Seaside Recipes
One way or another, Norfolk flavours Emma's life and designs pretty strongly. We all have a little burst of happiness at the evocation of seaside holidays, don't you? This makes seaside themes promising for design material (and recipes!!)...
This is an invaluable standby.
You need frozen peas, and I’d never put it on the table without tomato ketchup.
Serves 6
900g evenly sized, unpeeled, floury
potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edwards)
175g cooked, peeled North Atlantic
prawns (those you peel yourself have a much better flavour and texture)
550ml creamy milk
375ml double cream
1 small onion, sliced
4 fresh bay leaves
½ teaspoon pink peppercorns
300g undyed smoked haddock
300g cod or haddock fillet
200g salmon fillet
115g butter
3 large shallots, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, crushed
65g plain flour
3 tablespoons small capers, drained
and rinsed
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
50g Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
Put the potatoes into a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes. Drain well, then cover the pan with a clean tea towel and leave them to steam as they cool.
Squeeze any excess water from the prawns (you don’t need to do this with those you peel yourself), lay them on some kitchen paper and leave them to drain.
Put the milk, cream, onion, bay leaves, pink peppercorns and fish into a large saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for 8 minutes. Lift the fish on to a plate and strain the milky mixture into a jug. When the fish is cool enough to handle, break it into large flakes, discarding the skin and any bones.
Melt 65g of the butter in another pan, stir in the chopped shallots and garlic and season lightly. Cover and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes, until soft but not browned. Uncover, stir in the flour and cook gently for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the hot milky mixture. Return to the heat and bring back to the boil, stirring all the time. Leave to simmer gently for 10 minutes. Season well with salt, then stir in the cooked flaked fish, peeled prawns, capers and chopped dill. Pour into a 2 litre ovenproof dish that is about 5cm deep.
For the rösti potato topping, melt the remaining butter. Peel the potatoes and coarsely grate them into a bowl. Fork through the melted butter and season well. Spoon the mixture over the top of the pie and sprinkle with the Cheddar cheese. Bake at 220°C/200°C Fan/Gas 7 for 35–40 minutes, until the topping is crisp and golden and the filling is bubbling hot.
