I've not seen many Disney films. I vaguely remember seeing Cinderella at the cinema, possibly in Darlington, as a youngster. Other than that I've seen Toy Story, if Disney-Pixar counts. Oh, and I watched the Lion King on the plane to Malaysia last year. I enjoyed it.
Despite this Disney-deprivation (I jest, watching Flight of Dragons over and over again was far more educational I'm sure), I'm still fairly familiar with the songs from the films of the house of mouse. I was trying to think of a suitable title for this blog and thought of the Little Mermaid and looked the lyrics up on the interweb. Hence the title.
Now I don't want to be called a pedant but there is a problem with the lyrics to this song. Carp are freshwater fish. They would not be playing the harp 'under the sea'. They would be dying as the saltwater burned through their gills. I just hope no carp, or other fish were harmed in the making of that song. Parents, think of that before subjecting little Jake or Sophie to Disney eh?
Focus Iain, focus. What was I going to write about? Ah yes, fish, and not the cartoon kind. This blog is the closest I have done so far to my current profession, in the subject matter at least. Having spent the past eighteen months working in a team called ‘Sustainable Fisheries’ I feel I must urge you to try and avoid unsustainable fish. If you’re in any doubt as to the origins of a fish in a fishmongers or restaurant, then ask! This website is a good place to arm yourself with some basic knowledge...
When people think of British food the first thought is often ‘roast beef’ but I like to think the humble fish pie possesses at least the same level of Britishness. Fish pie just screams ‘British home cooking’ to me and brings back memories of dinner with the family as a youngster. This dish also gives a great excuse to eat loads and loads of peas. I usually try and eat fresh vegetables but peas are an exception as they are still delicious when eaten from frozen and always useful to have in the freezer in case of sprained ankles or other swelling (confession- when I was little I used to steal frozen peas when my mum was cooking them and eat them still frozen. Mmm crunchy). Peas go so well with fish pie that when my friend John (shameless plug here- go buy his book!) served them together it converted Mel (of knitting stall fame) to liking peas. So there you go.
I usually make a fairly simple fish pie, but for some reason a couple of Sundays ago I made one that was a bit more extravagant. I’m not sure if I preferred it, but it was nice for a change!
Pastry Fish Pie
You will need
1. Some fish, you want a mixture of smoked fish (or smoke flavoured and dyed yellow or red most likely if bought in a supermarket) and white fish and most combinations work, but try and choose sustainable species/origin combinations. I love shellfish so always add some of them too. I used:
700g coley (aka saithe) fillets. Good, wallet-friendly, whitefish.
175g cooked mussels (mussels are a proper guilt-free and delicious food, super sustainable and farmed with almost no ill effects)
250g kipper (smoked herring) fillets
220g cooked and peeled coldwater prawns
300g smoked haddock fillet
2. Some green vegetables and herbs. I used:
2 leeks, chopped finely
140g baby spinach (I might try some curly kale instead next time)
Large handful of dill chopped up (Some people are funny about dill. Substitute parsley if it is not for you)
3. A topping of some kind. Mashed potato is traditional, but this time I used a packet of shop bought puff pastry (I’m all for homemade stuff, and will make shortcrust pastry, but have never tried puff pastry. If anyone has an easy way of making it please shout!).
And...
50g plain flour
100g butter
700ml milk (I used semi skimmed)
4 boiled eggs (entirely optional)
Salt and pepper to season
Grated nutmeg
A whisked egg to brush on the pastry
What to do
If you are adding boiled eggs, get the boiling process underway so they have cooled down for later. They will need to be peeled and chopped before you can add them. I put this first as it is the kind of thing I forget to do.
Check your fish fillets for bones. Pull any out you can find. I used Claire’s cosmetic tweezers for this. Oops (she has many pairs so I wasn’t in as much trouble as you may imagine).
Rub a tiny bit of your butter over a large pan, put your fin-fish (not shellfish) in the pan. Pour your milk over the fish so it is covered. If this proves impossible, don’t fear, there is no harm in dividing the fish into batches and repeating this step. Better to take a bit longer and poach it properly than fit it all in the pan! Grind a generous amount of pepper into the milk, followed by some grated nutmeg. You could add a bay leaf too if you like.
