A proper fish pie
- Thread starter SandwichShortOfAPicnic
- Start date
in Germany he’s number one.
SandwichShortOfAPicnic
Legendary Member
It is creamy but I make it a bit like I would Coquilles St Jaques, reducing a bottle of white wine down to almost nothing and using lemon, chive and shallot to lighten the heavy cream.
To avoid that thick taste of the mash and the pie filling (I know exactly what you mean) I use something that some will frown on as it's pre-made but it's one area where shop bought wins when used a particular way - Rosti potatoes. Defrost them and crumble them up with your hands into tiny shredded fragments, then pack it down onto the filling.
They make a really lovely crunchy but not over powering potato and onion flavour topping that gives a contrasting texture.
Shredding your own onion and potato just doesn't work very well, too much fluid compared with the dry discs of pre-made. As rosti potatoes they're not great, crumbled up as pie topping they're the biz
Shredding your own onion and potato just doesn't work very well, too much fluid compared with the dry discs of pre-made. As rosti potatoes they're not great, crumbled up as pie topping they're the biz
Nothing wrong with frozen potatoes, for me. I use frozen potatoes for fries/chips. They are usually par cooked, and can go to the freezer to the fryer for a double fry. They are always crisp on the outside, and fluffy on the inside. Fresh potatoes always leave me with limp, somewhat soggy fries.
Frozen hash brown shredded potatoes are also better than fresh, IMO. Fresh shredded potatoes have too much water in them. They want to steam in the skillet, instead of frying. Rosti potatoes are basically the same thing.
CD
SandwichShortOfAPicnic
Legendary Member
Agreed, the amount of time spent squeezing water out of shredded potato is a lot of effort for a not great result.
I am a fan of fresh potatoes as chips though but they need particular handling and effort in cooking which tbh means I tend to buy them frozen probably because I think of chips as junk food. Delightful worth eating junk food but junk food all the same.
blades
Über Member
Ouch. Not sure I like the idea of my dinner looking at me.
It is creamy but I make it a bit like I would Coquilles St Jaques, reducing a bottle of white wine down to almost nothing and using lemon, chive and shallot to lighten the heavy cream.
To avoid that thick taste of the mash and the pie filling (I know exactly what you mean) I use something that some will frown on as it's pre-made but it's one area where shop bought wins when used a particular way - Rosti potatoes. Defrost them and crumble them up with your hands into tiny shredded fragments, then pack it down onto the filling.
They make a really lovely crunchy but not over powering potato and onion flavour topping that gives a contrasting texture.
Shredding your own onion and potato just doesn't work very well, too much fluid compared with the dry discs of pre-made. As rosti potatoes they're not great, crumbled up as pie topping they're the biz
I reckon your fish pie would be one I'd really like. The reduced wine sauce sounds great and the rosti is inspirational. But what type of fish/shellfish do you use?
SandwichShortOfAPicnic
Legendary Member
Thanks
Usually the common three - a firm white fish like cod, then smoked haddock and salmon are a must. Most importantly is having decent sized 'cubes' that don't turn into a 'flaked' fish pie. I have experimented with adding other things like king prawns (I love prawns) but I didn't appreciate their texture in amongst the other fish.
Fish pie is all about the execution. It's one of the few dishes I've spent time on that fills me with anticipation, probably because of the variable quality of the raw ingredient - fish!
For sure. Just for reference here is Felicity Cloake's and she does include prawns. This was published some 12 years ago and the images are not very good:
How to cook perfect fish pie
Now I need to see what the Two Fat Ladies version is...
SandwichShortOfAPicnic
Legendary Member
Their fish pie episode is available on youtube
SandwichShortOfAPicnic
Legendary Member
Hmm I might try the small prawns, I’ve only ever tried king prawns.
I did buy the anchovy sauce that the two fat ladies use (only £2.27 from amazon!) but I haven’t used it yet because it’s an unknown ingredient to me and as the fish pie was for a birthday and as I didn’t want to mess it up I used a dash of fish sauce like I always do to strengthen the fish flavour.
Their fish pie episode is available on youtube
I think I have the book it is from... and I'm almost certain to have seen the TV programme. I almost cried when they each died... albeit 15 years apart.
SandwichShortOfAPicnic
Legendary Member
Yes but watching Jennifer gin her way through making fish pie is worth a few mins
Yes but watching Jennifer gin her way through making fish pie is worth a few mins
Oh yes - I will look it up.
SandwichShortOfAPicnic
Legendary Member
I know what you mean. They were characters most of us had encountered a similar version of at some point in our lives. Educated, forthright, blustering and irrepressible. It was impossible not to find them appealing.