Ballycotton fish pie

Method

1. Cut the fish into 140-170g chunks. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

2. Put the onion, carrot, bay leaf, thyme, and peppercorns into the milk, bring slowly to the boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 10-15 minutes. Strain. (This step is optional but adds extra flavour to the milk).

3. Wash the mussels (if using), put into a shallow pan in a single layer, cover and cook over a medium heat just until the shells open, about 3 or 4 minutes approx. Cool.

4. Meanwhile, hard boil the eggs for 10 minutes in boiling salted water, cool and shell.

5. Sweat the onion in a little melted butter on a gentle heat until soft but not coloured, remove to a plate. Increase the heat, sauté the sliced mushrooms in the hot pan, season with salt and freshly ground pepper and add to the onions.

6. Put the fish into a wide sauté pan or frying pan, in a single layer, cover with the flavoured or plain milk. Don’t use more than 4 ozs of smoked haddock unless you want the smoky flavour to predominate. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover and simmer gently until the fish is just cooked – no more than 3-4 minutes. Remove the fish carefully with a slotted spoon, carefully removing any bones or skin.

7. Bring the liquid to the boil and thicken with roux (see recipe), add a little cream (optional) and the chopped parsley, roughly chopped hard boiled eggs, mushrooms, onions, chunks of fish and the mussels. Stir gently, taste and correct the seasoning.

8. Spoon into 1 large or 6-8 small dishes and pipe fluffy mashed potato or Scallion Champ on top. The pie may be prepared ahead to this point.

9. To reheat, put into a moderate oven 180°C for 10-15 minutes approx if the filling and potato are warm, or 30 minutes approx if reheating from cold.

10. Flash under the grill if necessary to brown the top. Serve with garlic or parsley butter.

11. To make the roux, melt the butter and cook the flour in it for 2 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally. It will keep at least a fortnight in a refrigerator.