JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Just in time for Lent, our local chef de cuisine Celia Wakefield has you set with a warm, delicious and comforting fish pie, which, yes, seemed VERY British to me as well. Please don't let the length of the recipe scare you off - I saw Celia make this after a two hour round trip to the theatre and a performance of Rigoletto, which isn't a short opera. It was NOT difficult, and has the benefit of being a dish you can throw together the day after cooking the seafood. I had two helpings and would have taken the left-overs back home with me if Celia had given the slightest hint. Oh, well, I suppose Victor and she did have to have something for lunch the next day.
(Note on the videos - I'm sorry there are so many! I usually edit them to make two or three compilations, but my video editor would NOT cooperate.)
Well that’s enough of the Romans, though I do find it interesting that we are still doing things mandated by them. Just to complete the cycle of facts, I first came across a or several palindromes in one of Margary Allingham’s books -“More Work for the Undertaker” is the book I think. I was probably in my teens when I read it. I remember the story involved an eccentric, well educated and well bred middle aged family of siblings with a murder in their midst. Call for Albert Campion (non de plume).
Enough of dawdling down paths of mystery, my task today is to offer another of my recipes. Julia chose this as we had it for dinner after the three of us had been to see Rigoletto in a Met Opera HD performance. It is lovely to find a friend who enjoys Opera as it’s so much fun to be able to share views after. Another side note. If you are an Opera buff and haven’t seen this production, please try to catch it. The singing and acting is sublime. Both Rigoletto and Gilda have performed this together many times and it shows.
We had a grand afternoon and because HD shows begin at 1pm, I had made and brought smoked salmon sandwiches to tide us over till dinner. It was a rather fishy day.
Arriving home we got to work on dinner, my fish pie, after the necessary restorative cuppa. With full disclosure as they say in the media, I have never been very fond of fish. Having thrown out a challenge to the ocean I must admit that I love shell fish, and totally love sushi and sashimi. In fact I really only like tuna raw. I am also partial to some smoked fish and was very disappointed when Legal SeaFoods took their blue fish pate off their menu. But serve me blue fish, Herring or mackerel, nothing oily, too fishy, thank you. I had unpleasant eating experiences with fish at boarding school. Being a convent it was fish on Fridays and usually boiled to flannel texture with bones still in and no sauce.
This is a no recipe, beloved of Sam Shifton, NYT Food Editor, who usually writes about no recipe meals on Wednesdays, then proceeds to tantalise me with many no recipe ideas which I can’t read as I won’t pay the price so to do. But I will put in my quantities as I can best guess them, which probably is good for 4-6 people. There was plenty left to serve again after the three of us had dinner, and it held up well over six days refrigeration.
1# bag of mussels
1# pollock
For cooking the mussels:
1/2 onion, chopped
Fresh dill
1 tsp fennel seeds,
1 tsp peppercorns
1/2 c white wine or vermouth
Wash mussels, throw out any that have broken shells.
Use a large frying pan with a lid to cook the mussels
Add half a chopped onion, some dill fresh preferably, tsp of fennel seeds, tsp peppercorns, 1/2 cup white wine or vermouth, 1/2 cup water and the mussels to the pan and cover.
Heat till the liquid boils and the mussels start to open,
Cook a couple more minutes, then drain liquid and mussels through a sieve.
Put the mussels to one side discarding any that didn’t open, to cool down
Carefully pour the cooking liquid into a microwave safe dish with lid and add the fish. Do not use all the liquid as there will be some sand etc from the mussels at the bottom.
The cooking liquid can be used with milk in the sauce if wished
Sauce and topping ingredients:
4 hard boiled eggs, peeled
Cheddar or another grating cheese to make a cup plus grated (Parmesan would only be my choice for topping)
Potatoes, enough to make 3-4 cups of mashed potato
Milk, butter, oil, salt and pepper
Dill to season if liked
Toasted bread or Panko crumbs for topping
Egg and Cheese Sauce:
Hard boil the eggs in advance and peel them
Grate enough cheese to fill a cup measure, I choose cheddar*
Step 1, seasoning the milk
Add to a pint of milk
bay leaf
10 peppercorns
nutmeg pieces or half a tsp grated nutmeg
small piece of onion or shallot
couple sprigs of parsley
Put the milk and first five ingredients in a small saucepan,
Heat almost to a boil,
Turn the heat down all the way and allow to simmer gently for ten minutes or so
Strain the milk to remove seasonings into a jug for pouring onto the roux.
Step 2, making the roux
2 Tblsp unsalted butter - if you use salted just taste sauce before adding more seasoning
2Tblsp flour - if GF use enough potato starch to make a roux
Salt and pepper, dill, nutmeg
Melt the butter and add the flour in two or three turns
Stir to incorporate butter and flour and cook for a few minutes over medium heat to ‘cook out’ the raw flour taste
Take the pan off the heat and whisk about a quarter of the milk into the roux, mixing well to break up any small lumps
Return pan to medium heat and continue to add the milk a little at a time, whisking briskly and watching the mixture thicken. You may not need all the milk
As the sauce thickens add the cheese which will help the sauce thickening process then season to taste
Mix in the well chopped eggs, chopped dill, or parsley, grated nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste
Baking the Fish Pie:
Mix in the cooked fish, and shellfish if used, which should be broken into bite sized pieces
Cover the top with mashed potatoes and add a sprinkle of grated cheese and breadcrumbs if you wish.
Use an oven proof casserole and bake at 350F for about a half hour or until the top is golden brown.
NOTES:
This is truly a ‘seat of pants’ recipe and I encourage you to make it as you will. Looking back there do seem to be many directions but I would rather over compensate than leave a step out.
The sauce is based on a béchamel sauce that I learned to make many years ago. However it is fine to make a roux and mix in the milk without going through the seasoning process first. But done this way if you have time does add an element to the dish. As you can see the sauce is what makes the dish special. Perhaps I should just make the sauce and get a spoon!
I often make this with white fish which I cover with milk in a microwave safe dish and nuke for a couple of minutes, then let sit. That cooks the fish and I use the milk to make the sauce.
Final Word: An immersion blender can solve almost all lumpy problems.
