Smoky Fish Pie

As I have mentioned previously one of the greatest influences in terms of the love I now have for cooking was my grandmother. She was an amazing home cook who would serve up the most wonderful meals to us. For the times in which she lived, she was also an adventurous cook, always keen to try out new recipes and she regularly included what were then considered unusual ingredients in the meals she cooked for us. You have to remember that when she was rearing her young family there wasn’t the choice of exotic ingredients that there is today. Back in the late 60s you were considered avant garde if you cooked with green peppers, which were rarely for sale in the grocery store.

 

Times have changed since then and I now cook with ingredients that she would have never heard of let alone eaten, but despite this, I still find myself returning to the foods she cooked for us. The meals we ate were all home cooked, used the best ingredients that she could afford to buy, were nutritious, but most of all tasted absolutely delicious. I particularly remember the fish pie that she sometimes made. Fresh cod and smoked haddock were smothered in a cheesy sauce and piled into a casserole dish. The fish mixture was topped with creamy mashed potato and everything was baked in the oven until it was golden brown. I loved how the sauce bubbled up around the edges of the mashed potato to create the most wonderful tasting crust. This was comfort food of the highest order.

 

Given my love for this dish and the fond place it has in my memories, I find it amazing that I don’t make fish pie more often. For me, a fish pie has to contain some smoked fish and here, smoked haddock does the job perfectly. Some people like to include salmon, cod and sometimes prawns, but I like to keep it quite simple merely using cod and the smoked haddock. By all means, make your own additions. I also like to include cheese in my fish pie; both in the sauce and sprinkled on top of the mashed potato topping before the pie is baked. I use a strong red cheddar, which I find holds up perfectly against the smokiness of the haddock.
 

This is a truly wonderful dish and one that has a very special place in my heart.
 

Ingredients:

Mashed potatoes:
1kg potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

35g butter

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Filling:

500g cod, skinned, boned and cut into bite-sized chunks

350g-400g smoked haddock, skinned, boned and cut into bite-sized chunks

Juice of ½ lemon

Sauce:

65g butter

65g plain flour

1tsp English mustard

450ml warmed milk

75g cheddar cheese, grated plus extra for sprinkling on top of the pie

1-2 tblsp of finely chopped chives (or parsley)

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
 

Method:

Mashed potatoes:

1. Place the potatoes into a large saucepan and cover with cold water to which you have added a generous pinch of salt. Bring up to the boil over a high heat and then reduce so that the potatoes are just simmering. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked and tender when pierced with the tip of a knife.

2. Remove from the heat and drain into a colander. Return the potatoes to the empty saucepan and mash or as I prefer, pass through a potato ricer back into the saucepan. Add the butter, mixing through with a fork so that it melts in the residual heat of the potatoes to create a firm mashed potato. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Cover and set aside whilst you make the sauce for the pie.

Filling:

3. Place the fish chunks into a deep pie dish, add the lemon juice and place on a baking tray. Set aside for the moment.

4. Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan Oven 180C/Gas Mark 6.

Sauce:

5. Heat the butter in a medium sized saucepan over a moderate heat. Stir in the flour to form a paste, making sure that you keep stirring. Add the mustard and then gradually add the warm milk, still stirring continuously. Once the sauce starts bubbling, reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat.

6. Gradually stir in the grated cheese until it is fully combined and add the chopped chives or parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

7. Pour the sauce over the fish in the pie dish making sure that everything is well coated.

To finish:

8. Pipe the prepared mashed potato over the saucy fish using a disposable piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Alternatively spoon onto the fish and spread out with a fork. Sprinkle over a little more grated cheddar and bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until well browned.

9. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 6-8.

 

 

Almond Croissants

I have always had a real soft spot for anything that is almond flavoured or contains almonds; I particularly love frangipane and bakewell tarts, both of which include almonds. I also love cakes containing/covered with marzipan such as Battenberg Cake, traditional Christmas Cake, Simnel Cake and the like. In fact, where a cake is covered in or includes a layer of marzipan, I love dislodging it from the rest of the cake and savouring it on its own.

