Lemon Fish Pie

Inspired by Annabel Langbein's recipe on TV, I was trying to remake her lemon fish pie recipe. It is a fish casserole dish made from white fish with lemony white sauce, covered with mashed potato, and baked for about 40 minutes.

First time i saw her cooking this fish pie, this dish immediately went into one of the top of my "must-to-try" list. Few weeks after that, I made that pie. It was delicious. Really really delicious. But I didn't use enough fish so basically it was only like white sauce with baked mash potato. But really. The taste was great. Few months after that, I tried to make another attempt but instead of using mash potato on the top, I used sliced potato and make it looked like a gratin dish. Hmph... Well.... not as good as before and the potato couldn't suck up all the sauce and spices because it was sliced not mashed. Definitely going back to mashed potato for the next attempt.

Well... few weeks ago there was a pangasius fillet sale on grocery store. It seems it's a good time to make this fish pie again. Yeah... At this time I prepared anything faster and smoother than before. I made the mashed potato  and boiled eggs in the morning and cover it with plastic wrap to prevent the surface become dry. It really made my job easier when it's time to prepare the fish, sauce, and assemble everything on my baking dish. It's easy and it's delicious.

Do you want to try to make it? Then, let's get started :-)
First, let's make the mashed potato.

Ingredients : 

• 700 grams potato, peeled, sliced
• 20 grams unsalted butter
• 100 ml milk
• salt and black pepper

Preparation :

1. (look at my mashed potato recipe )

Tip: You can make the mashed potato in the morning or hours before preparing the fish. But after your mashed potato is done, put it in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or put it in a airtight plastic container. This will prevent the surface of your mashed potato become dry and not soft anymore by the time you're ready to use it.

Now, let's prepare the fish.

Ingredients :

• 500-600 grams boneless white fish, cut into 4 cm chunks
• 4 hard boiled egg, sliced
• 70 grams butter
• 7 tbs flour
• 700-800 ml milk
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 4 tbs lemon juice
• pinch of ground cayenne pepper
• salt and black pepper

Preparation :

1. Preheat oven for 220 C.
2. Melt butter in a pan.
3. When the butter begins to foam, add flour.
4. Stir it for about 1 minutes until you get a white yellowish roux.
5. Add milk gradually into the roux to break it up and keep stirring to prevent a lump. 
6. Add ground nutmeg and cayenne pepper into the sauce, and stir again
7. Reduce the heat and add lemon juice.
8. Add salt and black pepper into the sauce for taste.
9. Stir and let it simmer for another 3 minutes.
10. Prepare your ramekins or baking dish.
11. Pour about 1 ladle of white sauce on the bottom of the dish.
12. Arrange the fish chunks on the top of the sauce in the dish
13. Pour another ladle on the top of the fish
14. Arrange the sliced boiled egg and pour the rest of the sauce
15. Cover it with mashed potato.
16. Put the dish into preheated oven and bake it for about 30 minutes

Tip : You can always add some chopped parsley, or green peas on your sauce.