close proximity to other dinners. Why Swahili, you may ask? Apparently it’s a fairly easy language to learn and really… what are the chances that the table next to you will speak the same language? (I know, my husband and I are a little weird). But I digress.
This dish looks incredible! The Swede in me loves any type of smoked fish and the Italian wannabe in me loves the risotto! Who doesn’t love bacon!? And pure yolk porn with the egg! I love everything about this dish!
Wow, looks like I managed to impress you, Kathleen! Yippee! I do happen to speak Greek, but unfortunately hubby only knows a few words. Plus there’s probably a bit too much Greek around in Europe for that to be a super safe option (I was in the supermarket yesterday and there was a Greek lady yabbering away to her son behind me). So yes, Swahili is definitely the better option!
I’m really happy about the reception to this dish – somehow I thought a lot of people would turn their noses up at smoked fish, but apparently not. It’s just my husband who doesn’t like it, unfortunately for me!
Happy belated birthday Helen – this is by no means “food hell” to me – it’s quite the opposite – it’s food heaven – in an intoxicating way! That first picture just drew me in – that risotto is so creamy and that runny egg…oooh and bacon – what a totally unique combo of flavors! Thanks for sharing this inspite of the uncomfortable experience at the restaurant!
So many restos in NYC are the same way… they really pack you in like sardines! Asheley loves to listen to other ppl’s convos at restaurants hahaha. She finds it super entertaining. This risotto sounds phenomenal! And love that bacon and poached egg!
Happy belated birthday, Helen! Sorry that restaurant had no idea how to seat people when the place is empty? haha At least you had a meal that inspired you, and this looks beyond delicious with that bacon and perfect poached egg! 🙂
Thanks so much, Marcie! Definitely provided us with a bit of entertainment and yes, I got some inspiration, so no complaints really!
Wishing you many felicitations on your Birthday, a little late though =) So funny Mr. Scrummy didn’t go for this dish, Ha. That can happen huh. Even with the bacon touch. I might not make this dish exactly like yours but can find my own spin on it. The poached egg on top is particularly fun and peas in anything makes the world go round. I really like the way you seasoned the risotto too!
Thanks so much, Laura. I learnt my lesson and won’t try to push any more dishes I know Mr. Scrummy won’t like onto him. Shame though because I do love this! I really hope you can find your own spin on this. Do let me know if you do! 🙂