Ingredients
500g baking potatoes
600g cod or haddock fillet
1 bay leaf
300ml milk
2 tbsps crème fraiche or mayonnaise
¼ lemon, zest very finely grated
7g fresh flat-leaf parsley, very finely chopped
7g fresh chives, very finely chopped
Salt
Pepper
1 egg
6 tbsps flour
100g breadcrumbs
6 tbsps vegetable oil

Method
Put the potatoes into a 200c oven and bake until soft, depending on the size this will take 1-1½ hours. Put to one side to cool.

Once the potatoes are out of the oven, move on to the fish.  Put the fish, bay leaves and milk into a shallow pan. If the milk does not cover the fish then pour enough milk or water to cover the fish.  Bring almost to the boil, turn the heat down and cook for 5 minutes before turning off the heat and leaving to one side for 10 minutes to gently finish cooking the fish.

Peel the potatoes and roughly mash with a fork.  You want a light, fluffy mash. Mix though the crème fraiche, then the lemon zest, parsley and chives. Season well with salt and pepper.

Flake the fish and add to the potatoes.  Very gently just mix through using a fork, you don’t want to overmix it so make sure you just fold through with the fish still in large chunks.

Get 3 bowls, put the egg in one and gently beat, put the flour in another and the breadcrumbs in the last.

Flour your hands and divide the fish cake mixture into six and carefully shape.  One by one, sit each cake in the flour and then in the egg and finally put into the breadcrumbs, patting the crumbs on the sides and tops so they are covered. Transfer to a plate, cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan on medium. Fry the fish cakes for about 5 minutes on each side or until golden.

Variation
Salmon and cod; replace half of the cod with salmon. 

Haddock and Parsnip: replace the cod with haddock and replace the potatoes with parsnips. 

Melting middle fish cakes:  Several hours before you make the fish cakes, make the sauce for the middle.    Take 1 tbsp of butter and melt, add 1 tbsp of flour and stir together to make a paste over a medium heat and cook for a minute.  Slowly add 150ml milk and 50ml double cream. You can now add 30g finely grated mature cheddar or 3g parsley.  Season with salt and pepper and cook until thick.  Put into an ice cube tray and put into the freezer for 2 hours. 

Continue by making the the fishcakes as above. 

Divide the mixture into 8 and roll into a ball.  Push your thumbs into the middle and put in one of the frozen sauce cubes and put the fish cake mixture around it, ensuring there are no gaps.  Continue as above