Fishy pie (Serves 4 piggy people)

A classic dish...& what a gem! The thing about fish pie is that, unlike similar sorts of dishes like lasagne & shepherd's pie, it has an element of luxury & decadence but is just as simple if not simpler to cook. We've made a few little tweaks to personalise this one & you should feel free to do so yourself. You can use any firm fleshed fish in this, but if you're particularly wealthy or its a special occasion you can add cream, saffron, monkfish, prawns or even lobster to the sauce. But please use sustainably sourced fish if you can get it!

Ingredients
-   250g each of salmon, smoked haddock and whiting
-   400ml milk
-   a thick slice of onion
-   2 cloves
-   2 bay leaves
-   4 large baking potatoes & 1/2 medium celeriac chopped into cubes (we don't bother to peel the potatoes because they are the most nutritious bit...also we're lazy, but you can if you want to)
-   50-100g of mature cheddar grated
-   50g butter
-   dessertspoon of plain flour
-   1 large leek thickly sliced
-   white pepper
-   salt
-   juice of 1/4 lemon
-   some chopped dill & parsley (about 2 parts parsley to 1 part dill)
-   small handful of breadcrumbs (optional)

Preparation
-    Lay the fish in a large, deep, frying pan. Cover with the milk and add the cloves, bay leaves and onion. Bring to a gentle boil, simmer for a minute or two then turn the heat off & cover the pan with a lid or a plate & let it gently poach in the residual heat for 10 minutes.
-   Meanwhile, steam or boil the potatoes & celeriac in salted water. When they are cooked through, (very important, you don't want lumpy mash!) add half the butter & a splash of milk & mash until smooth. Add most of the grated cheese & white pepper to taste & mix in until the cheese is melted.
-   Once the fish it only just cooked, drain off the milk (which is now flavoured with all the fishy loveliness) into a jug to be used in the sauce. Flake the fish into large pieces & carefully lay them on the bottom of a baking dish, trying to get the different pieces of fish equally distributed.



-   Melt the other half of the butter in another frying pan & saute the leeks until just soft. Take off the heat & add the flour, stirring constantly. Put back on the heat & gradually add the milky fish liquor, stirring constantly until the sauce comes up to the boil & has thickened. Turn the heat down very low & cook out for a few minutes to remove any floury taste & give the sauce a velvety quality. Once cooked, add the herbs, a pinch of white pepper & lemon juice.



-   Pour the sauce over the fish & give it a very gentle mix in. Most people mix the fish into the sauce, then pour it all into the baking dish, but this way you keep the big pieces of fish & its easier to make sure the fish is evenly distributed across the dish. At this point it is actually a good idea to let everything cool down if you have time because the potato will spread more easily, but its not essential.
-   Spread  the mash over the fish, starting from the edges of the dish & working inwards, this should stop the potato sliding over the sauce & everything getting messy. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese & the breadcrumbs if you're using them. (Tip: Whenever we buy a nice loaf of bread, there's always an end piece that ends up being too stale to use, instead of throwing it away we blitz it up & keep it in a sealed jar in the kitchen cupboard, its amazing how often it comes in handy!) You can also add a few small knobs of butter at this point if you like, it'll really help the 'engoldening' process.



-   Put on a preheated oven at 180C for about 40-45mins until it is heated through & the top is golden & crunchy.