Hi there, LM. This is a new recipe for me from my hero, Nigel Slater
1 Like
Thank you Harters, that looks beautiful. After seeing your post I went onto EYB and found ones from Nigella and Jamie Oliver that looked really good to me too. I’m not a big boiled egg fan, and am thinking it wouldn’t be catastrophic to just skip them, maybe add a little extra vegetable in place.
I wouldnt put egg in a fish pie. We usually do a cheats version - baking the (supermarket) puff pastry separately from the “stew”. The stew is either a tomato based Mediterranean -ish sauce or a cheese sauce if we want to come closer to home. Protein tends to be whatever is in the freezer but, most often, cod, smoked haddock and a few prawns.
3 Likes
I love fish pie - it’s one of my aunt’s specialties, but I also make it myself when it’s been too long since I ate hers.
Our is mixed seafood (usually cod, salmon, shrimp, scallops, or some combination thereof) in béchamel, topped with buttery mashed potatoes (and a layer of peas in between those which might have come about later vs the original recipe, but we love the addition).
(A recent cheat was TJ’s frozen mashed potatoes, which cut the work in half. )
8 Likes
This sounds so damn good.
5 Likes
Hi folks
Hope everyone in the US had a good holiday week, however it was spent, and everyone else had a good week!
Actuals for what was a travel week for me, and some ideas for next week – can’t believe we’ll be in December already, the horror!
Mon - Went out to lunch with a friend and ate the leftovers for dinner so I could bake for my Thanksgiving visits.
Tues - Travel day. College roommate picked me up and took me home so I could see her family after three years – which is a lifetime when one of them is a 5yo! We had the best time. Dinner of crab cakes and more was from a meal service. Dessert was my baking, and sent the 5yo into a visible sugar rush before bedtime, both hilarious and guilt-inducing.
Wed - At my aunt’s, thanksgiving prep day. Dinner was her fish pie which I always crave, made easier by frozen mashed potatoes from TJs.
Thurs - Turkey day. All the usuals for a late lunch / early dinner. No room for more food later, but we snacked and ate the orange olive oil cake and brownies I took.
Fri - Travel day again. Late lunch of bottled Indian curries (jhalfrezie and tikka masala) doctored by me, plus frozen naan and fresh rice. I am just not a bottled curry person – the tikka masala was fine after some tinkering, but the jhalfrezie gave me heartburn on the train home. I ate my thanksgiving leftovers for a late dinner when I got home.
Sat - Out for Sichuan food with friends who were in the city for the weekend.
Sun (tonight) - I’d like to cook something simple but am lacking inspiration and mojo at the moment. Might go with mustard salmon or Nigella’s fish bhorta, plus rice and tbd green veg. Maybe a simple dal too.
Ideas for the coming week:
- Steak + scalloped potatoes + tbd green veg (ideally spinach)
- Yakitori king oyster mushrooms + either mixed pot rice or oyako don or umami noodles
- Peruvian Arroz Con Pollo (Cuisine-OTM)
- Fish Tagine + quinoa (but instead of chermoula, I can doctor some chimichurri that’s languishing in my fridge)
- Easy chicken pulao (last month’s COTM) OR one of my family’s easy chicken curries + some roasted veg
Have a lovely week ahead!
11 Likes
That’s the thing - I love the idea of a mashed potato topping but it feels like a lot of work on top of making the rest of it. So once again you have given me a genius idea for how to make this happen more easily (you saved me from frying chicken pieces for some Chinese dish a few years back). So how are the frozen mashers? Any chance you have a picture of the box/bag they come in? Our mashers are very indulgent- lots of butter/cream/fat, but maybe a lesser version won’t stand out as such if it’s part of a pie, maybe I can dot the top with butter before cooking.
ETA: fish pie photo is killing me.
1 Like
Haha iirc it was when I used TJs cauliflower tempura for a fried chicken dish in Koreatown when it was COTM - I’m all about the lazy shortcuts 
The mashed potatoes at TJ are seasonal I think - they were in the vegetable / sides section. They were actually quite good, aside from having to pick out a few black bits. I did add butter before topping the pie, because our usual potato topping is no diet food 
I actually don’t mind mashing potatoes — I tend to stick them in the PC or IP whole, and use the twist-off method for the skin.
Or if I’m being particularly lazy, I peel and chop them, then stick them in the microwave to cook fast, and use a serving fork to mash them more expediently (and with less hand-hurting imo) than the potato masher. (Of course I also own a ricer, but that would entail taking it out of the drawer and washing it later.)
Btw — this is a great second-day dish if someone is already mashing potatoes for something else (like mashed potatoes for steak or thanksgiving). Just have to remember to double the potatoes so there are leftovers for this — or for shepherds / cottage pie.
One final note on TJs mashed items — I have also used the frozen mashed cauliflower with great success, but I like it smoother than they make it, which just means sticking an immersion blender in at the end. I’ve also combined that with a boiled / pressure cooked potato to make myself thing the topping is “healthy” ie has a hidden vegetable.
