{Smoked Fish Pie}

Sorry I didn't get round to mentioning it before we went but we've been in NZ for a few weeks, Taranaki to be exact. It was totally lovely, very relaxing in the way that NZ is, we marvelled at how green the grass is, how cheap the bananas are and how clean the air feels, like you are the first person to ever breath it in.

We went out for two amazing dinners, where we vaguely recalled how to talk to each other in complete sentences, without interruptions or having to dash after a small boy who has decided to make a run for it. We had a beautiful lunch at the Govett Brewster gallery where I had the best suped up ginger crunch ever, watch this space! and we ate delicious rolled and stuffed wild pork belly which was both caught and cooked by my brother in law, he is like a cross between Bear Grylls and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, totally cool.

So keeping with a kiwi theme and to kick things off again this recipe is from the Edmonds Cookbook Illustrated, a gift from my lovely mum in law who's 60th birthday celebrations were the reason for our trip, it is a tasty and comforting fish pie, I added in a bit of extra warmth with some cayenne pepper as its pretty wintery here, it left us feeling warm and fuzzy, a lot like our trip home.

...the pie

50g butter

1 tbsp milk

3 cups cooked mashed spud

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp flour

1 cup milk

400g smoked tuna, drained

2 tbsp chopped parsley

2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

half tsp of cayenne pepper

s+p

handful of grated vintage cheese

lemon

Mash the cooked spuds with using the 50g butter and the tbsp of milk, season generously with s+p and set aside. Melt the other tbsp of butter in a medium saucepan, add the flour cook it off stirring until it bubbles, then add in the cup of milk and keep stirring or whisking til it boils and thickens, take it off the heat and add in the parsley, eggs, tuna, cayenne pepper and more s+p.

Line your pie dish with half the mashed potatoes, pour over the fish mix then finish with the rest of the mash and a generous handful of grated vintage cheese. Cook at 200 for 30 minutes and serve with a squeeze of lemon and a green salad.