Fish Pie

Ingredients:                                                                                                       Serves 4

For the béchamel sauce:

20g Butter

20g Plain flour

500ml Milk

½ Onion studded with 3 cloves

1 Celery stick chopped roughly

Small bunch of parsley stalks

2 Bay leaves

Fish mix for the pie:

100g Cod (or any white fish of your choice) – chopped into large chunks

100g Salmon fillet – chopped into large chunks

100g Smoked Haddock – chopped into large chunks

Small bunch of dill leaves, chopped

Garnish for the fish pie mix:

3 Hard boiled eggs, peeled & chopped into large chunks

150g Baby leeks, sliced

For the topping:

1.3 Kg Maris piper/King Edward potato,(or any floury potato)

50ml double cream

2 – 3 egg yolks

Salt & white pepper to taste

Method:

1) Prick the potatoes with a fork, wrap in foil and bake in the oven for 45 – 60 mins, or until they are baked through. Cut the potatoes in half, and scoop them out into a bowl discarding the skins.

2) Pass the potatoes through a ricer to form the mash. Heat the double cream and beat into the mash followed by the butter and then incorporate the egg yolks. Season to taste. Set aside. (Ensure your mash is not too wet)

3) Infuse the milk by adding the aromatics (onion, cloves, celery, parsley stalks and bay leaves) in a saucepan bring to the boil and simmer for 2 – 3 mins.

4) Remove the aromatics and add the fish, then remove the saucepan from the heat. There should be enough residual heat in the saucepan to poach the fish gently without over cooking it. Remove the fish from the milk after 5 – 7 mins using a slotted spoon and drain. Reserve the milk for the béchamel sauce.

5) Blanch the leeks in boiling salted water, for 2 – 3 mins, refresh in iced water, when cool, pat them dry and aside.

6) In a separate saucepan melt the butter, and then add the flour to form a roux, cook the roux on a low heat for 1 – 2 mins, constantly stirring it so it doesn’t burn or stick.

7) Slowly or even in stages, add the warm milk the fish was poached in using a whisk to beat out any lumps to form a smooth béchamel sauce. Keep stirring with a whisk on a low heat until the flour has cooked out (i.e. the floury taste has disappeared). Sprinkle in the dill leaves. Season to taste.

8) To assemble the pie, scatter the poached fish in the base of your pie dish, then add the béchamel sauce, ensuring that all the pieces of fish are smothered in it. Scatter on the leeks and boiled egg, and then top with the mashed potato. Run a fork over the surface of the mash topping, this will give it texture as it bakes in the oven

9) Place in a pre-heated oven at 220°C for approximately 15 – 20 mins until the topping turns a golden brown. Let the fish pie rest for 5 mins or so then serve.