Where did I just go wrong? (Fish Pie)

[WildUnknown]

Just made a fish pie

Fish mix in first, followed by veggies (cauliflower, carrot, broccoli) followed by sauce followed by mash

Oven for 30 mins at 200

Everything came out perfect except the veggies which are inedibly hard and feel/taste like they've not been cooked at all.

What should I have done differently?

What sauce did you use? Like a PP I always poach the fish in milk and the use the milk to make the white sauce. So the fish is almost cooked before the pie even goes in the oven.

If you do really have to have carrots I love the PP’s idea of roasting carrots in the dish first then adding all the other ingredients.

You're right @redfishcat but I had successfully winged it before. I'm trying to use less jars

Thanks @mommatoone

@HotCrossBunplease I didn't make the sauce I used Morrisons own.

Thanks everyone!

You don't need veg in a fish pie. Just do veg on the side.

Just remember that veg is mostly water, adding it to dishes even when they will cook can make things a bit watery, thats my experience anyway, usually best to cook separately.

Oh i ve just seen you used Morrisons Fish Sauce, you deserve everything you got with your pie..... you heretic you 😂

I come from a family of cooks, chefs, teachers of cookery, and people who just love food.
We all use recipes, and we might tweak the flavours or leave out the spinach, but we all only have about four dishes we can cook from memory.
Use a recipe, every single time
We spend hours at family meet ups discussing recipes and which web sight is best when actually in the kitchen.

I cook the carrots with the onions so they are partly cooked and the peas go in just before the mash goes on.
No other veg are permitted in fish pie!

Or spinach if DH and DS would eat it!

@jasjas3008

I have made pasta sauce from scratch but never fish sauce. I'm no cook, my parents couldn't cook just basic (a lot of freezer food growing up) and in Home Ec all we ever did was Flapjacks so I've never learned. I'm trying to broaden my repertoire

Experimenting is NOT stupid. You have learned something today and next time you will make it differently.

I like very finely chopped leek, carrots and sweetcorn in a fish pie,I sauté them first.

If you're desparate to put veg in it, then roast the veg in the same dish you're going to add the fish, sauce and mash to, do that for half hour on high, then add the rest of the ingredients for another half hour.

If you want a lazy method stick to frozen peas on the actual pie. They cook ok.

Another tactic is cook too many veg when you make other meals and freeze a portion you can defrost and add as an when to stuff like fish pie

If you want an even quicker way then use ready rolled pastry rather than mash.

Just make a roux (white sauce..apologies if you knew) and then add cheese and some parsley or dill. You could have poached the fish in the milk first and used that strained milk for the sauce . That part is the easy bit. It's the twatting around with a million stages that I find strenuous.

I made the most amazing mash the other day which had an egg yolk and parmesan in it. Had not tried before. Henceforth this has been added to the Hopping repertoire.

@Hoppingabout

Actually never made a roux

It sounds poncey but it's very easy and quite a useful one to know for millions of recipes that you need cheese sauce for like lasagne. The trick is to make sure you give the flour and butter a decent time to cook in the saucepan (stirring with a wooden spoon or hand whisk all the time) so that there is not an uncooked floury taste. So a good couple of minutes (but not browned so lowish heat). And then gradually add milk whisking away all the time. The sauce should not be lumpy and should thicken up a bit. Then you just add cheese or not. Have a go..I always feel guilty about messing cookery up but actually that's weird of me and we should experiment and not worry.

This is what I do to. Veg on the side, not in the pie.

Please share!! I'm sick of shite boring mash. If I'm being adventurous, I'll stick some mustard in, but that's it🤣

It's actually a Gordon Ramsay cottage pie recipe but the mash bit is obvs transferable. Initially I thought cream and cheese and eggs would be too rich but it's actually completely gorgeous! I used only one egg yolk last time and it was perfectly fine.

https://www.goldennuggetgourmet.com/2020/11/cottage-pie-with-help-from-chef-gordon.html?m=1

I put peas in a fish pie. Frozen pies. They cook just fine.

Firstly well done for cooking from scratch and trying something new with adding the veg. Some experiments work and some don't. I've had more than a few disasters!!

The only veg I use in a fish pie are peas the others I would serve on the side. Sometimes I know it's easier having less pots and it saves on washing and electricity/gas.

Keep going and keep experimenting 😁

This. What were you thinking? Veg in fish pie (other than peas and/or sweetcorn) is MADNESS woman!

eta seen your comments and that you’re an inexperienced cook and feel mean now. You’re still bonkers though 😜 lesson learned and move on. Next time it’ll be stellar I’m sure!

Master a white sauce to open the gateway to cooking. It's helpful to understand the various ways to thicken a sauce or gravy.

Really simple.

You want plain flour, butter and some liquid. For this I would use milk.

As you are new to this I suggest putting the three things in dishes / a jug.

You want about the same amount of flour as butter, for a small portion 25g of each works well.

Get a sauce pan, put the butter in and start to melt. Try not to be in too much of a hurry, you want melted butter not burned butter.

Once the butter is liquid get a wooden spoon and tip in the flour, and start stirring, and keep stirring.

It will look like a gloopy mess, keep stirring and add a little liquid, stir until it is incorporated and then add more, keep stirring until all the liquid is in the pan.

You now have a sauce. If you cook it longer it will thicken, and it tends to do that quickly so keep stirring.

You can use this for hundreds of sauces, the flour and butter part is the roux.

You might want to add grated cheese tot he milk for a cheese sauce.

For a mushroom sauce I would fry mushrooms in the butter first and then add the flour.