Luxury Fish Pie

Ingredient:

Fish and Sauce:

Two salmon fillets

One cod loin

100g cooked prawns

75g butter

75g plain flour

500ml fish stock

200ml milk

50ml cream

1 glass of white wine

1 carrot

1 leek

1 medium onion

1 bayleef

handful of fresh parsley

5 peppercorns

salt and pepper (to taste)

splash of lemon juice

50g red leicester cheese (grated)

Mashed potato:

Six medium potatoes

Two sweet potatoes

50ml milk

25g butter

25ml cream

50g red leicester cheese (grated)

Topping:

50g red leicester cheese (finely grated)

50g breadcrumbs

Method:

This meal sounds like a lot of effort given the ingredient list above, but it is simple and can be prepared in 45 minutes - plus another 25 minutes of oven cooking time. It is well worth the effort too.

Start off by preparing the potatoes by pealing them all and chopping them into quarters. Add them to salted water and bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes. Once cooked strain the water, add the small amounts of butter, milk and cheese and mash.

Meanwhile, add the chopped onion, leek, carrot, peppercorns and bay leaf to the fish stock and bring to the boil and then simmer for ten minutes.

Place the salmon and cod to the stock and continue to simmer for three minutes.

Take out the fish and set aside to cool

Strain the stock with a sieve, then return to the boil and then simmer and add the wine.

Melt the butter and then mix with the flour and return to the heat for a minute. Slowly add the stock while continually mixing and then add the milk, cheese, parsley and flour. Add salt and white pepper to taste.

Now put the meal together by placing the prawns, and fish in a dish along with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Mix around so the fish breaks into pieces.

Pour over the sauce and sprinkle over some extra grated cheese and cracked black pepper before layering on the mashed potato.

Smooth the dish before adding a mixture of grated cheese and breadcrumbs.

Return to the oven at 200degrees for at least 25 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs become crispy.

Serve with vegetables and garlic bread and enjoy.

Read more...

Quick and easy beef lasagna

This lasagna is simple, but very tasty. It can be put together in under 30 minutes and could easily feed a family of four.

Ingredients:

800g of minced beef

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

2 medium tomatoes

1tbs of tomato puree

50ml of red wine

75ml of milk

a few drops of worcester sauce

a handful of chopped basil, rosemary and oregano

1 tsp of cinnamon powder

freshly cracked pepper

salt

250g of ricotta

4 sheets of uncooked lasagna

Olive oil

Cheese sauce

50g of butter

plain flour

300ml of milk

150g of grated cheddar

2tsp of paprika

Method

For the mince, fry the chopped onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Separately fry the mince in batches until browned. Once complete add to the onions and under a low heat add the two chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, herbs, cinnamon, worcester sauce, pepper and salt (optional). Stir regularly for 10 minutes before adding the wine and milk. Stir thoroughly and cook for give more minutes. Leave to cool while preparing the cheese sauce.

Melt the butter in a small sauce pan taking care not to burn the butter. Take it off the heat and stir in the flour until it becomes a thick paste. Add the milk and return to a medium heat. Stirring regularly until the sauce starts to thicken. Take off the heat again and add the grated cheese and paprika. 

Using a 6 inch squared ovenproof bowl place half of the beef mix on the bottom, followed by half of the ricotta placed roughly on top of the mince. Place two sheets of lasagna on top - overlapping if necessary. Now repeat the step with the remaining beef, ricotta and lasagna sheets. Finally pour over the thick cheese sauce and once cool grate some additional cheddar on top.

This can be prepared in advance of cooking in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees for thirty minutes - longer if coming from the fridge or freezer.

Serve with green vegetables and enjoy.

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Sprouts, pancetta and chestnut mix

This is sprouts at their best and a perfect accompaniment to a Christmas dinner.

Ingredients:

500g of Brussels Sprouts

100g of cooked chestnuts

50g of chopped pancetta

Salt and pepper to taste

For the best sprouts steam them until just tender (roughly ten minutes) then leave to one side to cool. In a frying pan fry chopped pancetta - there is no need for oil - over a high heat until the pieces begin to darken and become crispy. Turn off the heat and chop the cooled sprouts into smaller pieces. Chop the cooked chestnuts (Merchant Gourmet's plastic packed chestnuts are fine) roughly and add them and the sprouts to the pancetta. Mix together under a medium heat for five minutes, stirring regularly. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper according to taste. 

This side dish can be prepared in advance and reheated to accompany the Christmas dinner. 

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