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Fishy February

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Re: Fishy February

Postby Stokey Sue » Wed Feb 24, 2021 1:24 am

I don’t see how that Mary Berry recipe can work - 1 cm pieces of fish are surely far to small and if you stir continuously during the initial cooking won’t the fish break up? Doesn’t it end up like minced fish?

I also don’t like eggs in fish pie myself

I tend to poach the fish fillets (whole, or as they come in fish pie mix) in milk with bay leaf and parsley stalks, undercooking them, put the drained fish into the greased pie dish removing any skin and breaking them up a bit, interspersing with any prawns or other seafood, seasoning of course and adding a sprinkling of chopped parsley. Strain the milk, make a white sauce with it, pour that over the fish and top with mashed potato and brown in the oven

I agree with BM that you can overdo the smoked fish, don’t think I’ve ever used onion in fish pie, leek sounds good

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Re: Fishy February

Postby Pampy » Wed Feb 24, 2021 1:34 am

I make fish pie quite often. Pretty much as Sue has outlined but I don't top with potato - just mix Parmesan with breadcrumbs, sprinkle on top and dot with butter. I also butter the dish and sprinkle with dried potato powder (Smash) which absorbs any excess liquid from the fish. I vary the fish depending on how posh I want it to be. A normal one - cod, prawns, salmon, smoked haddock; a posh one - lobster, halibut, prawns, smoked haddock. I like to serve it with peas/tenderstem broccoli/green beans/broad beans and if I'm very hungry (which I usually am :lol: ) a jacket potato.

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Re: Fishy February

Postby karadekoolaid » Wed Feb 24, 2021 1:55 am

I have never made a fish pie, but I did eat an excellent one that a friend made when I was in the UK a few years back.
I´d very much agree with Sue: 1 cm pieces of fish would probably fall apart, creating Fish Mush.
My friend actually used a pastry topping rather than potato. Is that normal?

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Re: Fishy February

Postby Pampy » Wed Feb 24, 2021 2:11 am

I've seen fish pie with a puff pastry lid but it's not something that I'd make.

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Re: Fishy February

Postby Earthmaiden » Wed Feb 24, 2021 2:51 am

I agree that 1cm pieces of fish would be too small and I might mix the pieces of fish into a sauce but not stir.

A regular for an everyday supper when I had a family to feed was drained tinned tuna in a white sauce with parsley and lemon and either a potato topping or made into a large vol au vent. We loved it. We even made a (pretty awful!) version from tinned tuna, packet parsley sauce and Smash when we were camping!

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Re: Fishy February

Postby Badger's Mate » Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:55 am

What I should have said was that I make the sauce, pour it over the raw fish and top with mash. Putting it in the oven to brown provides quite enough cooking for the fish. That's another reason to put cream in the sauce, it will dilute slightly with fish juices and making it richer in the first place counteracts the dilution. Smoked or salted fish also helps here of course. Leeks are a good addition. Parsley is good of course although Mrs B isn't that keen on parsley. Sue will condemn me to the nth circle of Hell but I have been known to use a hint of tarragon. :D Sometimes I've added a splash of white wine or cider to the sauce, sometimes cheese to the sauce, or as a topping with crumbs on the mash. The sauce could be made with a bayleaf, retrieved before pouring on the fish.

ETA I think that subtlety is the way to go with herbs in fish pie; a hint of this or that, or (something I haven't done but should try) mild herbs like chives and chervil.

I like a mixture of fish; the common mixes of white fish, salmon & smoked fish (or prawns in the posh ones) reflect the popular fish types so I tend to use those four (with a bit of salting) as It's a dinner party dish here. Odd really, we both like it and I rarely do one just for the two of us.

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Re: Fishy February

Postby dennispc » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:04 am

Did fish pie regularly for large family gatherings. White fish, small amount of smoked, poached in milk (plus cream sometimes) with sliced onion and three cloves studded in a slice. When cool, skin and flake, onion discarded. When sauce ready, stirred in the fish, prawns, boiled egg and capers, plus parsley. Buttered dish, topped with mash and knobs of butter.

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Re: Fishy February

Postby jeral » Wed Feb 24, 2021 4:49 pm

Thanks very much. I can't help but notice that posts say to use minimal additional flavours. I'd expected people to say za'atar or ginger or allspice or something. (Edit: I just see that dennispc adds cloves initially.) Perhaps I'd forgotten the delight of valuing things for what they are so I'll take your advice and leave well alone.

What's a good dish proportion height, i.e. 50:50 base fish/sauce to mash topping, or 2:1 maybe? I'm still wondering how fish flavour survives through the rest. Ta.

Unfortunately, most ready made ones have butter so I can't "see what they do".

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Re: Fishy February

Postby Pampy » Wed Feb 24, 2021 5:34 pm

Don't top with potato - that will ensure you get the fish flavour.

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Re: Fishy February

Postby Pepper Pig » Wed Feb 24, 2021 5:52 pm

Mine is very similar to Dennis’s but on occasions I have pushed the boat out and made this one by Jamie Oliver. I still use a mixture of fish though.

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fis ... -fish-pie/

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Re: Fishy February

Postby OneMoreCheekyOne » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:20 pm

The Jamie version looks good. We make our fish pie pretty much the same as Sue but add cloves to the onion like dennis. We sprinkle cheddar on top. My tip would be don’t be shy with the smoked fish!

We’ve also made a Russian version before which includes mushrooms, white wine and is topped with puff pastry.

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Re: Fishy February

Postby dennispc » Thu Feb 25, 2021 12:23 am

Forgot, add lemon juice. Ideally I’d make the fish part in the morning and put the dish in fridge. Then add the mash in time for tea. I'd agree with small quantity of smoked fish.

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Re: Fishy February

Postby ZeroCook » Thu Feb 25, 2021 6:49 pm

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Some really great fish and fish bargains our way this week - found this while looking for ideas.

Gordon Ramsay fish compliation - black bream, sea bass, monk fish with curried mussel broth, cornish brill, lemon sole en papillote.
What's not to like.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u8bdtAUpvlA


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