7.15am New Years Day and I'm awoken by the sound of my sniggering husband, choosing not to question his sudden fit of giggles i scrambled to find my phone. There on my home screen was a similar photo to those that have been pictured on the news lately of hard partying drunken 20+ females with their skirts halfway up their backside passed out on some cigarette laden city curb, the difference with this slightly more pc version of this picture was that the helpless drunken victim was wearing a pretty pair of pink pyjamas and had chosen to black out upon her bed rather than a dirty street corner. My loving, loyal and childish husband had not only helped to make me in such an incoherent state ( by regularly topping my glass up when i wasn't looking), he then took it upon himself to photograph my downfall ( taking particular attention to just get the most unflattering view of my face ) and placing it as my wallpaper on my phone, just in case i didn't get the full effects from the first photo he kindly sent it to me in e - mail format, just so i could get the full view -
Happy New years Day.
Your probably sick to the back teeth hearing about new years day resolutions either because A) You failed miserably and returned back to your normal ways and habits before midday 1st Jan 2012, B) Your struggling to complete your first week and my give into temptation come Friday night or C) Your championing your way along the first week of the year by not making any resolutions at all this year, this week is hard enough!
I have never made any of these hard to keep promises in 27 years, I'm not saying I'm a heavenly gift from above with no habits, weaknesses or temptations to give up, I've just never seen the significance in the whole New Year craze that many people take part in.
No Auld Lang's Syne tune drunkenly attempted, no fireworks, no feeling the need to kiss some grubby strangers cheek at the stroke of midnight and R's lucky if he can make me wake up in time to see the New Year in ( having already been in bed fast asleep for two hours).
Ive hit a fork in the normally straight, smooth and narrow path in my life and its time to make some changes so none better to have 27 resolutions, one for every year i let this chance of a new start slip quickly out of my hands, Ive eventually recognised the significance of the beginning of a new year and I'm finally ready to embrace it.
I'm not going to bore you with a long list of the 27 promises i made to myself ( and no I'm not going post the attractive picture that R took of me at 2am on New Years Day morning ) but i will explain the first one that was to take place that pinnacle first day of January.
Being a lover of food and its history and meaning in life I've become utterly engrossed about the New Years food traditions that so many countries world wide partake in, it puts our wannabe sophisticated smoked salmon supermarket canopies and humble sausage rolls to shame. Many traditions focus on luck with a plethora of European countries choosing to dine on pork on New Years day itself. As pigs like to dig in a forward motion it is thought that this is a way of moving forward into the new year and given that pork is naturally fatty it is also seen as a sign to bring wealth and prosperity. On the other side of the conflicting farm yard it is a known fact that in these same counties it is seen as bad luck to eat poultry, chickens and their many a feathered cousins prefer to scratch backwards in search of their next meal thus giving the opposite meaning to that of the pig ( or just an excuse not to eat any more turkey ! ).
In china eating the whole fish suggests that your abundance of riches from the last year has provided you with more than you can eat, but in Germany its the silvery coin like scales on a fish that they pay most regard too, choosing to store them in their wallets to encourage yet more windfalls and sucessfulness. As a side dish to give you the fullest chance of receiving the maximum amount of good fortune as possible do as the Italian's do and fill up on the sovereign shaped lentils and perhaps look forward to winning the lottery or acquiring a large sum of money due to unknown means. And finally if you really don't think you have squeezed lady luck dry you could try the Spanish tradition of eating a grape at every toll of the bell at midnight on New Years Eve, 12 grapes each one to represent luck in the coming months - oh and they do all this whilst wearing their lucky red underwear.
With my new appreciation of New Years Eve and my promise to submerge myself in food culture the next time we celebrate the coming of the new year i will be stuffing down the grapes at midnight, gorging on a bacon AND sausage ( just to be sure ) sandwich for brunch and finishing the whole day off nicely with a whole roasted sea bass and some puy lentils all whilst R wears his best red underpants!
