The Complete Nose to Tail by Fergus Henderson

Author:Fergus Henderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

FISH PIE

A pie for four

There’s nothing more soothing than a fish pie.

3 fillets natural smoked haddock

10 black peppercorns

3⅓ cups milk

2 sticks plus 1 tablespoon butter

¾ cup all-purpose flour

sea salt and black pepper

4 x 10-minute hardboiled eggs

MASHED POTATOES

3¼ to 3½ pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters (Maris Pipers are good mashers)

3⅓ cups milk

2 sticks plus 1 tablespoon butter

sea salt and black pepper

In an ovenproof dish, cover the smoked haddock and peppercorns with the milk and bake in a medium to hot oven for approximately 20 minutes. Check the fish has cooked through; it should easily flake when prodded with a knife. Remove it from the milk, strain and save the milk, and flake the fish flesh off their skins into hearty bite-size chunks.

Meanwhile boil and mash your potatoes with the milk, butter and seasoning. While this happens, melt 10 tablespoons of the butter in a pan, and when it’s starting to bubble, add the flour and stir until the mixture smells biscuity (this suggests the flour is cooked), but do not let the mixture change color. There must be no browning at all, so be cautious with the heat. Then add the warm fish milk, whisking (as long as it is not an aluminium pan) as you go to avoid lumps. Let the sauce thicken until it easily coats the back of your spoon and check the seasoning.

Now we are ready to construct the fish pie. In a pie dish place your haddock and hardboiled eggs. Pour over your fishy white sauce, leaving room for you to spread on the top layer of mashed potato. Then run a fork across the top of the mash, as if ploughing a field. This is not for mere decoration, but aids the crisping up factor.

Dot the top with little knobs of butter, place the pie in a hot oven, and cook for 30 minutes or until piping hot and golden brown. Serve with boiled peas.

Even just writing this recipe down, its soothing qualities have quite restored me from the fragile state in which I was.

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