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 LXIX - Parsley Sauce (on fish)

I'm not a great fan of fish. However, my favourite restaurant in the world is under London Bridge and is called "Fish! " and if you know someone who has a fishphobia, that's the place to take them. Their desserts are delicious too, and I'll do one of them soon. This tremendous English recipe, though, is so easy to make and thankfully gives you time to do the rest of your cooking.

Ingredients:
400ml full cream milk
1 bunch of parsley, chopped (keep some of the stalks!!)
1 small onion
60g butter
Up to 150g plain flour
1 bay leaf
A mix of whole and crushed peppercorns
Some nutmeg or mace
a pinch of salt

Instructions:
Cut up your parsley, keeping some of the stalks. They are very, very flavoursome and give such a kick to the sauce. Let's be frank - you an either use a knife to cut it up or you can stick it in the blitzer. I stuck it in the blitzer.
Slice the onion in half. A small one is good as they're much more pungent. Put some milk into a saucepan, and add the parsley stalks, onion, peppercorns, nutmeg (or mace), the bay leaf and salt. Then very slowly heat it up to simmering point. Milk is notoriously volatile boiling, so you need to do this carefully.

 

After a few minutes of simmering, strain the larger bits out and leave the flavoured milk to cool. You can do your fish now. *See after the last photo below for a frying tip for your fish.

 

Once you are almost ready with the fish, it's time to make the sauce, and it'll take just a couple of minutes. Put your butter in a saucepan and in Béchamel-style, add the flour until it thickens. Once this happens, add the milk back bit-by-bit, allowing the fluidity to return, whisking as you pour it in.

 

Add the parsley to the mixture and continue to whisk.

 

Pour it on your potatoes and fish. I made mine very thick, but if you have a lot of visitors and you need a lot more, you just need to add more milk as you whisk. It won't affect the overall flavour. Some people add some lemon juice but I think it's fabulous without.

*TIP: If you decide to fry your fish, cut up some garlic and fry it in the olive oil for a couple of minutes before you add the fish. Remove the garlic first, as it'll just go black and give your fish a burned flavour.