fish pie - merged threads

lilkittikat

hi! My partner & son went fishing last night & brought back 3 good size cod, was wondering if any one has a reciepe for a fish pie as i quite fancy making that for tea!

tawnyowls

Do you know, I only made this at the weekend!

Chop onions and garlic, and saute gently in a large pan till soft.

Add the fish and poach. You only need a little liquid in a pan, as the steam does most of the cooking, but watch that it doesn't burn. Milk is the usual liquid, but I like to use white wine - I find cheap sparkling especially nice with fish. I also use bay leaves, parsley, a squirt of lemon juice and some pepper.

Once the fish is nearly cooked, add some peas and cook.

In the meantime, peel and boil potatoes - mash with butter and salt (or however you prefer it).

Take the fish out of the pan, flake, and remove bones. Don't throw the poaching liquid away - just add cream (or if you used milk, add a little cornflour to thicken). Don't make the sauce too sloppy, otherwise it becomes difficult to add the potato topping.

Once the sauce has thickened, add the fish back in, mix into the sauce, and tip the whole thing into the baking dish.

Smooth the fish mixture flat, then put the potato on top as for a shepherd's pie.

Sprinkle grated cheese on top and bake until golden brown.

exlibris

MAde one (or 3) last night.

I used a kilo of coley cooked in the micro in seasoned milk for about 4 mins. Mashed it up in the bottom of the dish (mainly to remove the bones)

Made white sauce with cornflour and the milk I cooked the fish in and added some frozen parsley. (I also use a cheese sauce )

Put mashed potato on top and put it back in the micro for 3 mins or untill hot through.

If I have the oven on for something else I will finish it off there. This gives a browned top to the potato.


(Edit) Thanks Tawnyowls. Your post was in when I posted mine

I have not yet thought of anything to pad the fish with (like using lentil with mince) so if anyone has any ideas I would be grateful

Penelope_Penguin

Hi, this is on my menu plan for monday, using salmon and prawns. I don't use cheese, but apart from that my recipe is strangely similar to Tawny's!!

Penny. x

FTB83

Hi lilkittikat

I made one the other day, it went down really well - I'm not great on quantities, but here are the basics:

Serves 4

Four large potatoes
A couple of large fillets of fish (I used cod and coley)
knob of butter (for mash)
salt and pepper
half a lemon

Bechamel sauce:
1.25 pint milk (heated in a pan with two slices of onion, 6 pepper corns and a bayleaf)
pint cream
large handfull chopped fresh parsley
1oz flour
3oz butter

Make enough mashed potato for four people (I have no idea of weight, but I used four large potatoes). Butter a pie or casserole dish, chop your fish chunks (about one and a half inches), throw over some salt and cracked black pepper and squeeze over some lemon juice.

Make the Bechamel sauce: Melt the butter in a pan over a very low heat and add the chopped parsley, then stir in the flour (this makes a roux), cook this over the low heat for a few minutes, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon. Bring the milk to the boil then strain into a jug to remove the onion etc. Add the milk to the roux bit by bit stirring constantly (it is so important to add the milk one bit at a time so it the mixture stays smooth). Once all the milk has been added, stir the sauce for around 5 minutes and season slightly with salt and pepper.

Pour your bechamel sauce over the chunks of fish in the dish and make sure all the fish is coated, then smooth over the mashed potato (I found this the hardest bit, but you could probably add some cream to your mashed potato to make it a bit easier to work with). Pop in the oven for 40 minutes (the mash should go nice and golden)


I've written this from memory, but I did get the original ideas from the BBC website, so it might be worth looking there. Best of luck, and lucky you for getting such fresh fish - you can't beat it!

FTB83

newlywed

exlibris wrote:

I have not yet thought of anything to pad the fish with (like using lentil with mince) so if anyone has any ideas I would be grateful

I saw a recipe that added peas in with the fish - this would pad it out a bit?

gingin_2

exlibris wrote:

I have not yet thought of anything to pad the fish with (like using lentil with mince) so if anyone has any ideas I would be grateful

I am padding ours out tonight with a layer of cooked spinach on the bottom and then chopped hard boiled eggs in with the fish mixture, you can also put capers in as well.

Wee_Bargain_Hunter

Hi there, after years of packet foods I'm learning to cook properly again by trying out things from books & magazines etc. Came across this one for 4 people & once you’ve got all the bits & pieces in the cupboard it’s fairly cheap to do again… & again… & again .. I just love it! :j (ps I've found the quantities don't really matter too much)

Potato Topped Cod
4 Cod Fillets (approx 175g/6oz each - I just use what I've got - it's that kind of a throw together recipe!)
4 Waxy Potatoes (I just use whatever kind I've got)
1 lge Onion – finely chopped (I use red onions)
1tsp Wholegrain Mustard
1 tsp Garam Masala
Pinch Chilli Powder
1 tbsp chopped fresh Dill (save some for garnish)
75 grams fresh Breadcrumbs (I use wholemeal crusts I save in the freezer)
50g Gruyere Cheese, grated
salt +pepper (I usually just use black pepper & very little salt, esp if serving with roast veg)

Slice potatoes thinly ( I use a food processor & leave the skins on – v quick!) & fry them for about 5-10 mins in olive oil/butter till they are brown & put half of them on the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Season.
Put cod on top of potatoes, & put on the rest of the potatoes. Season. (I’ve had leftover sour cream & put this over the potato layers - DELISH! - think crème fraiche would work too?)
Reuse the frying pan & fry the onion, mustard, garam masala, chilli powder, chopped dill & breadcrumbs. Stir & mix for about 1-2 mins
Put breadcrumb mix on top of cod. Sprinkle on the cheese.
Stick dish into oven for 20 – 25 mins until the topping is crisp & golden & fish cooked. 200 c / 400 f /gas 6. Garnish with some leftover dill

It’s a really nice dish – not at all spicy, just a lovely, warming, filling winter dish.
I’ve served it with roast carrots/parsnips - cut into chunks, use a sandwich bag with some oil & v small amount salt to coat them. Put them into a roasting tray for about 50 mins. I normally put them in before I start preparing the pie.
Ps I’ve adapted the recipe from a book called Super Cookery: Quick & Easy.
Would love to hear if someone tries this out & if they have any ideas on different ingredients I could use as I'm very new to this cooking thing! Thanks

lynzpower

I did this last weekend for the first time - it was a triumph :j

I took
2 hake fillets from freezer
creme fraiche
milk
potatoes
frozen peas
couple of leeks

Ok so I peeled sliced and very quickly parboiled the potato slices and then transferred them to an oven tray/ roasting tin & laid them out flat with a slug of oil over
Sliced leeks and with a dab of marge sauteed on a low heat for a few mins in a large suacepan
laid the 2 fish fillets on the top then topped up with skimmed milk ( just covering the fish
simmered on a low heat for about 20 mins whereby the fish started to flake a bit so i flaked it up with a fork
Added 5 big spponfuls creme fraiche, frozen peas & plenty of pepper
Stirred round for another 10 mins or so
using perforated spoon lifted all the big bits out and a slug of the suace & stirred in a bit more creme fraiche to thicken it off in a lasagne dish.
then laid the potatoes on top and baked for another 15-20 mins on 200
Scoffed

The potatoes were lovely and chip like, and the leeks had gone so lovely and sweet.

It was a great meal- and so chuffed Id finally made it! those fillets had been in the freezer for months :T

lilkittikat

Thanks to all who replied to my post! Have made it now much the same as tawnyowls, was going to add some frozen peas to it but had none left so added some brocolli to it. Dp & ds are going fishing again tonight so i`ll try some of the other reciepes out next week too!