 

As a child, I was fascinated with the boxes or marzipan fruits that tended only to be available to buy around Christmas time. These were little sweets made out of marzipan and fashioned to look like miniature fruit – I absolutely adored them and regularly pestered my mother and grandmother to buy them for me.
 

I discovered almond croissants at a relatively late stage when I was in my twenties, but when I did I was hooked. My friends and family know that I am like a woman obsessed at the moment, trying to make my own homemade croissants. I have been folding butter and dough by the kilo and have yet to produce a croissant that I am perfectly happy with; one that is flaky and airy with a buttery flavour. My attempts have been more than passable but the croissants have not been quite at the standard that I wish. However, I will not be thwarted! I am determined to master them.

 

The great thing about these almond croissants is that you do not have to bake your own croissants in order to make them but can instead use store-bought ones. Do try to get all-butter croissants as the finished results will be far superior and will have that lovely flavour and texture that you can only get from butter. The key thing when making the almond croissants is to use stale croissants, that normally would be too dry and a little on the hard side… I promise you that the finished product will be worth it! If you use croissants that are too fresh, everything just collapses into an almond flavoured mush, albeit a very tasty almond flavoured mush!

 

If, like me, you are a fan of almonds, you will love the taste of these croissants. They are incredibly easy to make and the perfect sweet treat to have for an indulgent breakfast or lazy brunch!

 

There are a number of recipes on the old interweb thingy for similar almond croissants, but after a few trials, this is the version that I came up with. You will note that I have soaked the stale croissants in a syrup made from Amaretto prior to then filling them with the almond cream/frangipane, which believe me, makes these croissants really special, bursting with a lovely almond flavour.
 

Ingredients:

Amaretto syrup:
200ml water

25ml Amaretto

25g caster sugar

Almond cream:

115g butter, softened

115g caster sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

115g ground almonds

To finish:

6 x 3-day-old plain croissants

150g flaked almonds

Icing sugar for dusting
 

Method:

Amaretto syrup:

1. Put all the ingredients into a small saucepan and place over a moderate heat. Heat the mixture until the sugar has dissolved and then increase the heat and allow to bubble for 1 minute before removing from the heat. Allow to cool completely.

Almond cream:

2. Place the butter and caster sugar into a medium-sized mixing bowl and using a hand-held electric mixer, cream together until light and fluffy. Gradually mix in the eggs until they are fully incorporated and finally add the ground almonds, making sure that they are thoroughly mixed in. Set aside.

To make the almond croissants:

3. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4. Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking parchment and set aside.

4. Pour the cooled Amaretto syrup into a shallow dish and soak each of the croissants for 4-5 minutes, before removing and slicing horizontally through the middle.

5. Divide half of the almond cream equally between the bases of the 6 croissants and replace their tops. Spread the remaining almond cream over the tops of the 6 croissants, dividing it equally and sprinkle over the flaked almonds.

6. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes until the almond cream on top of the croissants has turned a light golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving dusted with a small amount of icing sugar.

Makes 6.

Breadsticks AKA Grissini

My gang are addicted to these simple breadsticks at the moment, declaring them to be ‘so much nicer than the ones you buy’ and demanding that I bake batch after batch of them to satisfy their seemingly insatiable hunger for them. Don’t misunderstand me, they are also still firmly welded to their chocolate addictions and can’t understand why I would bother cooking or baking anything that doesn’t include it. So in the general scheme of things, I am happy that they will set aside their chocolate obsessions and demand that I bake breadsticks.