Heat up the milk and turn down the temperature to a simmer before it boils. After 7 or 8 minutes remove the fish. If you need to cook a second batch of fish, place that in the milk for another 7 or 8 minutes.
Once all your fish is cooked you may want to remove the skin before breaking it up into suitably small pieces.
Then put your poaching liquid (likely to be a bit coloured now from the smoked fish) through a sieve to take out any fishy remnants.
Now you need to make a roux with your butter and flour. Melt half the butter in a large saucepan (I highly recommend a non-stick pan for this purpose). Add the flour gradually and constantly stir with a wooden spoon, even after all the flour is added. After a short while it will turn into a light brown thick liquid. Add the sieved poaching milk to the saucepan and mix thoroughly. Cook the combined liquid for 10 minutes or so, with the heat turned low.
Melt the rest of your butter in a pan and add the chopped leeks. Stir occasionally and cook until soft.
Meanwhile wilt your spinach (add to a pan of boiling water for a minute or so and stir) drain and set aside.
When your leeks are almost ready add your fish pieces to your pan of simmering milky liquid along with your chopped dill. Add salt and pepper, you’re best placed to know how much you like. Keep this simmering gently over a low heat.
Once the leeks are cooked add them, the spinach and the shellfish to the fishy-milky pan and stir in gently, so as to avoid breaking up the fish too much. Your pie filling is now complete! Transfer it to a suitable ovenproof dish.
Roll out your puff pastry so it covers the pie completely and is sealed at the edges of the ovenproof dish. If you have some leftover you may want to decorate the top of the pie, or call in a child or creative girlfriend to do so. After this is finished, whisk an egg and brush it over the pastry.
Heat an oven up to 200 degrees Celsius. Whack your pie in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the pastry has risen and is a beautiful golden colour. Eat your pie! Preferably with peas (or peas with mint, yummy.)
And finally....
Last night I had some delicious food in Potli, a new Indian restaurant in Hammersmith. I was quite excited and immediately knew I had to write a blog about the place. Annoyingly I didn’t have my camera with me, but this gives me an excuse to go back next week for another round of awesome curry. Watch this space!
Despite this Disney-deprivation (I jest, watching Flight of Dragons over and over again was far more educational I'm sure), I'm still fairly familiar with the songs from the films of the house of mouse. I was trying to think of a suitable title for this blog and thought of the Little Mermaid and looked the lyrics up on the interweb. Hence the title.
Now I don't want to be called a pedant but there is a problem with the lyrics to this song. Carp are freshwater fish. They would not be playing the harp 'under the sea'. They would be dying as the saltwater burned through their gills. I just hope no carp, or other fish were harmed in the making of that song. Parents, think of that before subjecting little Jake or Sophie to Disney eh?
Focus Iain, focus. What was I going to write about? Ah yes, fish, and not the cartoon kind. This blog is the closest I have done so far to my current profession, in the subject matter at least. Having spent the past eighteen months working in a team called ‘Sustainable Fisheries’ I feel I must urge you to try and avoid unsustainable fish. If you’re in any doubt as to the origins of a fish in a fishmongers or restaurant, then ask! This website is a good place to arm yourself with some basic knowledge...
When people think of British food the first thought is often ‘roast beef’ but I like to think the humble fish pie possesses at least the same level of Britishness. Fish pie just screams ‘British home cooking’ to me and brings back memories of dinner with the family as a youngster. This dish also gives a great excuse to eat loads and loads of peas. I usually try and eat fresh vegetables but peas are an exception as they are still delicious when eaten from frozen and always useful to have in the freezer in case of sprained ankles or other swelling (confession- when I was little I used to steal frozen peas when my mum was cooking them and eat them still frozen. Mmm crunchy). Peas go so well with fish pie that when my friend John (shameless plug here- go buy his book!) served them together it converted Mel (of knitting stall fame) to liking peas. So there you go.
I usually make a fairly simple fish pie, but for some reason a couple of Sundays ago I made one that was a bit more extravagant. I’m not sure if I preferred it, but it was nice for a change!
