When Adam came to Dinner

I think I may have mentioned my love of cooking and all things culinary, I love cook books, they are my favorite reading. I also get really excited about kitchen equipment, I'm sure I have almost as much as most professional kitchens, although sadly most of it is still in storage. I love kitchen design, and shows about cooking especially the program "Chopped" which I think is the best show on TV! 

I love the British Chef Gordon Ramsey, he's an incredible chef, despite his foul language and short fuse, I own all of his cook books, and DVDs of his TV shows.  Then last but by no means least my unconditional love of food, both eating it and preparing it. I get excited about ingredients, and especially fresh organic fruit and vegetables.

 Nothing makes me happier than having people to feed, and test my new recipes on. When we lived in Cincinnati my son Edi would often bring his friends home for dinner.  One of Edi's closest friends Steve, even had a regular place at our dinner table.  But there was one friend Adam, who would never stay for dinner despite many invitations, Until...

One day when I was making fish pie, Adam finally accepted the invitation to dinner.   I spent a little longer than normal piping the creamed potato on top of the fish, I wanted it to not only taste spectacular, but look great too, after all you eat with your eyes first.

I had the table laid up with all the best linen, glasses and silverware, it looked lovely, we even had flowers on the table. When everyone was seated, I proudly placed my beautiful fish pie in the center of the table, and everyone commented on how fabulous it looked,  I could tell Adam was looking forward to eating it.  After I had served everyone the table was very quiet, usually a sign that everyone is enjoying the food.

My first mouth full was a surprise, and not in a good way, it tasted like nothing, it was so bland, totally lacking in any flavor, like eating soggy tasteless mush, it was hard to believe that food could taste so tasteless! I could have cried, I immediately apologized and everyone except Adam said "yea Mum not your best"!  Adam politely said "it's delicious" and ate the whole thing, while the rest of us pushed it aside eating only the vegetables.
It was a long time before Adam ate with us again, I made sure that it was good when he did, and definitely not Fish Pie.

So that experience pretty much put me off fish pie, I originally thought for life, but recently I decided to have another attempt and make one using my own recipe, and definitely knock up the taste a few notches.  I made one this week and it was the most delicious fish pie I have ever eaten, and that was echoed by my son Edward (also my greatest critic).

So because I'm feeling generous, here's my recipe:

I decided against using mashed potato for the topping, and experimented by using biscuits instead, it was a real success, at least judging by the comments I received.
Let me know what you think.

Sweet crust Fish Pie

1 ¾ lb fresh Cod fillets, cut into 2” squares

4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into ½”slices

4oz frozen peas

1 large leek, washed and chopped into ½” slices

1 tbsp Tarragon leaves (stems removed)

2 oz double cream

1 tbsp finely chopped dill

1 tbsp all purpose flour

4 oz unsalted butter

2 oz full fat milk

1 can buttermilk biscuits

Salt & Pepper

Large ovenproof flan dish 

Preheat oven to 350.

Season the cod with salt and pepper. Melt 1 oz of the butter in a large sauté pan and fry the cod pieces on all sides until lightly golden in color.  Remove from the pan and place in the flan dish, sprinkle the tarragon leaves over the fish.

Add a little more butter and the chopped leeks to the sauté pan, and cook for about 5-6 minutes, until just starting to soften, add the frozen peas and stir for 1 minute, remove leeks and peas from pan and spread over the cod.

Place the chopped carrots in salted, rapidly boiling water for 3-4 minutes, strain the carrots and spread evenly over the cod.

To make the Roux:

Heat the rest of the butter in a saucepan until reduced to liquid, remove the pan from the heat and using a wooden spoon gradually stir in the flour until all the flour is incorporated.  Gradually add the milk stirring constantly to achieve a smooth thick paste.  

Return the pan to the heat, and add the cream slowly continuing to stir until all the cream is incorporated, add the dill and continue to cook gently over the lowest heat without boiling for about 10 minutes.

Pour the roux evenly over the cod and vegetables.

Open the biscuits and carefully pull each one apart into 2 pieces laying over the top of the cod and vegetables until they’re completely covered.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

Enjoy :o)