Fish Pie

nompere

I’ve been thinking about fish pies.

Here’s a recipe from Ely Wine Bar – I think it’s a fine restaurant:

http://elywinebar.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/fish-pie/

Here’s one from Gordon Ramsey – he knows how to cook:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3174/fish-pie--in-four-steps

And finally here’s one from Rick Stein – he knows more about fish than almost anyone:

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/529781

What do they all have in common? First they poach the fish for about 10 minutes, and then put the fish and some sauce, covered by mashed potato into an oven for up to 40 minutes.

I make lots of fish pies, and I find it increasingly strange that anyone would want to cook fish for nearly an hour. You can poach a whole salmon in that time! When using fillets or similar they’re generally completely cooked during the poaching process.

One thing that the poaching does is to remove some of the water from the fish – that’s why most of the sauces are made from the poaching liquid – to get that flavour back into the sauce.

So now I make the béchamel so thick that a spoon will stand up in it – you can almost slice it. I mix the sauce with the uncooked fish, Then I top it, first with hard-boiled eggs (I love them in my fish pies, though I know they’re not to everyone’s taste) and then the potato, and put the whole lot into the oven for 40 minutes.

The liquid comes out of the fish during the cooking and makes my sauce the runnier consistency I want – and my fish has been cooked slowly, in the sauce, for about 40 minutes.

vibe666

that sounds like the way the hairy bikers did it on one of their shows.

i like to get some extra veg in my fish pies, so mine tend to be a cross between a fish pie and a cauliflower and broccoli bake.

this is the most basic way i make it, i usually season to taste as i'm going, so feel free to do the same and change as you like.

steam off the cauli & broc, sweat down onion & mushroom in a pan, steam some baby spuds (or half and half regular & sweet potato sometimes) & poach your fish, usually 3, some white, some smoked & some salmon, then make a roux with flour & butter and the (well reduced) poaching liqour (and sometimes cheese if i'm feeling naughty ) and as you say, make it really thick like custard.

then you assemble with cauli/broc at bottom, onions & mush, then fish, then roux on top, then crushed/mashed spuds & brush with melted butter and or more cheese on top and whack it in the oven (or under the grill if everything was put together still piping hot) till the top goes crispy, job done.

Brian?

I have a golden rule when it comes to seafood: Rick Stein is always right. .

CJhaughey

briankeating wrote: »

I have a golden rule when it comes to seafood: Rick Stein is always right. .

Good old Rick is handy at the fish alright!
I heard he's taken off to live in Australia with some young one.

tfak85

I do the traditional poaching the fish bits in the milk and using it to make the sauce but I cook my potatoes in the skin, then peel and grate once cooked, it means you get a lighter, kind of rosti top on the pie, I just pour on a little melted butter before it goes in the oven..

The cooked potatoes are a bit sticky when you're grating them and you may or may not burn your hands but it's worth it...

Alun

I make mine in the 'traditional' way too but rarely bake the end product for much more than 15-20 mins to be honest. It's just to reheat everything and put a bit of a crust on the topping.

I've tried it using raw fish and cooking for longer, but for me it just doesn't have the same effect. I always have some smoked fish in with the mix, and I find that the poaching milk then makes the sauce taste nice and 'smoky' too.

I also don't use mash as a topping nowadays, but usually some potatoes boiled in their skin and roughly crushed with some molten butter and possibly some grated cheese too.