It may be hot outside but it's even hotter in my kitchen!
Phew - it's baking hot outside so I put the oven on for an hour just to make sure I was really hot. I hate flies and insects in the house so it is a rarity that the kitchen door remains open but tonight was the exception. Throwing caution to the wind I also put on my summer shorts and exposed my lily white legs - yes it really is , that hot. Having fished some fish out of the freezer earlier today I made myself a delicious fish pie from boneless Atlantic cod loin, smoked salmon and salmon fillets. All this fish had been sat in various bags in my freezer for a while so I decided to defrost it all and chop it up for a meal that would last a few days. The fish had all been purchased whilst on various special offers at Tesco so I felt good that I was using up food rather than purchasing new. Even the chives came out of the freezer.
I took the skin off the salmon pieces, cut all the pieces into bite sized chunks, popped them all into a big casserole dish and sprinkled over the chopped chives. To add a liquid base I simply added cold milk and a few generous butter chunks. The fish went into a gas oven on Mark 6 for three quarters of an hour. A few random brown mushrooms at the back of the fridge got cut up and added to the fish for variety. When the cooked fish came out of the oven it smelt great and looked very very colourful.
With the riced mash on top I whacked the dish back in the oven for a further thirty minutes and the result was a fantastic fish pie with a crusty brown topped mash finish. Some peas with fresh wild mint from my bijou garden finished it off.
The cats next door relaxed on the warm path, my lavender bushes scented the summer air and after my meal I enjoyed a cold beer or two on the stairs by the open door. Summer appears to be here at last and I look forward to cooking and creating more simple dishes for the summer months ahead.
Fresh basil and sun drenched tomatoes... perfect summer accompaniments ... basking in the warmth of my kitchen windowsill.
1 comment:
A scrumptious meal Phil. I'm impressed by the use of a ricer to create lump free mash. I have one (given to me by my sister years ago, as she was horified to realise I am incapable of making decent mash spuds) but it's such a faff to put together & washing it up takes me ages, so I usually resort to Tesco frozen mash. It's jolly good. The only thing I would have altered in your recipe is to have used some of the surpluss cooking juices to quickly make a roux to thicken everything. I'm actually amazed you felt like having the oven on in this heat. And did you share any of it with those lovely cats?
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