Fish Pie starts the week - Fish is the Dish

There is fish pie and there is MY fish pie! 

Fish is the Dish has set a challenge for some of us to eat fish twice a week so this week I decided to try a fish pie.  The fish I used in this was sent to my by DelishFish - fresh fish caught of the north coast of Scotland (they are based in Peterhead near Aberdeen) and each fillet is packed individually, labelled and ready to eat or store in the freezer.

For my fish pie I cooked my fish selection in the microwave briefly so it wouldn't need as long to cook in the mixture.  I used two cod fillets, one haddock fillet, one salmon fillet and one smoked haddock fillet and flaked them into fairly good size pieces.

I added this to the white sauce I made and to which I also added a Tablespoon of Maille Dijon Mustard with Honey (a new addition to their Dijon family), salt and pepper and a good glug of white wine.  I also added some frozen peas and sweetcorn.

The base of the fish pie all ready to put in the baking dishes.

For the potato topping I made some mashed potato.  I boiled some potatoes until soft, drained them and put them back into the pan.  I only added a little butter and salt & pepper and when creamy I added Total Greek Yoghurt.  This made the mash extra smooth and creamy.

I made a lot more than I  had planned to so there was plenty for dinner on the night, a small one for Missie W (5 year old grandaughter) and one for the freezer.  I also put some in a casserole with out the topping so that my father-in-law could take one home, freeze it and add fresh mash when he was ready to eat it.

The results of my efforts and now to wait for dinner!!

Dinner for me, Mr R and FIL + a salad and we were all stuffed.

One for the freezer and one for Missie W

For father-in-law to take home for his freezer

After I put the mash on the top I baked it in the oven for about 25 minutes to brown the topping and make sure the filling was piping hot. The fish pie was really delicious and everyone was satisfied with their dinner. 

Missie W had her dinner first and as you can see she was enjoying watching TV and eating!

After supper Missie W showed my FIL how she was learning to read at school

But at bedtime only a story from Grandad (Mr R) will do.

Happy Birthday - Fish is the Dish

Fish is the Dish is one year old today and to celebrate I wanted to tell you about the opportunity I recently had to learn all about fish, how to fillet, de-bone, de-scale and the eat with Fish.

The lovely Heather welcoming everyone to the workshop

We had a talk about the sustainability of the fish we buy and eat by one of the chefs at the Westminster Catering College in Vincent Square near Victoria Station, London. There were plenty of opportunities for people to participate and help and in turn we all learned loads about the 'other' fish available such as pollock and hake and how to fillet a sole along with the different varieties of sole. Shoppers tend to go for the old favourites like cod and haddock but there is pressure to stop fishing for them and give them a chance to regenerate.

A new friend??

We had a demonstration by Miranda Godfrey, a cookery lecturer at Westminster Catering college, featuring some quick and easy fish recipes such as Grilled Mackerel with Black Pudding & Savoy Cabbage and Korean Style Shellfish Broth.  I volunteered a couple of time to fill mackerel and whisk the beurre blanc sauce.

Grilled Mackerel with Black Pudding & Savoy Cabbage

Korean Style Shellfish Broth

 

My wonderful whisking is keeping this sauce velvety!!

This was followed by a demonstration by Tina Pemberton of quick and easy recipes we could use for entertaining or simple suppers.  Tina demonstrated Baked Fillet of Seabass (Chinese Style), Teriyaki Tuna (my personal favourite) and Hake Nuggets with Pasta Bows (these were really delicious!).

Tina Pemberton

Teriyaki Tuna

Hake Nuggets with Pasta Bows

We all got a small portion of each recipe to taste and went home with the recipes, a new apron, fish slice and a lot more knowlege of handling and cooking fish.

I confess to being slightly scared of cooking at home with fish but it is couses like this that give me the confidence to try some.  Seafish have sent me some lovely scallops and squid to try and they are currently living in my freezer waiting for my daughter to visit and I am going to turn them into a rissotto, mmmm - looking forward to using my new found knowledge!  Fish is the Dish and we need to eat more - how about you?

Some of my favourite seafood