Friday 20 November 2009

It's Friday... that means it's fish


I'd be happy with just the potato and crispy cheese topping


Pollack, salmon and smoked haddock in a béchamel sauce


Not much in the way of leftovers

20 comments:

  1. YUM!

    I think that about sums up Fish Pie made properly! I LOVE fish pie as does my OH. Unfortunately the offspring have not become so keen! We rarely have it but the description you put is similar. Only difference is we often add prawns as we invariably have them in the freezer!

    I hope you enjoyed it with the log burner and a decent glass of something? I am quaffing a rather nice Pinot Grigio at the moment from Germany! It tastes good!

    Hope you have had a good day?

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  2. From Chris the antipodean.
    Greetings from Melbourne,Oz.
    All hail Mrs XTM, the delectables have spurred me to shake off the severe bout of laziness that comes from catering for one! Being Saturday AM here a bit late for the 'Friday' routine however I have picked up a fillet of Orange Roughy aka Sea Perch so will cook that for lunch with a pineapple slaw and potatoes somehow. With it being in the mid to high 30's this week( 'tho a bit of rain and respite today so far), more of a cold cuts and salad selection time than anything too hot. You sound a lot better TM, so all this tender care seems to be doing the trick. Keep well and pain free as possible. As the saying goes over here 'avagoodweekend and remember the aeroguard' ( mosquito repellent )'tho I suppose those are not such a problem over there.

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  3. Actually, today has been a day of pain. As I move around and do my physio, so my leg muscle bulk increases. This means my cast is getting tight and my lower legs, ankles and feet are swelling painfully. I can't wait for this plaster cast to come of. So it's been a real bugger of a day pain wise. I wouldn't mind being housebound if I could sit down and read without pain poking its ugly and unwanted nose into my day.

    As for food, I like prawns in the fish pie too. I used to like a few peas for colour as well, but I've gone right off peas for some reason. I did have a small glass of wine... a Kiwi Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc just bursting with fresh gooseberry flavour. Half price at Sainsburys right nowat just £4.99. It's a steal!

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  4. LOL @ Chris! I have recently been listening to a song called 'The Aussie Barbecue' by Eric Bogle. He mentions 'aerogard' in that along with other uniquely 'Aussie' expressions. It is very amusing, in my opinion! (I have aussie family! Oh, and Kiwi as well. Very confused here!)
    Cooking for one is never any fun! Why not pretend it is for 2 and freeze a portion?

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  5. that's it - it's a beautiful sunny saturday morning here in perth and after seeign that picture of Mrs XTM's fish pie, I'm off to the Kailis Fish Markets to get some goodies and make us a fish pie for dinner tonight.

    So sorry to hear you are in pain. Are you sure it's the exercise making your leg swell? Maybe it's one too many serves of good food now that you're not being fed hospital swill?

    Here's hoping the cast comes off soon and you can get on with life pain free.

    Cheers
    Mich

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  6. @Mich: it's not increasing girth that's the problem. I eat smallish portions and don't snack. It's definitely being caused by too much activity.

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  7. You right there Mitch lovely sunny day on the west coast of Oz. Sorry the pain is so intrustive XTM. I hope you are not near the floods we are seeing over here as I'm not sure you float with a plaster cast! Maybe you could switch from the kiwi wine back to the australian wine - that could be the problem ;)
    Jo

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  8. Now this is delicious, bet it tasted better than it looked.

    Are we having the pink escalope for Sunday dinner, oh go on, go on, go on, you know you miss them, well I certainly do.

    Anybody flooded where they are, thank goodness we live at the top of the hill, our fields are like swimming pools, our nearest town Clonmel is closed off.

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  9. lyn from Melbourne21 November 2009 at 09:12

    hi from oz... i think you should add the recipes to these delicious meals , my mouth is salavating, wishing you well ...lyn from Melbourne

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  10. Hi ET,

    I think that you have a fair number of followers from Paradise ;) (Perth WA for those who did not know).

