We always used to make the recipe from the book that came with our pressure cooker, but since I made potato peel soup (Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall recipe) this version has come out on top. It is very smooth and creamy, much thicker than the old version and the fish is cooked more gently.
600g potatoes
500ml semi skimmed milk
500ml stock
1 or 2 bay leaves
250g smoked bacon rashers or cooking bacon
1 large onion and 1 medium onion
sprinkling of dried mixed herbs
about 400g frozen white fish fillets, eg pollock (doesn't need to be fancy), or fish pie mix, defrosted and chopped into large chunks
salt and freshly ground black pepper
butter/oil
1. Scrub the potatoes thoroughly. Peel thickly, putting the potatoes into water for later and chopping the peel roughly. Chop the large onion.
2. Melt the butter with a splash of olive oil in a dutch oven and fry the large onion gently with the bay leaves until softened about 5 minutes or so.
3. Throw in the potato peel and one of the reserved potatoes, roughly chopped. Simmer for a couple of minutes, then add the milk and stock, and salt if the stock is not salty.
4. Simmer very gently for about 25 minutes, stirring regularly, until the potato skins and chunks of potato are cooked.
5. Remove the bay leaves and blend the soup with a hand blender. Set aside. (You can eat it as potato peel soup at that stage - but it's even nicer if you make it into chowder. )
6. Finely chop the medium onion and cut the bacon into chunks. In a frying pan, fry the bacon until the fat starts to run out and add the onion, frying until slightly browned. Add a sprinkling of dried mixed herbs and stir.
7. Tip into the potato peel soup and return it to the heat.
8. Cube the rest of the potato, add to the soup and stir over a gentle heat for 10 mins or so until the potato is almost cooked.
9. Add the fish and simmer gently until it is cooked (around 5 - 10 minutes). Check and adjust seasoning.
10. Serve with a grinding of nutmeg if you like it and some fresh bread.
