Some of you may or may not know that in a previous lifetime, before I came to live in SW France, a land of beautiful countryside, glorious Summers and relative isolation, I lived and worked in the heart of London. In fact, my job was in Camden town, utterly vibrant, eclectic and full of character…(s)!

My life then was a world away from how it looks today. It was a wonderful, spirited time, lived hungrily. I do not regret my decision to move here to tranquility and change to a more gentle tempo. But sometimes I do look back and wonder at how I made that change work.

Moving here allowed me to make my passion my job. Now I write this blog and I am a private chef. Not a path that I envisaged my life would take, but one that I am profoundly happy about.

As I write this post, I am feeling wistful. It’s funny how certain dishes can do that to you don’t you think? The smell of cinnamon transports me back to my Grandmothers Swedish kitchen, cheese Doritos take me back to university, and the whiff of Tequila makes me nauseous (but thats another story!).

A while back I posted a recipe for Courgette Noodle Carbonara and at that time I longed for a bit of cool kitchen kit called a Vegetable Spiralizer. Well, I now have one and whilst I was messing around with it, I was struck with the idea for this dish which is an homage to many a Sunday spent in a restaurant round the corner from where I used to live (Hugo’s) where I would indulge in Bloody Mary’s and the ultimate comforting, soft, smoked haddock, poached egg and hollandaise sauce.

Oh my, lovely, lazy, carefree Sundays.

This dish takes the main players – smoked haddock & poached egg – but I placed them on top of a bed of vegetable noodles, smothered in creamy cheese sauce. The fish is potent, the egg is soft and the vegetables are marvelously textured and twisty!

Food and memories, intertwined and really rather wonderful.

Smoked Haddock, Poached Egg & Cheesy Vegetable Noodles

(Serves 2)

2 fillets of smoked haddock (undyed if you can find it, I couldn’t)
1 large courgette
2 carrots
25g butter
2 heaped tbsp plain flour
400ml milk
150g grated cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs

Start by making your vegetable noodles. I used my lovely ‘Vegetable Spiralizer’ but if you don’t have one, your could use a mandolin or failing that, coarsely grate them.

Set your noodles to one side for now. Now prepare your fish. Check for bones and then cook in any way your choose. I poached my fillets in water for 7 minutes. Then I removed them and peeled off the skin.

Whilst your fish is poaching, you can make the cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, take off the heat and stir in the flour to create a paste. Place back on the heat and add your milk a little at a time stirring constantly until it is all combined and the sauce is nice and thick. Then remove from the heat and stir in your cheese which will melt and season. Put this sauce to one side.

Now it is time to stir fry your vegetable noodles. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and add the vegetables and sauté for 5 minutes until cooked but still with a bite.

Meanwhile, poach your eggs in boiling water for 3 minutes.

Add the cheese sauce to the vegetable noodles and stir to combine. Then place a pile of cheesy noodles on a plate, top with a fillet of fish and finally, a poached egg. Then eat and feel comforted….

I am entering this dish into a few challenges. First off, Four Seasons Food hosted by Louisa of Eat Your Veg this month and alternately by me. The theme is ‘Something Fishy’.

Next up, I am entering this into Javelin Warrior’s Made With Love Mondays as it was made entirely from scratch and is all the better for it.

And finally, I am entering it into #RecipeoftheWeek which can be found over on A Mummy Too.