Seafood Pie

School holiday time again - a time to take a little bit of a breather from the normal routine.

Last night was very quiet in this house - "The Darlings" had gone for a sleep over - mind you they were only next door - but it made for a quit night here!!  What to make for dinner - something simple, yet tasty.  The weather although lovely and warm during the day, tends to take a dip in temperature as soon as the sun starts to go down - or is that just here in my little sleepy hollow??

A quick dash to the shops and all was decided for dinner.  The local fish shop had a tray of salmon offcuts/sashimi - so with the addition of a few green prawns it seems that a fish pie is in order.  In the current edition of Good Taste Magazine there is a Salmon and Dill Pie - it looks delicious - kind of like your Shepherd's Pie but with fish!!!

While I sort of followed the recipe - I kind of made a few changes too (would you expect anything less?!)  The first being that I was going to make majority of this recipe in the Thermomix, and then bake it.  The second major change was that I was going to add prawns to the equation, but to compound the changes there were no leeks at the supermarket - so I had to substitute green shallots.  Here is my version of Salmon & Dill Pie

Seafood Pie
Adapted from Good Taste Magazine - April Edition

Serves 4

800g potatoes, peeled, cut in to 2cm cubes
30g butter
140g cream (approx 1/2 cup) - plus water to make up 220g - just over 3/4 cup
4 cloves garlic

6 green shallots, chopped
50g flour
40g butter
500g milk (approx 2 cups)
400g salmon, cut into small pieces
500g green prawns (including shell weight)
2tbs chopped dill
2 tsp dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper

70g (approx 3/4 cup) cheddar cheese, cut into cubes

Grate the cheese by placing the cubes into the TM bowl, process for 8 seconds on speed 7.  Remove from bowl and set aside.

Place the cream, water, garlic, salt and chopped potatoes in to the TM bowl.

Cook for 20 minutes at 100 degrees on speed 1.  Insert the butterfly.  Add the butter.  Mash for 20 seconds on speed 3.  Season to taste.  Remove from the TM bowl and keep warm in the your Thermoserver.

Just look at that creamy mash!!

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Now comes the truly amazing part.  If you have ever made bechamel sauce, you will know that it involves melting butter, making a roux, slowly adding the milk and stirring, stirring, stirring to make a perfectly smooth sauce.  Well with the Thermomix - you just bung it all in the bowl - and voila!!! Beautifully smooth sauce!!  I was amazed!  (You have redeemed yourself Thermie!!)

So if you are without a Thermomix - sorry - you have to make a bechamel sauce - you know how * - but here is the easy way!

Place the milk, butter, flour, dijon mustard, and 1/2 tsp salt into the TM bowl.  Cook for 7 minutes at 90 degrees on speed 4.

Now add the chopped green shallots, season with salt and pepper, and cook for an additional 2 minutes at 90 degrees on speed 2.

Add the salmon and green prawns and cook for 1-2 minutes at 90 degrees on Reverse and soft speed.  You really want the seafood "just cooked".

Lightly grease a 6 cup capacity baking dish.  Add the seafood mixture to the dish.  Top with the mashed potato.  Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top.  (You might want to place a piece of foil under the casserole dish as it does bubble up a little - well mine did anyway!!)

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until lovely and golden.

Serve with steamed broccoli, or green veggie of your choice!

This was comfort food at it's best.  Cheesy, creamy, fishy - yum!!!

* Just in case you don't know how to make a bechamel sauce - here are the directions from Good Taste Magazine:

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat until foaming.  Add the green shallots, cook for 2-3 minutes, or until soft.  Add the flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes, or until the mixture bubbles.  Remove from the heat.  Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly, until smooth.  Place the pan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 4 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.  Add the seafood and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until just cooked through.  Stir in the dill, season with salt and pepper.

Hate to brag - but it was so much easier with the Thermomix.  But saying that - this is still a pretty easy recipe.

As there were only 3 of us home for dinner last night - there are some leftovers in the fridge that are calling out to me for lunch today - can't wait!

So tell me Dear Readers does you menu start to change as the weather changes?  What is your favourite comfort food?