Fish and Chip Pie (4)
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Put the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold water with 1 tsp salt. Bring the pan to the boil. Cook the potatoes until just tender and pierceable with a sharp knife. Drain the potatoes and cut into chunky chips when cool enough.
  2. Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas mark 5. On a large baking tray, big enough to hold the chips in a single layer, add 80ml of vegetable oil and carefully mix to evenly coat the potatoes.Cook the chips for around 30 minutes until nicely coloured on one side. Remove from the oven.
  3. Add the milk and bay leaves to a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add the fish and cook over a moderate heat for 4-5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet, just enough to turn the fish opaque. Don’t overcook it.
  4. Remove from the heat and leave to cool in the milk. When cool enough, gently pull the fish into large chunks and put to one side on a plate. Keep the milk.
  5. Meanwhile, melt the butter for the filling in a separate saucepan over a moderate heat and fry the onions for 8-10 minutes until soft and translucent, then add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring all the time.
  6. Gradually whisk in the milk used to cook the fish and bring the mix to the boil. Turn down the heat and cook for around 5 minutes until thickened, then stir in the mustard, parsley, lemon zest and crème fraiche.
  7. Check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste. Finally, fold in the fish. Pour into a baking dish measuring approximately 30x20cm and cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.Arrange the chip topping, with the browned side of the chips facing down into the pie.
  8. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the chip topping is a good colour and the pie mix is bubbling and piping hot underneath. Remove from the oven and splash the chip topping with malt vinegar to serve.