    I hope the cast can come off soon mate, nothing worse that compression on the legs to cause other problems :(

    I love Mrs ET's Fish Pie, but I have no chance of being served it at home as the better half hates fish :( (although I can have fish when I am the only one eating ;)

    I hope the floods are nowhere near you mate. Keep safe,

    Kat from Paradise (Perth Au)

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  11. Was that an Oyster Bay or South Island Sauvignon Blanc by any chance? If so, it's heaps cheaper to buy it here than in Australia (where I'm from)! My husband and I are amazed at the Australian wine prices here. South Island Sauv Blanc is my favourite since it's the one he had on ice when he proposed to me, but Oyster Bay runs a very close second.

    When do you expect to get the cast off?

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  12. It's amazing. I seem to have loads of readers in Perth and Oz in general. That's because you all have impeccable taste. It might also have something to do with my friend and former colleague Matthew Mills being something of a hotshot journalist on the Western Australian newspaper. I think he gave a chunk of coverage to the blog. He's a Brit but we can forgive him that as he's a top bloke and a really good journo.

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  13. It's Marlborough, so that's South Island. The gooseberry flavour is so intense. I prefer Australian reds and New Zealand whites. Sometimes Australian whites can be a bit big on flavour. Some of the buttery oakes Chardonnays are very quaffable but the hangover is as big as the Northern Territories. Red is my preferred wine and I love Heartlans Director's Cut Shiraz. Penfolds make good reds too but my wife loves Rosemount. Very rarely do we drink any European wines. Don't like South African much but Chilean and Argentine can be pretty good. California produces some drinkable and inexpensive wines such as Gallo.

    I'm hoping and praying the cast will come off on December 3rd when I go back to the hospital for x-rays and blood tests. Would be wonderful to lose it before Christmas. I'll keep you posted.

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  14. There's an actual brand called "South Island" just to confuse people! I haven't seen it in the UK though. If you can get a hold of "Oyster Bay" Sauvignon Blanc you're in for a treat.

    You sound quite the wine connoisseur! Penfolds is very highly regarded back home (and usually very expensive). We went on a trip to the Barossa a couple of years ago and now have some Penfolds in my father-in-law's cellar, just waiting for a special occasion.

    I'm trying my hardest to drink wines from different countries while we're living in the UK. Back home you can mainly only get Australian and NZ wine (and French but you pay through the nose), so the wines you get over here are a bit mind-blowing, in terms of their country of origin!

    Fingers crossed for December 3 then!

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  15. Actually for beginners the Jamie Oliver fish pie is a good place to start: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fish-recipes/fish-pie.

    Thank goodness it is raining in Melbourne in Oz tonight. We have already had the first fires below our house (on Mt Dandenong) for the season and it is the hottest November on record. So at the ancient ages of 65 and 61 we are off. Yup, I know there are wildfires on Vancouver Is in Canada – but not in the centre of the city of Victoria!

    Keep going XTM – you give many of us courage. Go well . . .

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  16. Mmmm. Fish pie... It looks and sounds delicious. I'll be making something fishy tonight but my other half doesn't like cheese so it won't be fish pie alas. Good luck with the cast. Hope it comes off soon. I'll be thinking of you on Dec. 3rd.

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  17. You can leave off the cheese if you want and add some dill to the sauce.

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  18. We hadn't had fish pie for a while so your meal inspired me - and we had it for lunch - with a layer of creamy spinach between the fish in sauce (with added mushrooms) and the potato topping.
    Here in France we can't get New World wine - Chauvin was a Frenchman, of course... we do get a few bottles of Italian and Spanish, but it's mainly French. The Beaujolais Nouveau came out this week, but we haven't tried it yet - it's just a marketing ploy, really.
    Cheers, XTM,

    Mel

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  19. I want Mrs XTM to adopt me. That fish pie looks deeeelicious.

    Have just printed out the recipe for the penne and blue cheese dish for my better half to cook. Its the other way around with us - I (the female) moan about the pain in my knee, and he cooks ha ha. Hope the pain dies down soon XTM

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  20. yum, yum..... I used to live in NZ - maybe that is why i find your blog so entertaining and addictive! Hope the pain subsides

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