I’ve been very lazy getting back into the blogging swing of things this New Year but I was inspired on Thursday last while sat in front of the telly so you’re in for a treat! My two favourite tv cooks, Si & Dave aka The Hairy Bikers were back on the box & this time they were back in their home town of Newcastle. They made gravadlax, visited Si’s mum in the hopes of pinching her secret cookbook (they didn’t get near it) and cooked – what nearly made me fall off the sofa – the most amazing fish pie which I had to try.
Saturday was to be the day my family would be treated to this so I set about rounding up the ingredients. The recipe is here. I had plenty of fish stock in the freezer which I used up completely – it’s easy to make, just ask your fishmonger for some fish bones (I got sea bass) and boil it up with some parsley, a carrot, a stick of celery and an onion for about 20 minutes; strain the stock into a bowl, skim off any scum from the top and freeze whatever you’re not immediately using. I called to Sadliers and Rene Cusacks for fish but the stocks were very low in both; I did manage to get some salmon, cod, smoked haddock & raw prawns. The recipe calls for vermouth which I replaced with white wine and I forgot completely about the boiled eggs but the pie was a triumph. I also cooked the smoked haddock separately in milk first so the flavour didn't completely take over and used some of the cooking milk in the finished sauce - I love smoked haddock but hate when it takes over a fish pie. The pie was accompanied with peas & petits pois sautéed with shallots & pancetta which were delicious. Just gently fry the shallots & pancetta before adding in the frozen peas and heat through – takes about 5 minutes. Si & Dave used broad beans which would be perfect too. The pic didn’t come out great but I had zero interest in faffing around with photos with my dinner going cold – just had to tuck in…
Si & Dave made such an impact on us at the weekend that my boyfriend bought their cookbook (The Hairy Bikers Ride Again) which is packed full of delicious, hearty, honest recipes. The book follows their travels with hilarious anecdotes and fantastic easy to follow recipes (pretty much everything they cooked was by the side of the road). There’s a salad featured in it that’s “as flash as a tart’s handbag”… Brilliant! I’m looking forward to pinching it for myself so watch this space for many more biker recipes to follow.
That sounds like the perfect dish for these cold winter nights. I'm not very adventurous when cooking fish, so I'll have to give this a go.
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It really is worth the effort, honest!!!
Posted by: Sarah | January 07, 2008 at 02:57 PM
Lovely recipe. The spinach could be left out if you are not a fan.
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That food looks delicious, can you help me with the recipe?
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What kind of fish can give my gold fish some company?
I have one gold fish in my aquarium. What kind of fish can live with a gold fish? What kind of fish doesn't eat their tail?
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