First, a spin around the ingredients: White fish (Basa fillets, here), spring greens (or curly cale, green cabbage, that sort of veggie), potatoes (Jersey Royals, here), butter, some more butter, yet more butter, cream, mushrooms, sea salt and black pepper.
Colcannon is a recipe you already know how to cook because it comes with a thousand names: Bubble & Squeak, Hash, Stoemp, Stampot, Bikesmad, Pyttipanna, even Rumbledethumps.
It's a green veg with potato. I celebrated the end of seasonal veggies with some spring greens and Jersey Royal potatoes. Regular white potatoes will do, as will curly kale, green cabbage, even spinach at a push.
Naturally, if you don't "do" potatoes, mashed cauli might work, but I'm more inclined to think a mix of celeriac and perhaps some daikon, mashed, would do the trick.
Let's get on with it ...
Oven on at 180C (350F?) and get it warming through while you prepare the fish parcels.
I went with Basa, although most white fish will do perfectly well here. Haddock works better than cod when it comes to mushrooms, and smoked haddock particularly. Halibut would be lovely. I had basa.
Take a couple of fillets and place one on a sheet of kitchen foil or baking paper. Place a good wedge of butter on and the other fillet on top. This will meld with the juices to make an instant sauce, which we'll make extra special with some cream at the end. Just a touch of sea salt, then some slices mushroom over and some black pepper.
Seal up and pop the parcels into the over. They'll want 30 minutes.
Prepare your veggies and get the potatoes, or roots, on and boiling. Place the greens over the top in a steamer pan. It doesn't matter if these are ready after even 15 minutes; it'll keep warm and there's a little after-prep to do.
Once soft, drain and mash the potato (or roots), adding in a good helping of butter - the wetter the better, but not overly so. In with some shredded spring onions or leek. In with the greens. Stir together. More butter if necessary ...
Set aside and wait for the fish.
Once cooked, retrieve the fish from the oven and pour of the juices into a frying pan along with the mushrooms.
Serve out the colcannon with the fish fillets over the top.
Meanwhile, you'll want to bring the juices to the boil and pour in some cream, continuing the boil to reduce. This will only take a couple of minutes and warm the main dish through handsomely once poured over.
Pour over the fish and garnish with some superfluous greenage: pea shoots, here.
My Mrs has put this up there in the Top 10 of "dishes to definitely do again". I will.
