Taste of 'ol England

I had a hankering for a taste of England again so I made fish pie! Granted, I only had a fish pie from Sainsbury's in the form of "Fisherman's Pie" described as: White fish in a parsley sauce with real potato topping. Nevertheless I still wanted a walk (no matter how short) down memory lane especially since my fish pie resulted in a silly venture brought about from a lack of refrigeration. That's right, I bought a single serving, pre-made box of fish pie for dirt cheap (88p). I had no fridge, but being April, the temps were still a bit on the chilly side so I resurrected my college technique of putting food outside the window. Though I did have those mini-fridges, the freezers on those suck, and I didn't want to lose my food in the communal fridges. Boston's winters, though, usually sufficed as a freezer when needed in a pinch. =) In the dorms, I would put stuff between the window and the screen. My windows in London had no screen but did have a bit of ledge though it was on the 2nd floor. =O My food better not fall off! ;) I also put my cheeses, pies and pasties out there too. It's a good thing I don't do meat! =P Well, I haven't killed (or sickened) myself with food poisoning yet.

Wait! So what is fish pie you ask? Something with a crust like chicken pot pie? Nope! It's like...sheperd's pie but with fish...and a white sauce, not a brown one. That didn't help? Ok....so it's fish with some veg in a white sauce completely topped with a layer mashed potato like a shepherd's pie. Can you picture it? No? Just read on and check out the yumminess I successfully created. Woo hoo! Back to *my* fish pie. Was it authentic? It didn't taste like my supermarket version, but who cares! It was pretty darned good!

I started with a roux for the white sauce. I was a bit nervous since the last time I made a roux, it turned out awful. I guess I had just enough experience under my belt because it came out tasting great this time!! For the fish, I used a whole fillet of Japanese sea bass which is new to our local supermarket and hence on sale. I added some frozen peas, a bit of chopped bell pepper and onions and voila, I had the makings of a quick and tasty meal for two (though it supposedly serves one). I topped it all off with some mashed potatoes I quickly whipped up from scratch. Mmm!! One problem was that I was in a rush so I over salted both the white sauce and the mash. Yikes! Nevertheless, it was still good. I can't wait to make this one again! Actually, I'm going to see what happens if I add a bit of Guinness to it. I'm worried about the bitterness with the delicate flavor of the fish. Also, would it be too robust for such a generally mild sauce? If it works, though, I will add this to my Guinness-themed meal to occur next month for some good friends. =)