Being in no fit state to honour these traditions on this New Years Day I gave it my best attempt and turned to an old trusty friend that always welcomes me with open arms, does not judge me and cures me of all my ills, self inflicted or other.
Trusty Fish Pie
1kg of mixed fish - smoked, white firm fillets, prawns mussels, salmon, nothing to flimsy.
500ml of milk
5 peppercorns
1 bay leaf - not essential
Parsley leaves and stalks
A generous amount of butter ( and only butter )
2 leeks - cleaned and chopped
1 large tablespoon flour
A bunch of dill - finely chopped
2 anchovies - not essential
2 generous dollops of half fat creme fraiche
Place the fish in a wide shallow pan and cover with the milk, top with water if the milk does not quite cover the fish, remove the parsley leaves from the stalks, put to one side then place the stalks in the pan along with the bay leaf and the pepper corns. Bring the milk to a gentle simmer and without letting it get any hotter cook the fish for 8 - 10 Min's, adding any bite sized chunks or prawns about two minute's away from the end.When cooked the fish will become opaque and start to flake when gently pushed with your finger.
Meanwhile melt a healthy knob of butter in a separate pan then add the chopped leeks, keeping on a low heat tease the leeks until they have softened and relaxed.
Once the fish has cooked remove the fish from the milk and strain the rest of your liquid, in a separate pan melt a large tablespoon of butter then add the tablespoon of flour, keeping on a low heat and stirring all the time just cooking the mixture slightly.
Add the cooking liqueur from the fish slowly to your butter and flour mixture stirring all the time and keeping on a lowish heat. In around 10 minutes or less the mixture will start to thicken quite quickly a this point chop your saved parsley leaves and place them along with the chopped dill, anchovies, cooked leeks and the two dollops of creme fraiche into your sauce . Once your sauce is looking like its oozing sheer comfort goodness care fully break up any larger pieces of fish and add it all to the sauce, then place in an oven proof dish.
Pre heat the oven to 180oc whilst you prepare the topping .
Peel the potatoes and slice as thinly as you possibly can (thick rounds of potato only delay your cooking time considerably), rinse the slices in cold water and dry thoroughly with a tea towel. Then make an overlapping pattern of potato slices all over the top of your fishy mixture covering as much of the filling as possible. Dot the top of the fish looking pie with small pieces of butter and bake in the oven for around 40 Min's or until its a warming golden colour on top.
It may seem like a faff at first, but if you put the effort and the love in making this dish you will be rewarded than something no amount of luck could ever bring.
Happy New years Day.
Your probably sick to the back teeth hearing about new years day resolutions either because A) You failed miserably and returned back to your normal ways and habits before midday 1st Jan 2012, B) Your struggling to complete your first week and my give into temptation come Friday night or C) Your championing your way along the first week of the year by not making any resolutions at all this year, this week is hard enough!
I have never made any of these hard to keep promises in 27 years, I'm not saying I'm a heavenly gift from above with no habits, weaknesses or temptations to give up, I've just never seen the significance in the whole New Year craze that many people take part in.
No Auld Lang's Syne tune drunkenly attempted, no fireworks, no feeling the need to kiss some grubby strangers cheek at the stroke of midnight and R's lucky if he can make me wake up in time to see the New Year in ( having already been in bed fast asleep for two hours).
Ive hit a fork in the normally straight, smooth and narrow path in my life and its time to make some changes so none better to have 27 resolutions, one for every year i let this chance of a new start slip quickly out of my hands, Ive eventually recognised the significance of the beginning of a new year and I'm finally ready to embrace it.
I'm not going to bore you with a long list of the 27 promises i made to myself ( and no I'm not going post the attractive picture that R took of me at 2am on New Years Day morning ) but i will explain the first one that was to take place that pinnacle first day of January.
