Okay, I’m a bit late but I’m finally getting around to mama’s comfort food fish pie recipe, with which I helped her by peeling the skin off the fish when she was too busy to do it, and I could tell she was really grateful for that, having forgotten the piece of fish on the counter…
So you’ll need:
500 g of white fish filets plus a skinless and boneless smoked fish of your choice
500 ml of whole milk plus 100 ml of heavy cream
1 sweet onion, cut in four pieces and each stuck with a clove
200 g butter
50 g white flour
4 hardboiled eggs
Small handful of chopped parsley leaves (mama likes the Italian kind)
4 large potatoes, peeled, sliced and cooked in boiling water for 15 minutes until soft
Fresh parsley leaves
Dash of nutmeg
60 g cheddar cheese or emmenthaler, grated
In a large skillet, put the fish and smoked fish and pour the milk over that. Add the onions and simmer the fish for about 10 minutes or until just barely done.
Pour off the milk, and flake the fish into a well-buttered baking dish.
Slice the eggs and scatter them over the fish along with the chopped parsely.
In another skillet, heat most of the butter to bubbling (leaving some for the potatoes), stir in the flour to make a roux and cook for a minute to take on color, stirring constantly. Add the milk and cream in which the fish was poached, stirring to make a smooth sauce with the consistency of pancake batter, or that will coat a spoon easily. Season with salt and pepper and the nutmeg and pour this over the fish.
Heat the oven to 185C or 375F.
Drain the potatoes and mash with salt, pepper, the rest of the butter and a little cream or milk. Using the mashed potatoes to cover the fish, spread them over the fish mixture, wall to wall until the potatoes ‘seal’ the baking dish.
Sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake for 30-40 minutes. This can be done ahead, refrigerated and served the next day warmed up. Or you may assemble the whole thing a day ahead and bake it on the next day straight from the fridge for 40 minutes.
So that’s Fish Pie and there are variations, as happens with all recipes (except pasta with olive oil and garlic! Hard to change that one…).
You may use gruyere over the top, or parmesan; you may use a savory fish broth for the sauce but mama likes milk and cream; you may use any smoked fish you like but always use some fresh white fish along with it, or prawns if you want to gussy it up! I opt for the prawns right now, because it is SOOO easy to give one or two to the house kitty without diminishing the amount for guests…
I’m getting out my pole right now and heading for the sea…
Mama sometimes uses poached salmon along with the smoked fish…(both, skinned and boned)
Here’s the great black hunter, hunting a fish. “NOT IN THE BIRD BATH, LOULOU!”
Hi Loulou! Yum, yum, yum and just the ticket on a cold winter’s night! Ruth, my mother outlaw, used to make something similar when I would visit her on Long Island. She would cook a whole white fish for dinner one night then the next day take the leftovers, flake the fish, make a béchemel sauce and chopped hard cooked egg. It was delicious and I love your mum’s idea of adding the potato on top. We had brandade during the holidays and I love that too. Keep warm little one!
Oh, boy, does mama love brandade!!!! I think we have to make a trip to our local salt cod guru…..and yeah, the potatoes sort of top it off, haha.
Your mom sure does like to cook, Loulou. Do you get nibbles of her dinners?
Oh, yeah, I get tidbits but ONLY at dinner time and not in between meals. I’m trying to lose a couple of grams to look good for the vet tomorrow when they size me up, haha.