MAKES 10

Preparation

Cut the fish into large pieces, about 100g each.

Wash the cockles well.

Place the smoked fish in a saucepan with the milk for the sauce and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cover with a ‘lid’ of parchment paper and bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and allow to cool. Drain off the milk and reserve for the sauce; flake the fish into a large bowl and set aside.

Grate the cheese for the sauce.

Blanch the peas in boiling salted water for 1 minute. Drain and blend to a very rough purée in a food processor. Finely slice the spring onion. Pick the leaves from the tarragon and chop them. Chop the dill tops.

Make the mash with the ingredients above, following the same method as used in the cottage pie recipe.

Check the seasoning and set aside in a piping bag at room temperature until ready to use.Set up a steamer or, if you don’t have one, use a colander over a pan of boiling water and a lid that will almost fit.

 Ingredients
    •    500g skinless smoked cod or haddock fillets    
    •    520g skinless pollack fillets    
    •    220g fillet skinless salmon    
    •    220g fillet skinless gurnard    
    •    500g large English cockles (hand-dived are best, if possible)
    •    Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
    •    600g frozen peas    
    •    1 spring onion
    •    1 bunch tarragon
    •    1 bunch dill    
    •    25g Cheddar cheese        
    •    50g fresh white breadcrumbs
Sauce
    •    550ml milk    
    •    40g Cheddar cheese
    •    110g butter    
    •    75g plain flour
    •    10g English mustard powder
    •    2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
    •    Whole nutmeg, for grating

Mash
    •    2kg large King Edward potatoes
    •    100ml milk
    •    100g butter

Method

1. Make the sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat, add the flour and stir well with a wooden spoon, then cook for 5 minutes without colouring the flour. Pour the milk from cooking the fish into a separate pan and bring to the boil, then add to the flour and butter a little at a time, stirring continuously until it has all been poured in. Now turn the heat down to the minimum setting and cook the sauce for 15 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove the pan from the heat and season the sauce with salt and pepper, then stir in the cheese, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and a good grating of nutmeg. Leave the sauce to cool slightly.

2. Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7. Meanwhile, place the unsmoked fish in the steamer and steam with the lid on for 2 minutes. Remove and cool slightly, then flake into the bowl with the smoked fish. Check carefully for any bones, trying to keep the fish in the largest pieces possible.

3. Spoon the peas into a 2 litre pie dish. Combine the fish with the sauce, spring onion and herbs, spoon into the dish to cover the peas and pipe the mash on top.

4. For a crunchy topping and a fantastic finish, grate the cheese and sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the mash, then place the cockles on top and press them in gently. The cockles will open during baking and release their wonderful saltiness into the pie.

5. Place the pie in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Serve with a side dish of extra peas with a knob of butter and some mint.

Tips

A good ratio for the layers in the pie is 25 percent peas, 50 percent fish and 25 percent mash.

Preparation

 
Weigh the salmon accurately, to check that you have the right quantity of sugar and salt for the cure. The sugar and salt combined in equal quantities should be 50 per cent of the weight of your fish.

Remove the pin bones from the salmon and score the skin in 4 places to allow the cure to be absorbed. Wash, peel and roughly chop the beetroot.

Peel the zest from the orange and reserve, then halve the fruit and squeeze the juice.

Method   

1. Put the sugar and salt into a food processor. Add the beetroot, tea leaves and dill with the orange zest and juice, and blend to a fine pulp. Lay the salmon skin-side down in a shallow ceramic dish and cover completely with the cure mixture. Cover the dish with clingfilm and leave the salmon to cure for 4 days in the fridge, turning the fish and basting it with the cure mixture after 2 days.
2. When the curing time is up, scrape the cure off the salmon and lift the fish out of the dish. Rinse the remaining cure away under cold running water, then pat the fish dry with a cloth – the flesh will be bright red and firm to the touch.
3. Starting at the wider end of the salmon, slice thinly with a sharp knife angled slightly towards the opposite end of the fish, stopping just before you get to the skin. I then lay these slices on a plate (allowing 6 slices per person) and accompany them with sourdough bread and pots of goodies like caper berries and pickled beetroot.

MAKES 8

Preparation

Peel the carrots, turnips and celeriac and dice roughly into 2cm cubes.

Peel and thinly slice the onions.

Make the mash with the ingredients above, following the method in the cottage pie recipe.

Check the seasoning and set aside at room temperature until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/gas 3.

Ingredients
    •    2 large carrots
    •    600g turnips
    •    200g celeriac
    •    2 onions
    •    olive oil
    •    1 x 2.5kg lamb shoulder on the bone (without the shank end)
    •    sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
    •    500g minced breast of lamb (ask your butcher to prepare this for you)
    •    200ml balsamic vinegar
    •    2 heads garlic
    •    1.2 litres brown Chicken Stock (page xxx)
    •    a few sprigs thyme
    •    2 sprigs rosemary
    •    1 bay leaf

Mash
    •    1.5kg large King Edward potatoes
    •    250ml milk
    •    60g butter

Method

1. Heat a splash of olive oil in a large flameproof casserole, season the shoulder of lamb with salt and pepper and brown slowly over a medium heat in the hot oil. Lift the shoulder out of the pan, then add the mince and season with salt and pepper. Cook over a high heat until well coloured, then remove and set side to drain in a colander placed over a bowl.
2. Put all the root vegetables in the pan and brown them over a high heat, then remove and set aside to drain.
3. Add the onions to the same pan (you may need to add a touch more olive oil at this point) and brown them lightly, then add the vinegar and reduce in volume by one-third.
4. Put the mince back into the pan and mix with the onions, then place the shoulder on top with the whole heads of garlic. Pour in the stock, add the thyme, rosemary and bay, and cover with a ‘lid’ of parchment paper.
5. Place the pan in the oven and cook for 11/2 hours, then spoon the juices over the shoulder and check that the meat is coming away from the bone with ease – it should then need a further 30 minutes to cook through completely. Remove the pan from the oven and leave until the meat is cool enough to handle.
6. Increase the oven temperature to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7.
7. Take the shoulder out of the pan and scrape all of the meat into a bowl, fat and all. Discard any sinew and bones. Lift the garlic out of the pan and squeeze the flesh into the meat in the bowl. Discard the garlic skins together with the thyme, rosemary and bay. Now add the mince, cooking juices and onions to the bowl and stir well to mix.
8. Place the meat mixture in a casserole or baking dish to finish the pie. Place the vegetables on top and cover with the mash. Use a palette knife to smooth the mash down, then make light indents in the top with the side of the knife.
9. Place the pie in the oven and cook for 15 minutes or until the mash is golden brown.