Recipe CXXXV - Fish Pie

Another staple of Christmas in various parts of Europe is the fish. In central Europe, the carp is the most common type, as it's a freshwater species and can be sourced in large quantities and bought a few days in advance. It's quite common in Czechia or Slovakia to see huge tubs of carp on market squares with customers queuing up to select their own. As they are alive, they are transported home very carefully and usually kept in the bath until its big appearance on Christmas Eve. 

It is served then because 24 December is known as Štědrý Den (Generous Day), and the last day of Advent fasting. So it was considered to be a good way of kicking off the feast, as it is a rather tasteless and boring fish, but also a more substantial meal than what they would have previously had. 

So we're not going to make our fish pie with carp; we need something with a little flavour and maybe some character. I went for cod and sea bass. For anyone who knows me, they will be astonished that I actually made a fish dish at all, let alone a salt water fish dish. 

I actually despise fish - for me the word "poisson" has one too many Ss. But every now and again I get the urge to dig into a bit of briny sauce and yesterday was one of those days. 

Ingredients:

450g-500g mixed deboned fish, e.g. haddock, cod, sea bass 

300ml-400ml milk

4 or 5 carrots, sliced

A large red onion, cut into small pieces 

20 fresh ground peppercorns 

A bunch of fresh parsley, cut up small

A couple of tablespoons of flour

As many peas as you want, and some green beans if you want 

Some white wine (optional)

8 to 10 medium-large potatoes

300g butter

200g grated cheese, e.g. Cheddar or Gruyère

Instructions:

Cut up and roll the fish in some pepper and flour; check for bones. Put the oven on 200°C. Peel the potatoes and boil them gently in salted water until soft. Mash them up with some butter and pepper. While the potatoes are boiling, put some butter in a fairly large high-sided frying pan and while it's gently heating up, add the onions, carrots, and a little flour, followed by the white wine, peas, fish and parsley. When the white wine has reduced but before the pan dries out, add the milk and cook with lid on for about 15 to 25 minutes to let the flavours run.

Take a large, high-sided baking dish and pour the fish mix in there. 

Take the mashed potato and spread evenly on the top. Some like to make little dollops with an ice cream scoop but it's not important. Put the grated cheese on top and place in the middle of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. 

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Recipe CXXXIV - Caramelised Brussels Sprouts and sauteed Wild Boar Medallions

It's that grey week between Christmas and New Year's Eve when very little happens except finishing up all the food you didn't gluttonously consume during the main feast days and hanging around for that great anticlimactic moment when the numbers on the clock signify that it's 1st January of the following year. But this year is different - the last week of the year of cancelled invitations and postponed bookings due to the great pestilence of 2020 will tick by more slowly than the rest of the year with the tortuous effect of a dripping tap and those leftover vegetables will have no other mouths to enter than your own, so what better way to spend a miserable December night than to make something different with your remaining food? Here's a simple but delightful take on the humble Brussels sprout, the most underestimated Christmas ingredient of them all, plus a splendid little side dish of wild boar.

Ingredients for the sprouts:

500g Brussels sprouts 

Minimum 20 fresh ground peppercorns 

100g butter 

Spoonful of nutmeg 

Some salt

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 200°C. Do the usual removal of the outer leaves, then slice the sprouts in half. Melt the butter on a low flame and pour into a wide baking dish - this is to leave plenty of room so they can sit with the insides on the base. Pour the butter into the baking dish, then cover the sprouts in salt, nutmeg and pepper before placing them flat in the butter.

Cook in the oven for 25 minutes or until soft.

Ingredients for the wild boar medallions:

350g to 500g wild boar fillet cut into slices 

Plenty of ground black peppercorns 

6 mushrooms of your choice 

1 red onion

3 cloves of garlic

A glass of brandy

150ml to 200ml fresh cream

Instructions:

Roll the boar in the pepper and some salt, cut up the mushrooms, onions and garlic. Put some butter in a wide frying pan on a medium-high temperature, fry the medallions until they are sealed, add the garlic, onions and mushrooms, pour over some brandy, let it reduce. Then add the cream and let it thicken.

Done!

I also caramelised some carrots with sugar using the same recipe as the sprouts and they went down very well.