Comfort food: Classic fish pie for dinner and apple tart for dessert
It is difficult to write a hard and fast recipe for fish pie because it depends on what kind of fish you have access to. But make sure the fish is fresh, there is plenty of sauce and you have lots of fluffy mashed potato on top. You can add hard-boiled eggs to the fish pie to spin out the fish. A little smoked haddock and a few sautéed mushrooms are a nice addition to this recipe, but don’t use more than 110g (4oz) unless you want the flavour to predominate.
Serves 6–8
1.1kg fillets of cod, haddock, ling, hake, salmon or pollock or a mixture, skinned
salt and freshly-ground pepper
18 cooked mussels (optional)
150g onion, chopped
10g butter
225g sliced mushrooms, preferably flat
600ml (1 pint) full-cream milk
1 fresh bay leaf
Roux (30g butter mixed with 30g flour)
a little cream (optional)
1 teaspoon thyme leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
110g peas, fresh or frozen (if they’re fresh, they’ll need to be blanched)
900g fluffy mashed potatoes
Parsley butter or dill butter (optional)
1 large pie dish (1.2 litres) or 6–8 small ones
Cut the fish into 150g (5oz) chunks and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Wash the mussels, if using, and put into a shallow pan in a single layer. Cover and cook for about 3–4 minutes over a medium heat, just until the shells open. Cool, pull out the beard and remove from the shells.
Sweat the onion in a little melted butter on a gentle heat until soft but not coloured, and remove to a plate. Increase the heat, add a little more butter, sauté the sliced mushrooms in batches in the hot pan. Season with salt and pepper and add to the onions.
Put the fish into a wide sauté pan or frying pan in a single layer, cover with the milk and add a fresh bay leaf. Season with salt and freshly-ground pepper. Cover and simmer gently until the fish is just cooked, about 3–4 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. Remove the fish to a plate with a slotted spoon, and carefully remove any bones or skin. Discard the bay leaf.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4.
Bring the cooking liquid to the boil and thicken it by whisking in the roux. Add a little cream, if using, and the chopped thyme and parsley, mushrooms, onions, chunks of fish, mussels and frozen or blanched fresh peas. Stir gently, taste and correct the seasoning. Spoon into a single large or 6–8 small dishes and pipe fluffy Duchesse potatoes on top. The pie may be prepared ahead to this point.
To finish cooking, cook in the oven for 10–15 minutes if the filling and potato are warm, or for 30 minutes if reheating the dish later. Flash under the grill if necessary to brown the top. Serve with dill or parsley butter.
This is my most requested apple pie recipe, made with this brilliant break-all-the-rules pastry. It’s made by the creaming method so people who are convinced that they suffer from 'hot hands' don't have to worry about rubbing in the butter. Although a simple apple pie is a top comfort food for most of us, one can of course, add a few plums or blackberries from the freezer — or how about adding a little left over mincemeat.
Serves 8-12
Pastry:
225g butter
40g caster sugar
2 eggs, preferably free-range
350g white flour, preferably unbleached
Filling:
675g Bramley Seedling cooking apples
150g sugar
2-3 cloves
egg wash — made with one beaten egg and a dash of milk
caster sugar for sprinkling
To Serve
Softly whipped cream
Caster sugar
tin, 18cm (7 inches) x 30.5cm (12 inches x 2.5cm (1 inch) deep
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
First, make the pastry. Cream the butter and sugar together by hand or in a food mixer (no need to over cream). Add the eggs one by one and beat for several minutes. Reduce speed and mix in the flour slowly. Turn out onto a piece of floured greaseproof paper, flatten into a round wrap and chill. This pastry needs to be chilled for at least 2 hours otherwise it is difficult to handle.
To make the tart, roll out the pastry 3mm (1/8 inch) thick approx., and use about 2/3 of it to line a suitable tin. Peel, quarter and dice the apples into the tart, sprinkle with sugar and add the cloves. Cover with a lid of pastry, seal edges and decorate with pastry leaves. Then egg wash and bake in the preheated oven until the apples are tender, approx. 45 minutes to 1 hour. When cooked cut into squares, sprinkle lightly with caster sugar and serve with softly whipped cream and sugar.
