Fish Pie with Prawns

I am surprised that this Fish Pie recipe hasn’t turned up earlier on my blog. My whole family loves it and I have been making it for years as it is so delicious. It is a bit of a cheat’s pie since it uses garlic and herbs cream cheese as a base of the sauce so the flavor of the pie is sorted right from the start.

This pie can be prepared a day earlier and just baked when needed. That is why it works really well when you know you will not have time to prepare dinner the next day but you still want to serve something really tasty really quickly. So as soon as you are in your kitchen after being away from home, you can put this dish to the cold oven, put the temperature up and bake it for 40 minutes. In the meantime, you can cook some vegetables to serve it with, lay the table and get everybody gathered at the table for a delicious meal. Really convenient when you are short of time.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 portions):

800g potatoes, peeled and cut into equal sized pieces,

50g butter,

200ml milk (plus 3-5 tbsp optionally, if the potato puree is too dry),

2 tsp cornflour,

150g garlic and herbs cream cheese,

400g white fish, cut into bite size portions,

200g prawns (cooked or raw), shelled and cleaned,

salt and pepper.

METHOD:

1. Cook the potatoes in salted water till they are soft.
2. Preheat a fan oven to 160 Celsius degrees.
3. When the potatoes are cooked, add butter and mash them well, check the seasoning.
4. Pour the milk in a frying pan, add the cream cheese and gently melt it on a medium heat.
5. Add the fish, raw prawns, salt and pepper, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes. If you are using cooked prawns.
6. Transfer the fish to an ovenproof dish and cover everything with the mashed potatoes; decorate, if you wish and put to the hot oven for approx. 30 minutes until the top is nice and golden. If you prepared the pie in advance and kept it in the fridge, put it to the cold oven and then turn the oven on. You will need an extra 10-15 minutes.

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Leek and Potato Soup with Truffle Oil [vegetarian]

Although Leek and Potato Soup might be a classic in some countries, in Poland (or at least in the area I live) it is unknown. A few years ago we went to Italy for our skiing holiday. We reached our destination after two days of driving but since it was too early to go to our hotel, we found a busy, family type restaurant for lunch. And that was the place where I tried this soup for the first time.

Leek and Potato Soup is already delicious by itself but truffle oil really moves it up to quite another level. Although the below recipe obviously is not exactly the same as at that restaurant, the soup is as lovely as the one I had a few years ago. I have made it so many times since then and it is always greatly appreciated by everyone. It is important though to have a really high quality truffle oil: the one with truffle’s pieces rather than one with just its aroma.

INGREDIENTS (for 4-6 portions):

30g butter,

450g potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-3cm cubes,

450g white parts of leeks, sliced,

1 onion, cut into cubes,

850-1000ml vegetable stock (it can be made with this concentrated stock paste),

250ml milk,

salt and pepper,

truffle oil for serving.

METHOD:

1. Melt the butter in a medium size pot.
2. Add the potatoes, leek and onions, season and then stir well to coat in the butter.
3. Scrape the sides of the pan with a spoon so all the vegetables are on the bottom, put a disc of grease-proof paper on top of them and cover the pot with a lid.
4. Decrease the heat to medium low and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Remove the paper, pour in 850ml of stock, bring to boil and cook for approx. 15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.
6. Liquidize the soup in batches and transfer to a cleaned pot.
7. Add the milk, adjust the seasoning and bring to boil again. If the soup is too thick, add more of the stock.
8. Serve the soup in bowls, drizzled with the truffle oil.

Based on BBC Good Food recipe

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Filo Pastries with Potato, Spinach and Feta Filling [vegetarian]

Autumn has finally arrived again. The days are shorter, the nights are colder and leaves on trees slowly start turning golden and brown. Luckily the weather is still pretty good so how about taking an advantage of it and enjoying maybe the last picnic of the year?

My suggestion for an autumn picnic dish is a loose variation on Greek Spanakopita recipe: I have made individual pastries (as they are easier to eat when you don’t necessarily have plates with you) and their filling includes potatoes (thanks to them the filling stays together). But what if the weather doesn’t permit to enjoy these pastries on an outing? Then they are still a great idea for a buffet or a healthy snack that can be taken to school or work.

INGREDIENTS (for approx. 20 pastries):

500g potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes,

2 tbsp olive oil,

2 garlic cloves, thinly chopped,

300g washed spinach (if you are using frozen spinach then thaw it at first and squeeze out the excess of water),

3 tbsp milk,

200g feta cheese, crumbled into very small pieces,

5 filo pastry sheets,

salt and pepper,

olive oil for greasing the sheets.

METHOD:

1. Boil the potatoes in salty water till soft.
2. In a big frying pan warm the olive oil; add the spinach and fry until water evaporates, add the garlic and fry for 2-3 minutes more.
3. Drain the potatoes, mash them with milk using the potato masher until smooth and add the feta cheese, mix well.
4. Cut the fried spinach and add it to the potato and feta mixture, stir well and season.
5. Preheat an oven to 220 Celsius degrees (200 fan oven).
6. Take one sheet of filo pastry, brush it with olive oil (if you want to use less olive oil, use your hands instead of a brush) and cut along the longer side. The sheets I used were 35cm x 45cm so from one sheet I had 4 strips approx. 8.5x45cm.
7. In a corner of one strip of filo pastry put 1 tbsp of the filling and flip it over so you have a triangle of the pastry on top. Press the filling to spread it and carry on turning the triangle till you have used the whole strip (see the photos below). Place it on a baking tray covered with baking paper and brush with a bit of olive oil.
8. Repeat with the rest of pastries. The pastries can be prepared a day in advance and kept in a fridge on a baking tray covered with cling film.
9. Put the baking try with the pastries to the hot oven, bake for 8-10 minutes. 

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Potato Salad [vegetarian]

I come from a country where potatoes have always been a staple food. In the past and even nowadays lots of Polish people – especially the older ones – couldn’t imagine having their portion of meat/fish for lunch or dinner without potatoes. I personally didn’t like potatoes for a long time so you can imagine how difficult it was for me to enjoy a meal-time, when I was a child.

Although there are many Polish recipes that use potatoes, I only had a chance to try potato salad when I was abroad. I liked it very much so straight away I started looking for a perfect Potato Salad Recipe. Since the beginning of my search I have tried many different potato salad recipes and I must admit the below one is really excellent and this has been confirmed many times by my family and guests: if I serve it along with a few other salads, this one would be finished the fastest!

INGREDIENTS (for 4-6 portions):

1.5kg new potatoes or salad potatoes, preferably equal size,*

1 tbsp Dijon mustard,

2 tbsp white wine vinegar,

3 tbsp olive oil,

1 red onion finely chopped,

4-5 tbsp mayonnaise,

salt and pepper.

METHOD:

1. Wash the potatoes very well (if you prefer, you may scrub them); cut them into approx. 1 cm slices, put to a big pan and cover with boiling water; add 1 tsp salt and cook for 7-12 minutes till just (but not too) soft. Cooking time depends on potato’s type and size. To avoid overcooking, after approx. 7 minutes of cooking, check them frequently with a fork.
2. Put to a small bowl the mustard, vinegar and olive oil, whisk everything together.
3. Drain the potatoes, cool them for 5 minutes, add the dressing and chopped onion, mix gently** and leave for at least 30 minutes.
4. Add the mayonnaise, season and mix gently**.

* If your potatoes are not equal, when you slice them try to cut them so the pieces will be more or less of the same size. This way you will also avoid the situation that some potatoes are over- and some undercooked.

** When you mix the salad, you have to do it very gently not to break the slices. I do it with my hands.

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