5 Likes
I’ve had the TJs frozen mashed potatoes a couple of times. They look like those styrofoam packing “noodles” when you take them out of the bag. You microwave them first at 50% and then fully, and the package instructions are fine, except that I reduce time a bit because our microwave tends to be fast. I add butter and lots of ground pepper when mostly finished and put back in for a few seconds. They also reheat well. I’ve done them only in 2 servings at a time; that’s two cups of the frozen.
We were skeptical at first sight but they are fine. I don’t know if they are seasonal; to us, they were new at TJs.
They look like this
1 Like
Yes, these came frozen in little tubes vs the cauliflower which is in mini muffin shapes.
Makes it easy to portion if you’re not using the whole bag.
1 Like
I haven’t had the TJs brand, but if you can find the Ore-Ida ones, they’re fine. https://www.oreida.com/product/00013120007842
1 Like
Hi, everyone. We had a good Thanksgiving weekend - lots of pie and a few turkey-related mishaps. (Birdie thawed in the fridge for a few days and then I discovered the packaging was torn - there’s nothing quite like a panicked grocery store run at 11am on the day before Thanksgiving!)
Sun: bbq chicken, mashed potato casserole (doctored up Thanksgiving leftovers based on a Serious Eats recipe), green beans
Mon: sorta-gyros (a Rachael Ray recipe) using beef instead of lamb
Tues: skillet chicken parm (The Dinner Plan) and pasta, roasted Brussels sprouts
Weds: pork chops/tenderloin depending on which one I find first in the freezer, leftover mashed sweet potatoes, something green
Thurs: black bean and bacon chilaquiles with eggs (Rachael Ray)
Fri: leftovers/tbd
11 Likes
Fabulous- thank you so much for the visual aid. I like the idea that I can add extra stuff to flavor them up a bit if it seems necessary. I tend to like them less smooth than most people, and love the skins still being on. But that probably wouldn’t be great on a fish pie.
How is it that I never knew such a thing existed before and now I’m finding out about 2 options? You all are the best. I’m going to have a tough time talking myself out of making fish pie.
2 Likes
Was it Koreatown? I remember you first used a bag of kung pao chicken and just tossed the flavoring, then tried cauliflower. Brilliant. And you are also the godmother of my newish and much loved mandolin. I was never comfortable with my old one, so barely used it, but the one you suggested is easy to wash and use, I love it.
1 Like
Only 2 of us here with 2 Australian Shepherds. We always plan their meals ahead, but not for us. I stopped cooking a number of years ago because of health issues. My retired DH took up the gauntlet. I never know what I’m going to get - it is a stream of constant surprises.
6 Likes
I’m a Philistine - I like the refrigerator mashed potatoes (Market St., Bob Evans, etc) sold in most grocery stores. I think they’d be a great shortcut. Have some in my fridge now!
4 Likes
It was more the sight of the frozen TJ mashed potatoes “noodles” that made me skeptical. And then the metamorphosis! My son and I were laughing with delight about the transformation. Adding butter and black pepper can make any potato more than adequate!
6 Likes
My secondment is now over so I turned in my laptop and building pass on Wednesday since it was my day in the office. It seemed easier to do it then than to make a special trip to the office on Friday afternoon. I took the days off on Thursday and Friday to run some errands and hopefully squeeze in some fun stuff while I am off. I returned to a toxic workplace today so I spent the weekend keeping myself busy to distract myself from work. I met my new boss who seems nice but it’s only my first day back we shall see. My menus from actuals from last Thursday to planned through next Thursday look like this:
Thursday: off to city hall to renew my photo ID card. There’s an art gallery in city hall featuring artwork of local artists so I took it in. Fettuccine al pesto and a salad for dinner.
Friday: off to the grocery store in the morning. They had canned tomatoes on sale for half price so I bought a lifetime supply to use in soups and stews this winter. Off to the market this afternoon to pick up the rest of my groceries. I had planned on making a curry from scratch including cooking dried beans that had been soaking overnight but I was running out of steam. The last store I went to had some rainbow trout fillets on sale so I bought one for dinner and had a potato and Brussels sprouts on the side.
Saturday: I will be going through some winter clothes I set aside when I took out my winter clothes a month and a half ago that I haven’t worn in awhile so I will try them on and either wear them or take them to a consignment shop. Take out for dinner.
Sunday: Matinee movie called Salvatore about the shoe designer of the same name. Dinner will be a kidney bean curry.
Monday: Back to work. Repeat of Sunday.
Tuesday: Renown Canadian architect Moshe Safde will be having a book launch at the National Gallery and I am planning on going so I will have a bite to eat somewhere on the way to the gallery.
Wednesday: Sesame noodles with pork and scallions.
Thursday: fettuccine al pesto and a salad on the side.
Lunches this week will alternate between acorn squash soup with rocquefort cheese, and goat cheese, roasted beet and farro salad.
14 Likes
First, I hope that the new job situation ends up working out, and that the boss ends up being as nice as s/he seems. Second - I love all the things you do. You seem to make the most of the city you live in with the art shows, movies, book launches. It is impressive.
7 Likes
