Fish Pie..

No connection with anything. No physics or cycling involved. No other reason than this is a favourite. And, I have realised that I cook. That's what I do mostly.

So cycling will be involved. It has to be.

I have been given carte blanche access to my neighbour's courgette patch during his absence on retreat. I add this plus purloined parsley and dill. Stolen herbs. They taste.. stolen.

I throw things together and tend not to measure. This frustrates some but I leave the details to the reader to refine. This is what I did today..

Poach some smoked cod or whatever in milk until flaky. allow to cool in the cooking liquid and then remove skin and any bones (eccchhhhh). Place large chunks in a bowl. I then add prawns.

Chop a large onion or two small ones and sautee gently in a tablespoon or so of oil. When clarified and soft, add the courgette and allow to cook until it concedes defeat. Remove from the heat and add a tablespoon (I think..) of strong white flour. Return to the heat and stir for approximately thirty seconds. There will be a bit of sticking on the bottom. Don't fret, this'll resolve when you add milk (I used skimmed because I forgot to keep the cooking liquid.. Duh!)

The milk goes in a bit at a time until cooked to sauce. I used to worry at this point but I have yet to make a sauce with lumps in. Or they are disguised by the veg.. Either way, it works. Aim for about a half a pint. I make it just a little too thick so as to accommodate the bottom of a bottle of white from the night before.

Take the sauce off the heat and allow to cool for a bit. Chop the herbs finely and throw in a handful. Fresh parsley and dill are like greens. More the better. If dried, read Delia.

Pour the resultant gold green liquid over the fish and allow to cool again. Don't worry about a skin forming. This is a good thing. It's scaffolding.

You will of course have boiled some potatoes to soft. With their skins on. Add some milk, pepper and grated low fat cheddar (Oh I don't know.. a handful). Mash, but aim for crushed rather than puree. This is not an affectation. More a feature of construction.

Spoon onto the fish and sauce and add a little more cheese mixed with spring onions.

Into an oven set to 180 for around as long as it takes to brown and bubble. The crushed potatoes brown more unevenly and add much needed texture to the whole I think.

There.
It took me an hour...

This was a summer's work. If you enlarge the image, the cells of the nursery can clearly be seen. Wasp pie. They are done now.