 

The dough for these breadsticks is very similar to the one I use when baking a white loaf and if anything is just that slight bit dryer to the touch when it has first been mixed together. The dough is enriched with olive oil but other than that, the dough is mixed, kneaded, proved in the normal way. Differences obviously emerge in how the dough is shaped as, rather than being shaped into a loaf or rolls, it is rolled into long, pencil-thin lengths and left to rise for a second time. The key thing when making these breadsticks is to make sure that you do roll them out pencil thin as they will expand during the second rise and also upon meeting the heat of the oven. When baked the breadsticks should be no more than 1cm thick… any thicker and I find they don’t crisp up enough. They don’t have to be rolled out into a perfect cylinder and to be honest; I actually think a few variations in thickness along the length looks quite attractive.

 

The basic dough can be flavoured with finely chopped herbs or ground spice, or you can do as I have done here and keep it very simple, merely flavouring them with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of good quality flaky sea salt. I use Maldon Sea Salt but there are some great flavoured sea-salts for sale these days and one of them might be nice to use for a change.

 

When they are baked and cooled, I like to serve these sticks in a tall jug alongside a range or charcuterie and dips as a makeshift antipasti platter. This is wonderful to serve before a dinner party or if guests are expected and is a little more upmarket than crisps or peanuts in bowls. My children like to eat them as they are and within minutes of them coming out of the oven, you can hear them happily crunching away!

 

Normally when baking a loaf of bread, I recommend whacking the oven up to its highest temperature setting, but here the aim is to dry the breadsticks out, so they are cooked at a lower temperature for slightly longer than you would expect considering their skinny qualities!
 

Ingredients:

225g strong white bread flour
1 level tsp of fine sea salt

7g fresh yeast

125ml water

20ml olive oil

To finish:

Olive oil for drizzling

Flaky sea salt or poppy seeds for sprinkling
 

Method:

1. Place the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix with your hands to distribute the salt. Crumble in the yeast and mix through the flour. Make a well in the centre and add the water and olive oil. Bring everything together with your hands to create a dough.

2. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead for approximately 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and feels silky and springs back when prodded.  Place into a clean, lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Set aside to prove for approximately 1 hour or until doubled in size.

3. Turn the dough out of the bowl after it has proved and knock back, removing the air., Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a rectangle about 15cms x 40cms with the short edge facing you. Using a sharp knife cut 25-30 strips just over 1cm thick.

4. Taking one strip at a time and using booth hands, roll the dough out working from the centre out and moving your hands in opposite direction along the length, to create a pencil thin strip about 25cms long and 1 cm thick.

5. Place the strips side by side on a large baking sheet (use a second tray if necessary) lined with non-stick baking parchment, leaving space between each breadstick so that they can rise without sticking to each other. Leave aside to rise for about 30-40 minutes until almost doubled in size.

6. About 10 minutes before you want to bake the breadsticks, preheat the oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4.

7. Drizzle a little olive oil over the breadsticks and sprinkle with flaky sea salt or poppy seeds. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes or until the bread sticks are golden brown and cooked through.

Makes approximately 30 x 25cm long breadsticks.

 

Floating Islands

I honestly think Floating Islands might, just possibly, be my favourite dessert… EVER!

To describe this dessert in words does not do it full justice, because it is only by eating it that you can fully appreciate how wonderful it is in its simplicity! Gently poached and fluffy white meringues are placed on a puddle of chilled, vanilla-flavoured crème Anglaise. Lightly toasted flaked almonds are scattered on top and everything is finished off by a drizzle of hot, slightly bitter caramel which sets immediately on touching the meringues and chilled custard to create a pleasing crunch against the soft creaminess of the rest of the dessert. For something that contains so few ingredients, it is truly delicious!

 

Although there are two or three processes involved, this really isn’t a difficult dessert to make and it is worth doing as it looks so pretty when it is finished and ready to serve up; a perfect dish to serve at the end of a rich meal when you want something with a sweet edge without being heavy to eat.

 

The dish may be served without the addition of the toasted nuts and the caramel, but for me their inclusion elevates this dish into something that is sublime.

