When I brought up the serious topic of ploughed potato fields versus potato mountains on Shepherds Pie, I thought I had put all the arguments to bed. There were some feeble-minded individuals who suggested that I might have been wrong about the ploughed fields. I will deal with them another time. Flori over at Flori Cooks had the effrontery to suggest that the mountains on a Fish Pie should be replaced with waves. “WAVES?” I thought. Where does she get off telling me how to do my fish pie?
I live in a house with four females including the dog. This gives rise to a condition that those who are not at the mercy of the fairer sex cannot understand. When a thought gets subtly planted by the ascendant female, it burrows its way in and, at some later stage, the downtrodden lone male drags the thought up, believing it to be his own. This is how Flori, who lives on a different continent and whom I have never met, managed to get me to cook Fish Pie with Wave Potatoes. Thus waving goodbye to my fish pie.
Here’s what you will need:
- A big piece fo cod or other white fish
- Some nice salmon pieces
- Half a smoked haddock
- A head of brocoli
- A big bunch of parsley
- A small amount of strong English mustard
- Half a litre of milk
- A heaped tablespoon of flour
- A very generous knob of butter
- Grated mature cheddar or similar hard cheese
- Plenty of good mashing potatoes (I used Roosters)
Side note: Get real smoked haddock if possible. The glowing yellow fish that so many of you think is smoked is just some spurious fish painted with a smoke flavoured dye (Or is that die?).
Here’s what to do
Put the potatoes on to boil. When they are done, add some milk and butter. Then mash them. At the risk of boring yourself, mash them again and again. You will be feeling a little weak by the time they are smooth enough. Put the milk, flour and butter into a saucepan and heat until you have a white sauce. Let it bubble for a while to be sure the flour is cooked. Add the grated cheese bit by bit. Chop the fish into chunks and throw them into the oven dish.

Gratuitous skinned salmon shot. “Almost too good to put in a pie”, you say. “Don’t be silly”, I say.
Season with salt and pepper. Trim the brocoli (to avoid eating lots of stalks) and add to the pie dish.

The Fish Pie starting to take shape. A good spread of the various bits of fish and brocoli is important.
Pour the sauce over the fish.
Chop the parsley pretty fine and make a layer of parsley over the fish.
Next comes the potato waves. This involves piping the mash onto the top of the pie in a wave pattern. Do a couple of rows and then involve some guests. It will make them feel that they are part of what you are doing and they will take some of the credit for the final dish. It also gets you out of a very tedious process. This worked for me. I used the time that I saved to make a potato fish.
When the pie is complete, pop it in the oven at 200 degrees C for 50 minutes or until the sea is bubbling. Serve the pie to your hungry guests.
I don’t know whether Flori has completely cured me of potato mountains but I have to admit, the waves worked pretty well and certainly looked excellent. My potato fish (of which I was pretty proud) went to Davy Jones Locker along with the rest of the pie.
I wonder, was that potato fish really my own idea? I THINK it was. Damn those women…
Lucy | 27th November 2012
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Fantastic family fish action! Tasty too 🙂
Conor Bofin | Author | 27th November 2012
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Thanks Lucy. I might cook it again this weekend!
Karen | 27th November 2012
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I have never had a fish pie but it certainly sounds good.
Conor Bofin | Author | 27th November 2012
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A treat in store Karen. A treat in store.
Best,
Conor
Bam's Kitchen | 27th November 2012
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Can I have dibs on that last piece or is it already spoken for? The weather is getting cooler and this fish pie sounds so comforting and delicious and I love your waves. Take care, BAM
Conor Bofin | Author | 27th November 2012
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Thanks BAM, I will cook one for you when you are over!
Best,
C
adventurousandrea | 27th November 2012
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Wow, that looks delicious!
Conor Bofin | Author | 27th November 2012
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Thanks Andrea, it was nice all right.
Best,
Conor
adventurousandrea | 27th November 2012
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I’m sure!
Flori | 27th November 2012
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A big potato wave from across the pond on another continent! What a great start to my day. The pit looks pretty great too. Cheers!
Conor Bofin | Author | 27th November 2012
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Happy to oblige Flori. You gave me the idea and it worked pretty well.
Best,
Conor
Justice Stewart | 27th November 2012
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Awesome stuff! Keep up the good work Conor 🙂
Conor Bofin | Author | 27th November 2012
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Thanks Big Man. It was good fun and I got others to do the difficult bit! That’s management for you.
Best,
Conor
Adam J. Holland | 27th November 2012
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So, it’s not one man’s meat, after all. Welcome to my world. Outstanding dish, by the way!
therebelkitchen | 27th November 2012
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That looks amazing, I love fish pies, so comforting at this time of year when it’s cold outside. Yours looks amazing, mine are always more sloppy! Your post is responsible for giving me the major munchies and making me glum that I only have some defrosted curry waiting for me at home tonight 🙁
Conor Bofin | Author | 27th November 2012
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What can I say? If I had posted a defrosted curry, you would not have felt any better about it!
