March 11, 2017 — Quick and Easy

Quick and Easy 30 Minute Smoked Fish Pie

  • 30 Minutes
  • 4 PEOPLE
  • easy

Well before British Pie Week ends I thought I would make a quick deconstructed pie…

One of a series of easy and flavoursome half hour family recipes using 10 ingredients.

We'd love to see a photo when you plate up, please share #WhatDadCooked

Share this yummy recipe with a friend on WhatsApp

Follow us on Instagram — @WhatDadCooked

We'd love to see a photo when you plate up, please share #WhatDadCooked

Share this yummy recipe with a friend on WhatsApp

Follow us on Instagram — @WhatDadCooked

What you need

1 kg Assorted fish such as cod, haddock, monkfish, salmon, prawns, scallops

300g smoked bacon

600g potatoes – small Charlotte or new potatoes or other waxy type

400ml chicken stock

200g shallots

4 cloves garlic or 8 cloves smoked garlic

10g fresh thyme

160g good sourdough bread

60ml creme fraiche

Lemons

 

ADVERTISEMENT

Dad's Recipe Tales

You will find an article about the banquet WDC enjoyed during British Pie Week at The Thomas Cubitt. The dishes were all pies but none conformed to what might be called a traditional pie. It gave me the idea to cook a ‘pie’ in 30 minutes. I also remember some very good smoked flavours in two of the dishes. There was a smoked eel amuse-bouche, and a smoked cream sauce in a pot for pouring over un-smoked trout, monkfish and lobster. But cooking with smoked flavours can be tricky. I often feel that using smoked bacon when the un-smoked bacon has run out is a mistake – it adds an unwelcome smokiness. It’s like drinking a hot beverage expecting it to be tea when it is coffee. The clash of taste sensations in our brains makes us recoil with surprise or even disgust. So it is when eating a nice formal seafood dish  expecting subtle hints of wine and anise and one’s taste buds are assaulted with overpowering taste of smoked bacon. The trick is to ensure you are expecting the smoke and then it can be enjoyed. This is why the dish is called smoked fish pie, even though none of the fish is smoked.

My deconstructed crust is a huge cheat. However, Wikipedia says that a flour and water crust can be substituted with potatoes or bread crumbs.

How Dad Cooked It

Recipe: Fill the kettle and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, tear the bread into small rough pieces and set aside, wash and cut the potatoes into small 10mm cubes. Put the cubes into a pan and fill with the hot water, add a pinch of salt and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until done, strain and put to one side. Meanwhile, skin the fish and cut into small chunks. Season with a pinch of salt and set to one side.

Chop the shallots into a small dice and chop the garlic into a fine dice. Cut the bacon into small pieces. Take the leaves off the thyme. Add the bacon, shallot and garlic and thyme to a large saucepan with a tablespoon of light olive oil. Fry for 8 minutes without burning and then add the stock and several generous grindings of pepper, bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes, add the creme fraiche and cook for a further 2 minutes. Take off the heat and keep warm.

Heat another large frying pan and add 20g butter and a tablespoon of light olive oil, when the pan is very hot add the fish and let it settle and go turn golden brown in places, turn over the pieces and continue to cook until the fish is just cooked. Strain the fish and add to the sauce, Squeeze half a lemon over the fish and stir gently – on a low setting, cook just to heat through. Clean the frying pan and add 20g butter and tablespoon of light olive oil. Heat the pan to medium-high add the potatoes and bread and fry, tossing continuously for 5 minutes until golden brown. Drain on kitchen towel. Taste the sauce and and season using more lemon if necessary. Plate the fish on individual plates and overlap the potatoes and croutons.

***

Tips: This recipe is the basis for a good cream sauce with seafood. Once this is mastered, spin the recipe any way you wish. Give it a Nordic note by using chopped dill, adding Dijon mustard will give it a Continental style. Swap the smoked bacon and use white wine and tarragon for a French style sauce, or for a British sauce use a generous amount of finely chopped parsley.

Optional ingredients: Bay leaves add a good background flavour – add a couple during the onion frying. White wine will add flavour and useful acidity for the fish. Chilli works well with this – use a tablespoon of white wine vinegar if not using wine. See the note below about smoked ingredients. Using stock is important for this recipe. Either use homemade, ready-made from a store, a tin of chicken consomme, or a stock cube to make-up a stock (follow the instructions and adjust extra salt to taste – most cubes are very salty).

Notes: The trick to this recipe is getting smoke into the dish without getting out the smoker. Happily many foods are smoked and these can be used to impart a smoked flavour. Start with smoked bacon. Try to find smoked garlic. One of the fish could also be smoked – such as hot smoked salmon or Finnan haddock. Otherwise try finishing the dish with a smoked cheese.

Finessing the recipe: The dish could be made more cheffy by limiting the portion sizes and scattering the topping over – perhaps with a few small broccoli pieces and peas. Garnish with lemon and parsley.

Categories:
Tags:
Latest Recipes
Cassoulet de Toulouse à la Pappa

A perfect winter warmer – Cassoulet!

The Laughing Cow Lightest Loaded Quesadilla

Try Dad’s loaded low-fat salsa quesadillas with The Laughing Cow Lightest x8 cheese.

Melanzane Parmigiana with Dolmio 7 Vegetables Sun Ripened Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce

An excellent way to turn a popular Italian slow food standard into an easy and quicker family classic.



ADVERTISEMENT
© What Dad Cooked, 2024. Privacy Policy. Terms and Conditions. Twitter Instagram