I am very excited, tomorrow morning after we've thrown off our pyjamas, dressed and leapt in the car, the kids and I are heading back to our old village to stay with a lovely friend of mine. Our boys were best buddies whilst I lived there and Jack is just as excited as I am to be going to stay with them. I have to say my lovely friend is someone who I miss terribly even though my life now in our new home is lovely. I think about her so often, and despite not ever having done anything particularly exciting with her, we just 'got' each other and she is a gem. So a night in her company will be just bliss.... (much like a precious night with you would be Char!!).
Tonight however has been about getting ready and also cooking up a fish pie for the latest fundraiser at school.. a cookbook. So I thought I would share the recipe with you too, I know I've given it to you already Charlotta but as I had to take pix for the book anyway I will show you all too! I hope you all have a lovely weekend too.
I don't really do weighing things but I have given rough amounts so if you like something put more of it in, if you don't like something, such as prawns or eggs leave them out! I have made this for 5/6 people.
Variety of fish some white, some pink, some smoked to fill most of your dish leaving room for mash on top - as you like eg 1 loin of salmon (or 2 salmon fillets), 1 large fillet haddock, 1 large fillet smoked haddock, 1 packet of prawns,
Eggs - 1 per person
Milk - 400g
Bay leaf
Lemon juice
Butter 40g for sauce and some for the mash
Parsley 1 good handful
Cheddar cheese 300g (or less if you don't like cheese so much!)
White wine
Potatoes - approx 900g
Nutmeg
Salt and Pepper
Pre-heat your oven to 200 degreesRemove the skin off the fish and any bones, cut the fish into large bitesize lumps.
Poach the fish (Leaving out the prawns keep these till later as they don't take long to cook!) for about 5 minutes in milk or white wine seasoned with salt and pepper and a bay leaf, (about a cm in the bottom of the pan) until the fish is just cooked.
Strain the fish keeping the milk or wine, which you will add to make up to about 400g of milk in a jug to use in your sauce.
Place the fish into an ovenproof dish and check for any more bones if need be then squeeze lemon juice on to it.
Peel and boil enough potatoes to cover your dish nicely with Mashed potato.
Boil an egg per person, for this amount 5 eggs for about 3 minutes, it's nice if they are slightly soft still as they cook more in the oven.
Grate the cheddar cheese and put reserve for the sauce and topping.
Chop a good bunch of Parsley finely and reserve.
Make a cheese sauce by putting a good knob of butter in a saucepan and melting it (approx 40g). When it is melted gradually add a tablespoon or so of plain flour (approx 40g), stir this on a medium heat until the flour is cooked through, then slowly add the milk (including the milk or wine from the fish), continuously stirring, until you get a good smooth sauce. Add to this most of your grated cheese saving some for the top. and stir until it's melted. Finally add the chopped parsley and a good pinch of nutmeg and pour the sauce over the fish. Peel the eggs, and slice in half, place these yolk up on top of the fish and sauce slightly bedding them into the sauce. Put the prawns on top too.
Mash the potato with butter and milk, season and then spoon on top of the fish to make a nice thick layer making sure there are no gaps around the edge for the sauce to sneak through, roughly fork the top and sprinkle a layer of cheese on the top.
Cook in the oven for about 30 minutes or until nice and golden on the top and bubbling.
I have also made this with adding some cooked leeks to the sauce instead of the parsley which is tasty too!
Mmmmmm!
