smoked haddock fish cakes with cheddar cheese and creamy curry sauce £0.42p each

A budget meal which stretches a small amount of fish. 

The price up includes that creamy spiced sauce

The amounts given yielded ten large fish cakes. The haddock was full price vac packed. 

I grant you that these are 'potato heavy' however, the strong flavoured smoked fish and addition of a little cheese paired with the curry sauce really punches the flavour up. 

Ingredients:

• Smoked haddock fillets around 300gms
• Half pack Basics range cream cheese
• 1kg peeled, cooked and mashed Basics range white potatoes
• Half tsp onion granules, or if your OH isn't afraid of onions finely chop a small one
• S&P
• 2 slices of sandwich cheddar (I got this YS to £0.05p per slice)
• Plain flour
• Half tsp mild curry paste (or curry powder)
• Hot water or milk to poach the fish
• A scant half tsp English mustard (optional)

Method:

1. Make the mash and set aside. 
2. Pour water (or milk, which alters the final cost) over the fish to about half way up their depth in a saucepan. 
3. Bring to a gentle simmer for ten minutes. Don't boil it hard
4. Add the cheese, S&P, onion granules and some the poaching liquid to the mash until it will firm a firmish dough. Do this a little at a time. 
5. Now flake the haddock and gently fork through the mash mix to evenly distribute. 
6. Flour your hands well and form large balls roughly the same size coating well in flour as you go.  

At this stage you can flatten them slightly and freeze them laid out flat in the freezer to be bagged up later. Or, cook straight away. 

Either shallow fry for five minutes each side from fresh or give them 20-30 minutes or so at 200C on a lightly oiled baking sheet. To reheat from frozen place on a baking sheet in a preheated oven at 200C for 40-45 minutes. 

To make the spiced sauce combine the cream cheese and curry paste and heat in the microwave at 15 second increments on medium heat or warm slowly in a saucepan stirring occasionally. You don't want a hot, intrusive curry flavour so check before warming and add more if required or add a spoon more of cream cheese if too spiced. You can loosen with a spot of milk if you prefer a thinner sauce. 

I eat one fish cake with sweet corn and a green veg. They are also lovely with homemade tomato sauce and a poached or fried egg on top. (Omit the curry sauce if doing this)   

Himself would eat as many as possible, he was restricted to two.