Sophia's Cape Smoked Snoek Delight
200g hot-smoked snoek (or hot-smoked peppered mackerel)
4 large leeks or 6 medium-sized ones
Grapeseed oil (or any other) to fry the leeks in
125ml fresh cream (or less, depending on your preference)
Cut the leeks in thin slices. Flake the smoked fish and remove all the bones and skin. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the leeks until they start going brown. Add the fish and warm through. Lastly, add the cream, and allow to reduce over a medium heat.
I served it in many ways - I made Paddy an individual fish pie by topping it with puff pastry before I rushed off to Saturday's birthday bash that I was catering for. At the party, I placed a spoonful on squares of puff pastry and baked, then topped it with chopped parsley. And I served the same on toasted ciabatta (meaning "slipper" in Italian because of the shape...) slices. But then, on my return from a trip to Hermanus with a tourist / friend from London, last night, my darling husband had gone and bettered my ideas by halving an avocado pear, scooping this mixture into the hole, and topping it with deep-fried sage and root stock chips (with parsnip, beetroot and butternut) - it looked colourful and tasted brilliant!
