Smoked Haddock Fish Cakes with Italian Style Broccoli

So I was going to finish the weekend's posting with another Bill Granger recipe for Ricotta and herb roasted chicken that I cooked last weekend but tonight's dinner was SO good I'm having to push Bill to one side in favour of a favourite recipe from my childhood.

My mam used to make these fishcakes on a regular basis when I was a child and I have never made them before but have been thinking about them for ages. We were out walking during the week and I asked herhow she made them and seeing as I had 2 fillets of smoked haddock in the freezer in preparation for when I got the recipe I decided I couldn't wait any longer for these.

Now I didn't measure all the ingredients but you need about half the amount of potato that you use of fish. So I had 340g of fish so I used about 200g of boiled, mashed potatoes.

Poach the fish in milk (you can use water too) with a bay leaf and some pepper. You'll know the fish is done when you insert a knife into the fattest part of the fish and hold it to your lip and it's too hot.

Put the fish into a bowl and flake it, add the mashed potato, pepper and salt (if it needs salt as sometimes haddock is very salty) and a 1/2 tsp of paprika (you can use 1/4 tsp of cayenne if you want either but my husband is not a fan of spicyness so the paprika gives the fish a lovely smoky resonance). Mix well and taste to make sure it's been seasoned enough.

Sprinkle some flour (I used wholemeal but white is fine) onto a plate and when you've shaped the fish into cakes drop into the flour on both sides so they have a light dusting.
Heat some oil in a pan (I used sunflower as it's unflavoured) and fry the fish cakes until golden on each side.I served these with some buttered sprouts (these are the only veg my husband really LOVES, how weird is that?) and Italian Style Broccoli I made using Lorraine's recipe for Italian Greens from ItalianFoodies. This is definitely my new favourite way to eat green veg as the kick from the chilli and the sourness of the lemon juice was perfect with the smoky creaminess of the fishcakes.

Also this is a picture of what I have to contend with EVERY SINGLE TIME I COOK!!! How can you say no to these eyes but she makes so much noise you'd feel putting her in the compost bin with the veg I am sure she doesn't want!!!! This is one of 3 cats we have and you are yet to meet, this is the most vocal and demanding of the 3 and if anyone is looking for a cantankerous cat who hounds you for food and makes SO much noise then call 086.....................................