Right, making a fish pie later for the first time...

[GoodGrrrlGoneBad]

I have spuds, salmon, prawns and white fish. I vaguely know what i'm doing, but any tips greatly welcomed. I'll be starting it around lunchtime if anyone wants to help!

I used to do the whole poach the fish in milk, then drain the milk and use for making your white sauce, but I recently changed to putting the fish in raw and letting it cook in the oven. IMO it made a much nicer fish pie.

Then there is the great debate on whether to make a white sauce or use cream! I always make a white sauce, using milk previously infused with parsley, bay leaf and pepper corns. I think it gives a nicer flavour.

If you have time, have a look at this video

I recently made a fish pie for the first time and the sauce called for vermouth, cream, chicken stock, wine - it was lovely.

if you type in fish pie under recipe search it brings up quite a few - I love this site.

The recipe I used was John Torode's and it was from the Good Food Magazine. Have just looked for it, but cannot find it.

i was just going to make white sauce, no cream here. i like the idea of not poaching first- i did think about not doing it, but wondered if it'd all go wrong then.

To infuse the milk, do i just warm it with the bay / peppercorns?

and do i make the mash quite creamy, rather than fluffy?

if you wanted to cheat with your sauce the white ragu lasagne sauce tastes great in a fish pie...

good tip. I've already started warming the milk now, but i'll bear that in mind for next time!

Fish in raw is best, I do agree. A mixture of sweet and white potatoes makes a tasty topping

I just use white sauce not cream. I put in some tarragon or majoram with the fish. I also like to add some sauteed veg, eg leeks, mushrooms or courgettes, but that's not very purist. For extra yummy mash, add some mayonnaise when mashing.

A time saving tip.... a friend of ours made a wonderful fish pie for us and just chopped the potatoes and pre-cooked the little cubes, rather than mashed them. It made a lovely change and I don't mash my potatoes now if in a hurry. Lovely.

I don't us a white sauce at all

I cook, then liquidise leeks & add sliced mushrooms to the cooked fish

KatyMac will definitely give that a go, sounds lovely. I also like to add bacon.

I find adding a bit of smoked fish is good. Those smoked salmon trimmings are dead cheap if you're on a tight budget.

well, i made a sort of parsley sauce and the fish pie is sitting in the fridge to bake later. Fingers crossed!