fish pie - merged threads

babyshoes

Squash, cooked then mashed up would also work, if you have any.

lucylema

I would like to make hubby and pops a fish pie. What should i put in? There is some white fish in the freeer so can poach that, pop some prawns in but what else? anyone got a fool proof recipe?

Hardup_Hester

Hugh Fearnly Whittingwhatsit adds quartered hard boiled eggs to his fish pie recipe.
I usually make mine with just white fish in cheese or parsley sauce & topped with mash.
Hester

Stephen_Leak

Try this ...

FISH PIE

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

375g of old potatoes
1 onion
250ml of water
¼ of a teaspoon of salt
250ml of milk
350g of white fish
2 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of flour
½ a tablespoon of parsley
½ a tablespoon of butter
½ a tablespoon of milk

METHOD

Peel the potatoes and chop them into quarters. Peel the onion and chop it into tiny pieces.

Put the water and salt into a saucepan on a medium heat. Add the potatoes. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat until it is just boiling (simmering). Put the lid on the saucepan and cook for 20 to 25 minutes until soft. Check the water level from time to time and top up if it starts to dry out.

While the potatoes are cooking, put the 250ml of milk, fish and onion into a frying pan on a medium heat. Cook for about 10 minutes until the fish is firm and opaque.

Strain the milk through a sieve or colander into a bowl. Put the fish and onion onto a plate. Break the fish into small pieces. Throw away the skin and bones.

Drain the potatoes and mash with the ½ a tablespoon of butter and the ½ a tablespoon of milk until it is smooth and lump free.

Put the 2 tablespoons of butter into the saucepan the fish was cooked in on a medium heat. Melt the butter. Add the flour and cook for a minute, stirring all the time. Take off the heat. Add the milk the fish was cooked in a bit at a time. Stir each time to make sure it is smooth. When all the milk has been added, put the pan back on the heat. Bring to the boil. Keep stirring. Turn down the heat until it is just boiling (simmering). Cook for 2 minutes, stirring all the time.

Add the fish, onions and parsley and stir.

Put the fish mixture into an ovenproof dish. Level off the surface. Put the mashed potato on top. Spread to cover the fish mixture. Make artistic swirls in the mashed potato. This increases the surface area and makes the top crisper.

Cook in a preheated oven at 200°C, 400°F, gas mark 6 for about 30 minutes until golden on top.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

Use cod, coley, haddock, hake, ling, plaice, pollack or whiting fillets.

Use some smoked and/or dyed fish, because smoked fish tastes nice and dyed fish looks pretty. Use kippers, which are smoked herring fillets.

Use a packet of white or parsley sauce mix according to the instructions on the packet, but make it up with the milk the fish was cooked in.

Use 100g of frozen cooked prawns instead of 100g of the fish. Defrost them according to the instructions on the packet and add them to the fish mixture when you assemble the pie.

Add a chopped hard-boiled egg to the fish mixture when you assemble the pie.

Sprinkle 50g of grated Cheddar cheese on top of the potato, or even into it as it being mashed.

TIPS

New potatoes make rubbish mashed potato. Use old ones like King Edward’s or Desiree Reds.

The trick with the sauce is to keep stirring.

zippychick

I'm not a fan myself, but luckily we have a fish pie thread

Good luck with it, and ill merge this later on

Zip

cleggie

I'd recommend Jamie Oivers fish pie, really easy, and really yummy!

Waffle_On

I don't use a recipe as such, this is my method:

Poach the fish in milk. Strain, then use the milk to make a white sauce - I like to add some cheese to make it extra tasty. Flake the fish and remove any bones, then stir into the sauce. Top with mashed potato and bake in the oven until browned.

I tend to use the fish pie mixes you can get with cod, smoked haddock and salmon. It's definitely more tasty with 3 contrasting types of fish. Just remember the rules about cooking and reheating - especially if you decide to add prawns. Boiled egg would be yummy too!

BitterAndTwisted

I think a tiny bit of smoked fish goes really well in a fish pie, something like smoked haddock. It's quite expensive but you really only need a little to add a lot of good extra flavour.

The joy of making a fish pie is that you use whatever you have to hand. One of my local fishmongers has a box of what they call offcuts for about £2 a kilo. That makes a lot of fish pie but the pieces can be very boney, so I lightly steam it and then get boning and skinning. That's not fast but it is cheap. Very cheap.

Fish in white sauce needs freshly chopped parsley. Lots of it.

louisaL

A nice easy creamy cheesy sauce is creme fraiche and cheese melted in a sauce pan and pour over the fish in a dish and top with mash and maybe more cheese yum! and you could add peas or sweetcorn.

Stephen_Leak

As I say, try one with some kippers. I saw this on one of those daytime cooking programmes, and my first thought was, "What?". Then I remembered that kippers are smoked herring. So, I tried it. OK, it tasted smoky, but what would you expect? I'd certainly do it again.

And kippers are cheap. For example, ASDA, 200g pack. 87p. And you get a pat of butter for the mashed potato.