Tags
challenge, cheese sauce, chips, hake, Marks and Spencer fish and chip pie, mushy peas, pastry case
I think I met the challenge and actually did a better job if I’m honest and it didn’t cost me £3.49
About a month ago my friend posted up this picture on my facebook page and said, “I can’t believe you couldn’t make something like this up.. please…..”
Marks and Spencer, Gastro pub Fish and chip pie”
“In the words of its famous adverts, this is not just any portion of fish and chips … this is Marks and Spencer fish and chips. And it comes in a pie – complete with a layer of mushy peas.
The extraordinary creation is made from chunks of cod, pea puree and tartar sauce, all held together in shortcrust pastry and topped off with a chip ‘lid’.
Designed to treat indecisive eaters to a mixture of two traditional favourites of British cuisine, the pie is due to hit the shelves later this month, priced at £3.49.”
So I accepted the challenge and after having a think about how I was going to go about making the pastry case, the solution actually came to me in a dream, which sound a bit cheesy but there you go..
I attempted it Friday night, I used hake because that’s what I had in the freezer and instead of a tartar sauce, made a light cheese sauce, mostly because I hate tartar sauce.
Not an M&S fish and chip pie:
I made some short crust pastry with 2.5 oz veg shortening and 5oz plain flour and popped it in the fridge to chill for a bit..
I rolled the pasty out and molded it round an oiled ramekin
and egg washed it.
I baked it until it was brown, turned it out and put it back in the oven to finish off a bit..
It doesn’t look particularly even, but considering I was making it up as I went along..
I added the mushy pea base.
I lightly cooked the fish in the microwave prior to adding it to the sauce..
then filled up the pastry case and put it in the oven for a little while longer.
then all it needed was some homemade chips, which I spritzed with chip shop vinegar and salt a few minutes before they came out of the oven..
This is a photo I found on line of a cooked Mark’s pie..
This is my pie..
It was bloody gorgeous, I think I met the challenge and actually did a better job if I’m honest and it didn’t cost me £3.49 and probably took a little more time to make than if I’d bought one and baked it for 35 minutes..
I was rather chuffed with myself on that one, I have another challenge up my sleeve, which I shall endeavor to tackle in the near future..