So, when
pinkleader and I stayed at my mother's house in London for a few days, she cooked dinner for us. She also cooked dinner for cathgrace , pinkleader and I when we came over for an evening when we were on the London leg of the tour. And she served us fish pie.The pie was so nice, that
pinkleader mentioned it on her facebook, and there were some requests for the recipe. Since I'm going to leave for the farm shortly, and I haven't scanned all the pics I need for my next jacket post, I thought I'd post the recipe instead. It is yummy. And has no pastry in it, even though it's called a "pie". It's more like a casserole with a topping.
All amounts are approximate, since my mother cooks by feel, and tends to give me her recipes by feel, too. Adjust as needed.
(PLEASE NOTE: I haz a typo in the recipe. Don't use 1-1/2 cups capers, that's supposed to be the amount of milk you use. Capers are to taste.) (Sorry!)
You'll need:
1 fillet of white fish of some sort - she likes haddock.
1/4lb of shrimp
1 fillet of salmon.
1-1/2 cups milk
capers
salt and pepper to taste
mashed potatoes
grated parmesan or romano cheese (or any mix of cheeses you like)
Note: Mum cooks this in a round, deep casserole dish, which helps the layers look nice.
Bake the fish and the shrimp in the milk until it is done.
Drain the milk and make a Bechamel sauce (a white sauce - most cookbooks should have the recipe) from it.
Flake the fish (white and salmon) into nice little pieces.
Mix the Bechamel, the flaked fish, the shrimp, the capers, and the salt and pepper (and any other spice you think might be nice), and put the mixture into a casserole dish.
Mix the mashed potatoes (my mother makes them from scratch with milk and butter, but I'm sure a good brand of instant would be fine - it's certainly what I'd use) and 3/4 of the grated cheese, and top the fish mixture, so there's a nice thick "crust" of mashed potatoes on top. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake in a 350F oven until the top is brown and yummy and crusty (hit it for a couple of minutes with the broiler at the end if it's not browning enough).
Serve.
I think that's what she told me - I haven't made it since I've been back, but I'm pretty sure it's correct. The nice thing about this recipe is that it's very amenable to being adjusted or played with - change the fish, add more veggies (I think I'd add caramelized onions) to the fish mix, use different spices, different cheese, etc. It's amazingly forgiving, too, since the fish is cooked beforehand, and it's a great one-dish meal, though Mum always serves it with other vegetables and maybe a salad.
...Aaaaaand, my alarm just went off so I have to rinse the hairdye out of my hair. Have a good weekend, and thank you all so much for the Birthday wishes! I feel very loved. :)
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