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