I think after the news this week, we could all do with a little comfort food this weekend. I had one guy tweet me this week saying that he wishes more women were at home baking treats like myself, that a woman’s place is in the kitchen (I assume that he means the kitchen at home seeing as the top leading chefs in the world are mostly men and women are of small numbers in their kitchens…). I would like to point out that actually I have a full time career in digital marketing and I work incredibly hard. I am in the office all day and while I value a good work/ life balance I am not ‘at home all day baking treats’. This isn’t quite the most abusive tweet I could have received and I often advise people not to respond to trolls but the worrying part is that actually this guy wasn’t really trolling, he is just someone out there wishing that more women stayed home. As we have seen there is a lot of hatred and fear in the world and a large majority of people are angry and while there are many aspects as to what exaclty provoked recent decsions and changes I would like to say one thing. Yes I am a woman, I value the freedom for women to choose to be able to stay at home whether that is building up their own business (or blog..) or raising children, both incredibly hard and rewarding jobs. I also value the work that has gone towards bringing more women into companies, at senior level and part of decision making. I may run a food blog that seems sweet and wholesome (maybe I need to change that…) but if there is one thing that we have learned this week it is that we need to fight more than ever to prevent a decline in attitudes towards women. So, to the guy who tweeted me: I had a look at your feed and re-tweeting Donald Trump’s racist, misogynistic comments is nothing to be proud of. In fact, I feel sorry for you. But more importantly, I feel sorry for ‘the Mrs’ you tweeted about who was late putting your dinner on the table one night. If anything, you have just fuelled people like myself to work even harder in preventing these attitudes from becoming the norm.
Now, I should get to the main part of my blog. The actual recipe part! This is really one to make at the weekend when you have more time not only to make it but also to enjoy it. It is a real comfort especially during the cold months. A fish pie is so warming and while it takes a little longer to make it is still easy and non stressful. You can also freeze it (just leave out the eggs) so that you have some in the freezer for a speedy mid-week meal.
- 1kg potatoes (peeled and halved)
- 2 handfuls of frozen peas (defrosted)
- 300g cod (or any other plain white fish)
- 300g salmon
- Handful of king prawns (if frozen then make sure are defrosted)
- 2 leeks (finely chopped)
- 25g butter
- 1 small pot double cream
- 100ml white wine
- 1 tbspn plain white flour
- 1 tspn dijon mustard
- Small bunch fresh parsley (finely chopped)
- Splash of milk
- Salt/ pepper
- 6 eggs
- Half a lemon
- Preheat the oven to 200C/ 180 fan/ gas mark 6. Put the potatoes into a large pan and add enough hot water to cover them. Bring to a boil and then simmer until tender. Hardboil 6 eggs in another pan. Once the potatoes are done, drain and tip back into the saucepan. Add a bit of butter a splash of milk and mash until smooth. Add half of the parsley and season with salt n pepper and then give one last mix/ mash. One the eggs are hard boiled just peel and slice.
- In the meantime add the rest of the butter and leeks into another pan and cook on a gentle heat for around 2-3 minutes. Then add the cream, white wine and the flour and whisk gently. Cook for around 3-4 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly.
- Add the cod and salmon to the sauce. Poach the fish for around 2-3 minutes until the fish just starts to flake (the fish will continue to cook in the oven).
- Add the prawns, peas and parsley with a squeeze of lemon to the pan. Take the pan off the heat and mix well. Season with salt n pepper.
- Pour the fish mixture into a large oven dish. Top with the eggs and then spoon the mashed potato on top.
- Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes golden and the mixture is bubbling at the edges.
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