Fish pie on the table tonight.

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.

 

 

 

 

Half way through the cooking period I peeled, chopped and boiled two big spuds for the mash and used a ricer to apply the mashed potatoes to the top of the fish pie. There was far too much fluid so I emptied away a sensible proportion of the liquid from the cooked fish. I didn't want the poor thing to drown in juice but I did need to leave enough liquid in the dish for moisture.

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.