Nothing beats a jacket potato, its crispy skin and warm, fluffy inside are the perfect remedy for colder weather. This indulgent filling of smoked haddock, crème fraîche, and chives elevates the humble spud to new heights – but takes very little effort to achieve. Win, win.
4 large baking potatoes - Golden Wonder, King Edward or Maris Piper
2Tbsp.
olive oil
2 medium fillets of smoked haddock around 450 g
50g
butter
Juice of 1 small lemon
200ml
tub crème fraîche
A small bunch of chives or spring onions, chopped
Directions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan oven) mark 6. Scrub the potatoes, dry, then rub with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook on the rack of the oven for 11⁄4hr or a bit longer, depending on the size of potato. The skin should be deep golden and crisp and the flesh soft.
Step 2
While the potatoes are cooking, cover the smoked haddock with cold water for 10-15min to remove some of its saltiness.
Step 3
When the potatoes have been in the oven for a good 30min, drain the haddock and put it in a buttered shallow ovenproof dish. Squeeze over the juice of half a lemon, cover with buttered foil, then pop in the oven alongside the potatoes for 10-15min until just cooked. Check after 10min - the fish should be opaque and the flesh moist. When cool, use a fork to pull the fish into large flakes.
Step 4
Remove the potatoes from the oven and split open lengthways. Using a spoon, scoop the flesh out into a bowl and add the remaining butter, the haddock juices and 4tbsp of crème fraîche. Mash with a fork until smooth, then stir in the flaked haddock and the chives or spring onions. Don't be too heavy handed or the haddock will break into little pieces. Taste for seasoning and add a little more lemon juice if the haddock is very salty. Spoon the mixture back into the potato skins, then pop into the oven for 10min until the tops begin to brown. Serve topped with dollops of the remaining chilled crème fraîche and a watercress salad.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
