450 ml Milk
1 Bay leaf
Few black peppercorns
1 sm Onion; roughly chopped
1 kg White fish fillets; such as
-cod, coley,
; pollack or ling
175 g Cooked peeled large prawns
4 tb Chopped fresh herbs;
-(parsley, chives,
; chervil, tarragon)
100 g Unsalted butter
2 lg Shallots; finely chopped
175 g Button mushrooms; sliced
50 g Plain flour
150 ml Double cream
1/4 Lemon; pips removed
1 kg Potatoes; cut into chunks
2 tb Wholegrain mustard
Salt and freshly ground
-white pepper
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
1 Place the milk in a saute pan with the bay leaf, peppercorns and
onion. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for a couple of minutes.
2 Set aside for at least 10 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse.
Add the fish to the infused milk and poach for 5 minutes or until
just tender. Remove from the heat and leave to cool, then lift out
the fish and roughly flake the flesh, discarding any skin and bone.
3 Place in a large bowl with the prawns and herbs. Strain the
poaching milk into a jug. Melt half the butter in a pan and fry the
shallots for 5 minutes to soften.
4 Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes until tender, then
stir in the flour and cook for a minute or so, stirring constantly.
Remove from the heat and gradually add the poaching milk. Season,
return to the heat and simmer for a few minutes. Keep stirring until
thickened.
5 Stir in half of the cream and add a good squeeze of lemon, then
fold into the fish mixture and season. Pour into a buttered 25cm/10in
pie dish and set aside to allow a skin to form.
6 Place the potatoes in a pan of boiling salted water, cover and cook
for 15-20 minutes until very tender. Drain, return to the pan to dry
out and then mash until smooth.
7 Beat in the remaining butter and cream and the mustard. Season to
taste. Carefully spread over the fish mixture and pull a fork across
the top to make a wavy-line pattern. Bake for 30-40 minutes until
bubbling and lightly golden. Serve hot.
Yields
4 servings