Being a lover of food and its history and meaning in life I've become utterly engrossed about the New Years food traditions that so many countries world wide partake in, it puts our wannabe sophisticated smoked salmon supermarket canopies and humble sausage rolls to shame. Many traditions focus on luck with a plethora of European countries choosing to dine on pork on New Years day itself. As pigs like to dig in a forward motion it is thought that this is a way of moving forward into the new year and given that pork is naturally fatty it is also seen as a sign to bring wealth and prosperity. On the other side of the conflicting farm yard it is a known fact that in these same counties it is seen as bad luck to eat poultry, chickens and their many a feathered cousins prefer to scratch backwards in search of their next meal thus giving the opposite meaning to that of the pig ( or just an excuse not to eat any more turkey ! ).
In china eating the whole fish suggests that your abundance of riches from the last year has provided you with more than you can eat, but in Germany its the silvery coin like scales on a fish that they pay most regard too, choosing to store them in their wallets to encourage yet more windfalls and sucessfulness. As a side dish to give you the fullest chance of receiving the maximum amount of good fortune as possible do as the Italian's do and fill up on the sovereign shaped lentils and perhaps look forward to winning the lottery or acquiring a large sum of money due to unknown means. And finally if you really don't think you have squeezed lady luck dry you could try the Spanish tradition of eating a grape at every toll of the bell at midnight on New Years Eve, 12 grapes each one to represent luck in the coming months - oh and they do all this whilst wearing their lucky red underwear.
With my new appreciation of New Years Eve and my promise to submerge myself in food culture the next time we celebrate the coming of the new year i will be stuffing down the grapes at midnight, gorging on a bacon AND sausage ( just to be sure ) sandwich for brunch and finishing the whole day off nicely with a whole roasted sea bass and some puy lentils all whilst R wears his best red underpants!
Being in no fit state to honour these traditions on this New Years Day I gave it my best attempt and turned to an old trusty friend that always welcomes me with open arms, does not judge me and cures me of all my ills, self inflicted or other.
1kg of mixed fish - smoked, white firm fillets, prawns mussels, salmon, nothing to flimsy.
500ml of milk
5 peppercorns
1 bay leaf - not essential
Parsley leaves and stalks
A generous amount of butter ( and only butter )
2 leeks - cleaned and chopped
1 large tablespoon flour
A bunch of dill - finely chopped
2 anchovies - not essential
2 generous dollops of half fat creme fraiche
Place the fish in a wide shallow pan and cover with the milk, top with water if the milk does not quite cover the fish, remove the parsley leaves from the stalks, put to one side then place the stalks in the pan along with the bay leaf and the pepper corns. Bring the milk to a gentle simmer and without letting it get any hotter cook the fish for 8 - 10 Min's, adding any bite sized chunks or prawns about two minute's away from the end.When cooked the fish will become opaque and start to flake when gently pushed with your finger.
Meanwhile melt a healthy knob of butter in a separate pan then add the chopped leeks, keeping on a low heat tease the leeks until they have softened and relaxed.
Once the fish has cooked remove the fish from the milk and strain the rest of your liquid, in a separate pan melt a large tablespoon of butter then add the tablespoon of flour, keeping on a low heat and stirring all the time just cooking the mixture slightly.
Add the cooking liqueur from the fish slowly to your butter and flour mixture stirring all the time and keeping on a lowish heat. In around 10 minutes or less the mixture will start to thicken quite quickly a this point chop your saved parsley leaves and place them along with the chopped dill, anchovies, cooked leeks and the two dollops of creme fraiche into your sauce . Once your sauce is looking like its oozing sheer comfort goodness care fully break up any larger pieces of fish and add it all to the sauce, then place in an oven proof dish.
Pre heat the oven to 180oc whilst you prepare the topping .
Peel the potatoes and slice as thinly as you possibly can (thick rounds of potato only delay your cooking time considerably), rinse the slices in cold water and dry thoroughly with a tea towel. Then make an overlapping pattern of potato slices all over the top of your fishy mixture covering as much of the filling as possible. Dot the top of the fish looking pie with small pieces of butter and bake in the oven for around 40 Min's or until its a warming golden colour on top.
It may seem like a faff at first, but if you put the effort and the love in making this dish you will be rewarded than something no amount of luck could ever bring.
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