Homemade Fish Pie

On Saturday afternoon I got to play with my fish pie mix which OH had bought from the Fishmonger, together with my new cooker.  

The pack contained, Cod, Haddock, Smoked Haddock and Salmon.  The recipe I had was just for Haddock or Cod and is a very old one, so I improvised.

Ingredients:

1lb/450g cod fillet or any other white fish (as stated I used a pre-prepared fish pack from the Fishmonger.  I might in the future though make up my own packs.

1 1/2 to 2lb/700g to 900g of potatoes.

1 1/2 oz/40g of Butter

1/4 pint/150ml of milk plus another 3 tablespoons/45ml

3 level tablespoons/45ml of flour

2 tablespoons/30ml of chopped parsley (I did not have any and so missed this out but it really needs it).

Salt and pepper seasoning.

2oz/50g grated cheese.

Method:

Cook and flake the fish retaining 1/4pint/150ml of the cooking liquid.  I chose to cook my fish in milk but you can do this in plain water or half and half.

The fish cooking in the milk "poaching".  I also think that you could poach this in a Court Bouillon

I found that the milk did foam a little and so this needs to be skinned off.  Once the fish had cooled I then rinsed it as some of the foam had stuck to the fish which affected the appearance.  Washing it helped.

In the interim, peel and cook your potatoes until cooked.  Then mash them in the usual way adding a knob of butter and the 3 tablespoons of milk.  On this occasion I used a potato masher to do this.  Be careful with the milk though some potatoes do not need as much as others and a stiffer mash is required to top this pie.

For the sauce, melt the remaining butter in a saucepan, using the Roux method where you add 3 level tablespoons of flour which traditionally you stir in, however I use a hand balloon whisk to make the sauce, make sure it does not stick as it gets rid of any potential lumps quickly and easily.  Do not leave the pan on the heat when adding in the fish liquid (water or milk) and then the 1/4 pint/150ml of milk and bring to the boil stirring with the whisk all the while.  Make sure to add it in, in very small quantities whisking in between each addition until you reach the consistency desired.  You then remove it from the heat and stir in the flaked fish, the parsley and seasoning to taste.

The flaked prepared fish

The start of the Roux sauce

The Sauce is now ready

The flaked fish sauce in its pie dish

Cover the pie with your mashed potatoes.  I used a knife and built up a rim all the way round the dish making sure the edges were sealed and then built up the middle and used the edge of the knife to fluff it up.  Then sprinkle with your chosen cheese.  Place on another tray to catch any overspill and then bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees C/400 degrees F/Gas Mark 6 for about 30 minutes  until the pie is well heated and the cheese topping is nice and golden and to your liking.

Just after it was put into the oven.

Halfway through cooking

I turned the dish around so that it was evenly cooked

Finished Fish Pie

You could serve this with some peas and green beans. I chose just to serve this on its own as it is very filling. I thoroughly enjoyed this.  However, I have the following comments:

Observations

There are a couple of things in retrospect which I would do very differently.  I followed the basics of the recipe using what I had however I would very much change the way this recipe is prepped, probably more to do with the way I work than anything else.  It seemed to make more sense to me.

1.  Although the dish was lovely and I would readily eat this over, and over again, I am mindful that many people do not like Smoked fish.  Smoked fish can over-power especially if you have fish of a delicate flavour like Salmon, Cod or Haddock.  I did not have any Parsley so I did not put anything in. I should have as a good Parsley sauce can make a heck of a difference to a dish like this.  You could change the recipe up by using a cheese sauce or mushroom sauce (mushrooms lightly fried) or peeled shrimps (approximately 4 oz of each)

2.  I would start off before doing anything else by boiling and mashing my potatoes as the fish itself takes hardly anytime to cook, rinse and flake and then to make a sauce from scratch as well.

3.  When making this again for myself, I would instead of using the larger dish like I did on Saturday split the mixture into two smaller dishes so that I could eat one, and put one in the freezer.  Making it in the larger dish is ideal for the family meal, but when only one of you eats fish pie it makes more sense to make one to eat and make one to freeze. 

If you have never made a fish pie before this is lovely. but be aware of my observations above.  Next time I make it will use the parsley but not the smoked fish.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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