Kedgeree

My childhood food memories are of oatcakes, baking and leftovers. There always seemed to be a Sunday roast followed by a week of leftovers or egg and chips. My grandmother made rissoles with leftover beef minced with onions, sage and leftover mashed potatoes. Cottage pie would usually appear during the week with the mince now augmented by thick gravy. Any leftover slices of beef would make sandwiches with thick slices of white bread and maybe onions and the last of the meat would become the standard Potteries' one pot stew known as lobby. Lobby would be made, out of preference, with fresh stewing steak or mince which would be browned and then left to simmer with onions, potatoes, carrots and any other root vegetable,s in stock, until meal time. Everyone had their own particular version of lobby and I remember it being served in large pyrex bowls.
I have not make lobby for over 30 years but occasionally make rissoles and cottage pie. Sunday roasts are rather a thing of the past or the special occasion but I still have a love of leftovers and prefer my fridge to be full of bowls of leftover mashed potatoes, rice, a small piece of salmon, some leftover vegetables, a tomato sauce, half a chicken. Today there was a bowl of leftover rice with some garden peas. There were a couple of hard boiled eggs too and my immediate thought was kedgeree. I have loved smoked haddock since visiting my Uncle Johnnie who worked on the docks in Fleetwood. He would bring home a piece of smoked haddock wrapped in newspaper and I just adored the smell, the texture and the taste. I can poach a piece of smoked haddock and just eat it as it is with no accompaniment. I have to be careful not to pick out just the odd flake or two once it is gently poached in milk and waiting for me to assemble the kedgeree and, yes, I have just "tasted" more or less half a fillet. The recipe I use is simple. I poach the smoked haddock in milk and leave it to cool slightly. In the meantime I fry an onion in a little oil until soft and then add a spoonful of curry paste. I like the Korma paste for a gentle curry taste but anything to give that spicy flavour. When we are ready to eat, I add the cooked rice ( with garden peas today which is not in any way authentic but they were there) to the onions and then add the flaked smoked haddock with some of the milk and heat thoroughly. I like to add chopped fresh coriander towards the end. The boiled eggs are quartered and added to the pan - I use a wok. I prefer freshly boiled eggs which are just a little soft but leftover eggs from the fridge are quite acceptable. Quantities are fluid but more is best so far as the smoked haddock is concerned.