 

I remember the very first time that I ever tasted Floating Islands many years ago. My Aunt Barbara had just bought her first house and had invited me, along with my Mother, Grandmother and other Aunt, Patricia to Sunday dinner in her new home. I can’t recall what she served as a starter or main course, but I do remember the dessert – Floating Islands! I had been used to eating baked meringue in Pavlova form as it had long been a family favourite, but I had never eaten poached meringues before. Served with the chilled custard, I thought they were absolutely divine and longed to eat them again.

 

I made a version of Floating islands during the semi-finals of MasterChef Ireland and whilst they weren’t perfect and I was under a huge amount of pressure competing against three other very talented cooks, it reminded me of how much I loved them. Since then I have tried out a number of different recipes and after a lot of tweaking and adjustments, this is the one that I am most happy with.

 

Although the dish is sweet, it shouldn’t be TOO sweet and I found that many of the recipes that I tried included far too much sugar, so I cut back on this a little, where possible. Although you can add vanilla paste or a good quality vanilla extract to flavour the crème Anglaise custard, I recommend using the seeds of a vanilla pod. I was recently given a package of plump, fragrant vanilla pods by one of the many wonderful people that I have got to know through writing this blog, appearing on MasterChef Ireland and tweeting on Twitter. These vanilla pods were brought back by the beautiful Brinda when she visited Mauritius this past Christmas… so Brinda, this recipe is for you, in grateful acknowledgement and appreciation of the thoughtful gift that you gave me.
 

Ingredients:

Crème Anglaise:
400ml whole milk
100ml single cream

1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways and seeds scraped out

5 large egg yolks

60g caster sugar

Meringues:

5 large egg whites

125g caster sugar

500ml milk

500ml water

To finish:

100g caster sugar

50g flaked almonds, toasted in a moderate oven or dry frying pan for about 5 minutes until light golden brown
 

Method:

Crème Anglaise:
1. Place the milk, cream, the vanilla seeds and pod into a medium sized saucepan and set over a moderate heat. Bring up to the boil. Meanwhile, place the egg yolks and caster sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk together until pale and fluffy.
2. Once the milk has just reached boiling point, remove from the heat and scoop out the vanilla pod. (Separately, this can be allowed to dry out and placed in a jar of sugar to impart a gently vanilla flavour to the sugar which can then be used when baking cakes etc.) Pour the hot milk in a steady stream onto the eggs and sugar, whisking all the time until everything is well incorporated.

3. Return the milk mixture to the saucepan and heat gently over a low temperature, stirring all the time, to ensure that the eggs do not scramble. After about 10 minutes, the custard should have thickened slightly – enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and place into a clean bowl. Allow to cool and then refrigerate until ready to use.

Meringues:

4. Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl and whisk together using a hand-held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time mixing well after each addition until all the sugar has been incorporated and you have a thick, glossy meringue.

5. Meanwhile, place the milk and water into a wide saucepan with low sides. Bring up to simmering point and then allow to simmer very gently.

6. Using two large serving spoons shape quenelles out of the meringue mixture and place one at a time into the poaching liquid, turning them after about 4 minutes and poaching them on the other side. (Do not allow the poaching liquid to boil as the heat will be too intense and the meringues will expand too much and then collapse).

7. Poach the meringues in batches, fitting four or five into the saucepan at a time, depending on the size of the pan used. When poached, remove with a slotted spoon and allow to drain on a wire rack placed over some disposable kitchen paper. (This mixture will make approximately 12 poached meringues).

To finish:

8. Pour some chilled crème Anglaise into a shallow dish and place 2 poached meringues on top of the custard in each dish. Scatter over the toasted flaked almonds and set the dishes aside while you make the caramel.

9. Place the sugar in a small saucepan with 1tblsp of water over a moderate heat and allow the sugar to dissolve. Once the sugar has dissolved, you can increase the heat and allow to bubble away until a dark caramel starts to form. Remove from the heat and very carefully, using a teaspoon, drizzle some of the caramel over the meringues in each dish. Serve.
 

Serves 6-7.