Friday fasts

My mom fasts on Fridays and I usually try to feed her fish. Last week I decided to make fish pie that we had in Ireland because I thought it would be a comforting meal on a cold day and she loves mashed potato. I had all the ingredients in my freezer and pantry except the smoked fish, which I bought at Foodland. You can skip the smoked fish, but it is what makes it authentically Irish and tastes really good. It has to be hot smoked fish because the cold smoked just tastes fishy when cooked. Don’t let the size of the recipe intimidate; it is easy to put together once you gather all the ingredients. I didn’t cook my potatoes at the end as the recipe suggests but at the same time as soon as I had a free burner. I used smoked cheddar for extra flavour. Turned out really, really yummy. Everyone loved it. The texture of the poached fish was especially lovely. The leftovers reheat in the microwave quite nicely.

Irish fish pie

3 cups milk

8 oz. fresh salmon

8 oz. shrimp

8 oz. whitefish like haddock, cod etc.

8 oz. hot smoked salmon

1/3 cup butter

2 shallots, sliced

1/3 cup flour

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup frozen peas

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

2 lbs. potatoes, peeled and quartered

2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup butter

2 cups green cabbage, finely shredded

1 cup milk

4 green onions, sliced

1/2 cup shredded aged or smoked cheddar

Preheat oven to 400°F. Put milk in wide pot over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Add fresh fish and shrimp to milk and poach for a couple of minutes, depending on thickness until cooked through. Remove fish with slotted spoon to plate. Add smoked fish to milk just for 1 minute to flavour the milk slightly, remove with slotted spoon to same plate. In another pot; melt butter over medium heat and add shallots. Cook shallots, stirring often until soft, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour to make a roux and cook for one minute, slowly add hot milk while whisking with roux to make sauce. Keep whisking until sauce starts to thicken, reduce heat if bubbling too much. Season sauce with salt and pepper. Flake fish and add to sauce with shrimp, peas, and parsley. Put fish mixture into 8 or 9-inch square glass baking dish or any other ovenproof dish of that size. Set aside. Put potatoes in pot and cover with cold water, bring to a boil and salt well. Cook until tender. Meanwhile melt 2 tablespoons butter in a pan and sauté cabbage for a few minutes until soft and tender, season with salt and pepper and set aside. Drain potatoes and add ½ cup butter and 1 cup milk to same pot. When melted and hot, put in potatoes and mash, stir in cabbage and green onions and cheddar. Stir until cheddar is melted. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Spoon or pipe mashed potato onto fish mixture, sprinkle more cheddar on top if desired. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until hot and bubbly and golden on top.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.