Sunday 16 June 2013

Fish Pie


Sweet'n'Savoury, a blog that started as a journey of a newly married couple experimenting and having loads of fun in their little kitchen, has off late, become synonymous with my wife, Amrita who manages the show all by herself and how well!  Although I, Vishal(the better half of this blog!) continue to experiment and cook on a consistent basis, my involvement with the blog has become limited since my work and the development of my other passion with friends, Boat Safari Adventure Tourism 'midst the world's largest mangrove forest at Crossindia Adventures takes a big chunk of my time. I make it a conscious effort, however, to add an occasional post to the blog just to renew my membership at Sweet 'n' Savoury!!

This time my usual weekend cooking routine coincided with the world celebrating ‘Father’s Day’. I don’t know what Father’s Day mean to the world, which is celebrated or rather reminded once a year, but to me it is an everyday journey to better myself as a father to a beautiful daughter and husband to a wonderful wife. Creating an environment conducive to happiness and growth, forgiveness and love, security and trust, acceptance and tolerance is a matter of consistent choice, which becomes a habit and ultimately a character.     

Cooking is just a medium through which our family connects together on an everyday basis. Amazingly, it just isn’t limited to us but also extends to our respective family as well. An everyday phone call from our mother asking ‘aaj kitchen mein kya ban raha hai’ is as priceless as meeting together after a long gap and cherishing each moment.  

The fish pie was a very simple preparation that came out exceedingly well. It was a welcome change to the normal cooking approach in terms of technique and the spices that we usually use.


Ingredients: For serving 2-3 people
  • 400 gms fish(I used Bhetki)
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2-3 lime slices
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2-3 black peppercorns
  • 1 thyme sprig/1 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 5-6 mushrooms sliced
  • 1 onion chopped
  • salt, pepper to taste
  • 4 potatoes, boiled and mashed
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tomato, sliced and halved
  • 3-4 tbsp grated cheese

Procedure:
Put fish, skin side down, in a shallow pan. Add milk, lime slices, bay leaf and black peppercorns. Bring to boil, then lower heat and poach gently for 5 mins until just cooked. 



Strain off and reserve milk. Remove fish skin and flake the flesh, discarding any bones.
Melt 1 tbsp butter in a pan, stir in the flour and cook gently for 1 min. Add milk and boil, whisking until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep aside.
Heat remaining 1 tbsp butter in a pan and saute sliced mushroom and chopped onions. If the mixture leaves water, dry it on medium heat. Season with salt and add flaked fish. 
Mix in the white sauce made above and gently stir to combine. Transfer to an ovenproof casserole.
Preheat oven to 200 degree Celsius. 
Beat mashed potato with 1 tbsp butter and little milk till creamy. Season with salt and pepper and spread evenly over the fish mixture. 
Fork up the surface and arrange sliced tomato around the edge. Sprinkle grated cheese.



Bake for 20-25 min or till the cheese gets brown in colour.
 

What started as a lazy Sunday afternoon experiment, became an instant hit family recipe. We loved everything about this dish, from the simplicity in the technique to the simple and subtle flavours. A meal in itself, it can also be wonderfully paired with some Butter or Garlic Toasts.


Happy Fish Pie Eating
Vishal

29 comments:

  1. aah ! so u guys are a cooking duo !! wow..and the pie luks just right great. lovely colours. do drop by my blogs too when you get the time :)

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    1. Thank you Sona so much for your appreciation. Checked your blog...really amazing. I shall be dedicating some time there and have a few questions..:)

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  2. Wow.. That's an amazing looking pie !! Wud definitely try :) And true on what u said.. Food is a great medium thru which we connect with our family :)

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    1. Thank you so much for liking it..food really is an amazing medium.

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  3. Great to hear and read about the cooking passion between both of you. Wish my other half will cook but he work commitment is up to his neck that he leaves the cooking to me.

    This is a fabulous fish pie and thanks for the recipe. Our diet is all about fish and seldom I have made fish pie. Keeping the recipe aside for my cooking venture soon.

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    1. I am so glad you have liked the pie idea...our diet also keeps revolving around fish...:)

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  4. looks very good and tempting, Vishal. My husband is also love to cook but after the mess he creates in the kitchen it's too much, i hope thats not the case with you, but you guys are lucky in India, maid can do all those safai kam, here maid is also i am so.

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    1. Hi....I try to clean my kitchen as well but with my better half volunteering, because of my vague understanding of cleaning, I most of the time leave it to her.

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  5. Delicious fish pie Amrita, Looks perfect.

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  6. Beautifully done, who can resist to this wonderful and delicious pie.

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    1. Thank you so much for liking it. It is very simple and delicious..:)

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  7. this looks quite yummy...can u also suggest what fish to buy for this for a novice like me who does not know how to buy fish and clean the same.

    cheers
    Minu

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    1. Hi Minu,

      Thank you so much for liking it and for pointing out what I have missed out.
      The fish I bought was Calcutta bhetki. Any fish, preferably with a single bone, as we say, will do like Bombay Bhetki, fish called 'bakery' in UP etc.
      The good part is after poaching it with milk you have to flake it. The flesh comes off very easily enabling you to de-bone it as well, if any.
      For cleaning it, its best to have the vendor clean it and fillet it (if you are buying likes of bhetki etc. However even after that I spend some time going through left over scales. Usually you will find intact scales near the fin areas.
      It is another way to find out how fresh the fish is. If the scales are intact and comes off not so easily, then the fish is quite fresh. Another pointer is that if the fish doesn't smell fishy then it is fresh.
      Checking the gills of the fish is a good indicator. If the gills are dull and brown, then the fish is old. If it red/deep pink then its fresh.
      One more test I use is I poke my finger in the side of the fish. If it leaves an indent then its old but if it has a spring back then its fresh.

      Cheers

      Vishal

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  8. Hi Vishal, I like what you wrote about "Father's Day"... you are a very noble father and husband :)

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    1. Thank you so much...came from my heart for an amazing wife and daughter...:)

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  9. HI Vishal, I loved your thoughts on being a dutiful father and a wonderful husband. I fully agree that parenthood is an everyday journey and we keep evolving and improving in the process. There is nothing like a loving, secure and a happy family where there is a lot caring and sharing. These are the sanskars our children imbibe and carry forward. Your fish pie looks great!

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    1. Thank you so much for your words of appreciation. You hit the nail on the rock when you mentioned the word process. The journey is truly a process with milestones in between to celebrate...and yes our children take the sanskar forward based on what they see and witness rather than what we say or lecture. Very true..:)

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  10. Fish pie looks yummy !!!
    Perfectly baked and finger licking good :)
    ShrutiRasoi

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  11. nice click..will try it soon...

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  12. Wow! Delicious recipe.. Worth trying :-)

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  13. Hi Vishal and Amrita,I stumbled upon your 'yummylicious' blog quite by chance! Your names are familiar as Reshma and I interact a bit on facebook.I just loved your fish pie recipe:))......planning to prepare it very soon...thanks so much for this lovely simple recipe....

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    1. Hello Vandana, Vishal is Reshma's brother. Thank you for dropping into our tiny space and liking it. This was made by Vishal as a weekend experiment and was loved by all. Do let us know how your's turned out. Amrita

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  14. Hi Amrita and Vishal, Lovely recipe! What kind of cheese did you use? thanks!

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    1. Hello, we used the normal processed cheese. Hope it turns out great for you :)

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  15. many thanks! is it ok to use amul cheese/ mozarella cheese or should i just get the cheese available in new mkt? cheers!

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    1. Hi, it is perfectly ok to use amul cheese or a combination of processed and Mozarella cheese..do let us know how it turned out.

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