Fish Pie - where did I go wrong?

[MrsKitty]

Made several mini fish pies for DS last night in an attempt to vary the rubbish diet he's had since DD was born. Cooked one in the oven for his dinner tonight and the cheese sauce turned out in a horrible scrambled eggy texture. Where did I go wrong? I'm assuming the sauce has 'split' (not much of a cook, but think thats the right term), so how did that happen?

Do I need to bin the remaining pies or can they be saved?

Off to do bedtime now but will check back later...

will prob taste ok. did you use skimmed milk? always disastrous in cooking

This happened to me once, I put it down to the fact I used semi-skimmed milk. I will use full fat milk with added double cream next time

Used about 2/3 whole milk and 1/3 skimmed as I'd run out of whole. Won't do that again

Any recommendations for non-splitting cheddars mrsmagnolia?

DS didn't eat it - hard to tell if it was down to the sauce consistency or because he's going through yet another 3yr old food strike!

take the top off and just put grated cheese on and cook til browned..its yummy

I make white & cheese sauces using skimmed milk all the time and they're fine, so I wouldn't necessarily put it down to this.

Very true about how different cheeses behave when melted, though.

The other factor is your fish, especially if it's been frozen previously. It's well worth blotting the raw fish on kitchen paper to absorb as much liquid from it as possible, otherwise it can leach out when the pie is cooked and make your sauce split and watery.

i just simmer smoked cod in milk.
Flake it into some hot mash potato and frozen peas or fresh broccoli. Make the mash with the milk off the simmered fish as it imparts more flavour. Then just grate any cheddar cheese on top and grill til cheese is bubbly. My family love it and its sooooo tasty and simple

try Jamie's fantastic fish pie instead. ( return of the naked chef ). Its a family fave here my kids have been eating it since they were 1 and 3. Best thing about it = no white sauce to make.....

never had fish pie with white sauce

Mixing the two types of milk might have been the problem, ime.

I've found this with sauces and pancake batters.

I don't think skimmed milk per se is a problem in sauces. It is what I usually use and it works fine.

I always make fish pie with a white sauce (made with the poaching milk from the fish).

Like this

I usually mix some chopped parsley into it, but tbh that's more for visual interest than flavour.

Thanks for all the advice...Will attempt again next week.

Also, any excuse for experimenting with cheese on toast sounds good to me

I taken to using this v v v easy Delia cheese sauce and then adding a small amount of lemon juice and mustard (as I love the jamies fish pie, the orginal not the learn to cook one) then putting it over the raw fish (can add peas and sweetcorn) top with mash and bake. I also freeze them at the stage before they go in the oven.

yum yum