Best,
Conor
Mad Dog | 27th November 2012
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I’ve no idea about fields, mountains or waves being better or worse, but I do know that looks like a fantastic fish pie 🙂
Conor Bofin | Author | 27th November 2012
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Thanks MD. Good ingredients = good pie, at the risk of repeating myself.
cookinginsens | 27th November 2012
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So goodl!
Conor Bofin | Author | 27th November 2012
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Thanks Rosemary.
Danny @ 1227 Foster | 27th November 2012
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Fish pie is new to me but it looks wonderful! And your photography does it justice as always!
Conor Bofin | Author | 27th November 2012
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Hi Danny, You have to try it when the weather gets cold over there (if the weather ever gets cold over there).
C
Danny @ 1227 Foster | 27th November 2012
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Conor, I live in Chicago – it is always cold here 🙂
Conor Bofin | Author | 27th November 2012
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Make that pie!
Danny @ 1227 Foster | 27th November 2012
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I need to hone my fishing skills now 🙂
StefanGourmet | 27th November 2012
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Good evening, Conor! I don’t think I’ve ever eaten anything like this. Love the fish in the waves!
I’ve tried oven dishes with fish a few times a looooong time ago, and usually ended up with a wet mess from all the liquid released by the fish. This recipe doesn’t seem to have that problem, do you know why?
Don’t think we have smoked haddock. I could smoke some myself, or sub with smoked mackerel?
Conor Bofin | Author | 27th November 2012
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Hi Stefan, the sauce is pretty thick and this mixes with the fish juices as they are released. The combined makes for a tasty, cheesy, fishy sauce. I would not use mackerel as the flavour might overpower. Your skill level is noted too with the suggestion to smoke your own. Impressive.
StefanGourmet | 27th November 2012
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To be honest hot-smoking is the easiest thing once you have the smoker (which is not expensive, 30-60 euros). And so tasty it’s hard to believe 🙂
Conor Bofin | Author | 27th November 2012
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I must investigate…
trixfred30 | 27th November 2012
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Now i need to know what you have done with your camera. – your earlier photos look like mine do now. What did you do – new lens, different settings – come on spill the beans!!
Conor Bofin | Author | 27th November 2012
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These were shot using a fixed 50 mm lens on the Canon. Probably the biggest difference is my spending a raft of time on Lynda.com learning how to use the camera and Photoshop Lightroom. Starting (and only starting) to understand what can be achieved…
trixfred30 | 27th November 2012
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Thanks for the tip!
Trish | 27th November 2012
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This looks so delicious and sounds so very British. I don’t think we smoke haddock here in the US – what about trout?
Conor Bofin | Author | 28th November 2012
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Thanks Trish, it’s Irish. The British put boiled eggs in theirs.
Best,
Conor
Trish | 28th November 2012
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well that’s cool cause I’m Irish too
Sanjiv Khamgaonkar | 28th November 2012
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The bubbling sea is making me hungry! What a nice fish pie 🙂
Conor Bofin | Author | 28th November 2012
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Thanks Sanjiv,
It was tasty.
createengwp | 29th November 2012
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Yay, fish pie is something new to me! And, I would settle for comfort food any day.
Conor Bofin | Author | 29th November 2012
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You have to try it. Delicious.
anyone4curryandotherthings | 29th November 2012
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OK Conor, I am back once more – hope this works.
That (irish!) fish pie, waves and leaping fish! is absolutely delishes. I agree with you, smoked salmon=in, scollops=in, real! smoked haddock=in, broccoli-out (peas instead) and I sometimes used to put a couple of roughly chopped hardboiled eggs in, too (would it become english now?). lol – One other thing, it never occured to me until reading the above that there are actually people who never had this wonderful comfort food. I hope they will try this out now. Take care, Ciao, Carina
Conor Bofin | Author | 29th November 2012
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Thanks Carina, Very rude of me to delete your comment. Very bold of me to ask you to replace it. Very good of you to do so.
Best,
Conor
wendy@chezchloe | 4th December 2012
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Bottom line is not to care whose idea it was! I love fish pie and smoked haddock. I could see only using the smoked haddock or cod too.
Piping potatoes in any way shape or form is a feat to be proud of and not many could be bothered. Well done.
I’ve actually enjoyed witnessing my own photo taking learning curve. Though I cringe at early pics, I’ve sworn to myself I would leave them up to keep me humble. Having said that, I too am still only a short way up the bottom side of the learning curve. But I do love Lightroom and am sure I have only scratched the surface of it’s potential. cheers….wendy
Conor Bofin | Author | 4th December 2012
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Hi Wendy, they say that the first step in any learning is to realise how little you know. That’s where I am at. All good fun and Lightroom is a fantastic piece of kit.
Best,
Conor
Tamara Mirianashvili | 4th December 2012
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Worth to try! <3 my fav ingredients <3
Conor Bofin | Author | 10th January 2013
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I hope you give it a go. It’s easy.
happysherlock | 9th December 2012
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I tried your recipe the last time you blogged about the fish pie and it was delicious! Hmmm but now I too am a little intrigued by the waves and just might have to make fish pie again this week!
Conor Bofin | Author | 9th December 2012
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Be sure to get some ‘volunteers’ to help with the waves.