Mmmmmm pie......

One of the things I love most about autumn is that we get to bid farewell to the crunchy, aloofness of the summer salad and chilly reception of a garden pimms. Instead we welcome the warming embrace of a steaming hot chocolate while wearing pyjamas. (I'm a very fickle blogger. Come March I'll be singing the praises of eating a salad while sitting in the garden.)

Fish pie sits well with pyjamas. It's practically married to hot chocolate. All I need now is an open fire and me and my fish pie can spend our lives happily together.....

Fish Pie (serves 4 hungry people)

2 salmon fillets (there's only one and a half in the photo because I added the rest to a curry last night!)
1 fillet of a smoked fish of your choice. (I used salmon again)
1 handful raw prawns
Milk and lots of it
1 bay leaf
2 hard boiled eggs
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 heaped tbsp flour
1oz butter
8oz grated cheese (Cornish yarg is good!)
1lb potatoes

Preheat oven to 180'c. In a baking tray put the prawns, raw salmon, milk, salt and pepper and the bayleaf. Pop in the oven for 15 minutes.

Take the fish and prawns out of the poaching liquid (but keep it.....it's liquid gold!). Flake into a baking tray with the smoked fish. Grate the eggs on top of the fish. In a pan melt the butter and whisk in the flour until it becomes a thick paste. Add about 1/2 pint of milk and the poaching juice. Keep whisking until thick. Add most of the cheese and whisk a bit more. Pour over the fish.

Boil the potatoes until soft. Add a splash of milk and mash up with the rest of the cheese. Fork over the top of the fish and bake in an oven for 20 minutes.

(Check out my birthday ovengloves my other half bought me!)

Serve with peas and greens. Check out the steam in the photo.

* After this photo was taken I added ketchup....(it was so good don't judge me)