Pastry Fish Pie
You will need
1. Some fish, you want a mixture of smoked fish (or smoke flavoured and dyed yellow or red most likely if bought in a supermarket) and white fish and most combinations work, but try and choose sustainable species/origin combinations. I love shellfish so always add some of them too. I used:
700g coley (aka saithe) fillets. Good, wallet-friendly, whitefish.
175g cooked mussels (mussels are a proper guilt-free and delicious food, super sustainable and farmed with almost no ill effects)
250g kipper (smoked herring) fillets
220g cooked and peeled coldwater prawns
300g smoked haddock fillet
2. Some green vegetables and herbs. I used:
2 leeks, chopped finely
140g baby spinach (I might try some curly kale instead next time)
Large handful of dill chopped up (Some people are funny about dill. Substitute parsley if it is not for you)
3. A topping of some kind. Mashed potato is traditional, but this time I used a packet of shop bought puff pastry (I’m all for homemade stuff, and will make shortcrust pastry, but have never tried puff pastry. If anyone has an easy way of making it please shout!).
And...
50g plain flour
100g butter
700ml milk (I used semi skimmed)
4 boiled eggs (entirely optional)
Salt and pepper to season
Grated nutmeg
A whisked egg to brush on the pastry
What to do
If you are adding boiled eggs, get the boiling process underway so they have cooled down for later. They will need to be peeled and chopped before you can add them. I put this first as it is the kind of thing I forget to do.
Check your fish fillets for bones. Pull any out you can find. I used Claire’s cosmetic tweezers for this. Oops (she has many pairs so I wasn’t in as much trouble as you may imagine).
Rub a tiny bit of your butter over a large pan, put your fin-fish (not shellfish) in the pan. Pour your milk over the fish so it is covered. If this proves impossible, don’t fear, there is no harm in dividing the fish into batches and repeating this step. Better to take a bit longer and poach it properly than fit it all in the pan! Grind a generous amount of pepper into the milk, followed by some grated nutmeg. You could add a bay leaf too if you like.
Heat up the milk and turn down the temperature to a simmer before it boils. After 7 or 8 minutes remove the fish. If you need to cook a second batch of fish, place that in the milk for another 7 or 8 minutes.
Once all your fish is cooked you may want to remove the skin before breaking it up into suitably small pieces.
Then put your poaching liquid (likely to be a bit coloured now from the smoked fish) through a sieve to take out any fishy remnants.
Now you need to make a roux with your butter and flour. Melt half the butter in a large saucepan (I highly recommend a non-stick pan for this purpose). Add the flour gradually and constantly stir with a wooden spoon, even after all the flour is added. After a short while it will turn into a light brown thick liquid. Add the sieved poaching milk to the saucepan and mix thoroughly. Cook the combined liquid for 10 minutes or so, with the heat turned low.
Melt the rest of your butter in a pan and add the chopped leeks. Stir occasionally and cook until soft.
Meanwhile wilt your spinach (add to a pan of boiling water for a minute or so and stir) drain and set aside.
When your leeks are almost ready add your fish pieces to your pan of simmering milky liquid along with your chopped dill. Add salt and pepper, you’re best placed to know how much you like. Keep this simmering gently over a low heat.
Once the leeks are cooked add them, the spinach and the shellfish to the fishy-milky pan and stir in gently, so as to avoid breaking up the fish too much. Your pie filling is now complete! Transfer it to a suitable ovenproof dish.
Roll out your puff pastry so it covers the pie completely and is sealed at the edges of the ovenproof dish. If you have some leftover you may want to decorate the top of the pie, or call in a child or creative girlfriend to do so. After this is finished, whisk an egg and brush it over the pastry.
Heat an oven up to 200 degrees Celsius. Whack your pie in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the pastry has risen and is a beautiful golden colour. Eat your pie! Preferably with peas (or peas with mint, yummy.)
And finally....
Last night I had some delicious food in Potli, a new Indian restaurant in Hammersmith. I was quite excited and immediately knew I had to write a blog about the place. Annoyingly I didn’t have my camera with me, but this gives me an excuse to go back next week for another round of awesome curry. Watch this space!
