Hobbit powered fish pie!

cooking-on-a-woodburning-stove-19

Cooking fish pie on a woodburning stove.

Locally sourced Devon fish pie with peas and carrot and thyme bread.

Fish pie is arguably one of the most comforting dishes ever invented. The perfect choice for a slightly chilly and blustery Saturday in May.

Buy your fish from your local fishmonger if possible. Ours is ‘Jacksons’ in Newton Abbot.

We bought 300g of fish pie mix and some kiln roasted salmon strips for £6 which was excellent value, as the pie will be feeding four of us. It was also great service with a welcoming smile. 10/10.

Fish pie is arguably one of the most comforting dishes ever invented. The perfect choice for a slightly chilly and blustery Saturday in May. Buy your fish from your local fishmonger if possible. Ours is ‘Jacksons’ in Newton Abbot. We bought 300g of fish pie mix and some kiln roasted salmon strips for £6 which was excellent value, as the pie will be feeding four of us. It was also great service with a welcoming smile. 10/10.

cooking on a wood stove

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We picked up a bag of locally grown spuds from the indoor market for mashing and topping the pie.

We picked up a bag of locally grown spuds from the indoor market for mashing and topping the pie. Rosie set about peeling 4 of them, one for each person. Chopped into chunks, a dash of salt and it is on to the stove to bring to the point when they are cooked but not breaking down. Too late and you will have soup, too soon and you may have hard lumps. A cocktail stick should easily pass through a chunk as a test of when they are ready. When happy, add butter, salt and pepper, a splash of milk or cream and mash thoroughly. Cover and allow to cool. Add a little milk to some of the potato stock, a bay leaf, a shard of lemon rind and some salt and pepper and pour in to a pan and warm slowly through to infuse the milk with flavor. Add the chunks of fish and poach the fish in the milky liquor for around two minutes. Remove the fish and allow it to cool on a plate. You can then make a béchamel sauce with the milky liquor. TO DO THIS: Melt a little butter in a small pan. Add some plain flour. Stir the roux and heat it through a while, stirring it all the time. Add a little milk and whisk in. Add a little more as it starts to thicken. Add more of the milk and you should aim for a consistency of double cream. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. When all the elements have cooled you can assemblemange the dish by combining the sauce, chopped fresh herbs and fish gently in a dish. Top this with the mash, loosely heaped over the fish. Scatter morsels of kiln roasted smoked salmon around the mash. A few healthy turns of the black pepper grinder and a drizzle of olive oil and then place this in the wok oven on top of your stove. You really need to crank up the stove at this point so open the bottom door air control on the stove to increase the burn rate. The lid of the cooking pot combined with a pair of oven gloves can be placed on top of the wok for added insulation. This should increase the oven temperature. The pie can be finished off under the grill for a super crusty top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rosie set about peeling 4 of them, one for each person.

Chopped into chunks, a dash of salt and it is on to the stove to bring to the point when they are cooked but not breaking down.

cooking on a wood stove

Too late and you will have soup, too soon and you may have hard lumps. A cocktail stick should easily pass through a chunk as a test of when they are ready. When happy, add butter, salt and pepper, a splash of milk or cream and mash thoroughly. Cover and allow to cool.

Add a little milk to your pan, pop in a bay leaf, a shard of lemon rind and some salt and pepper and warm slowly through to infuse the milk with flavor.

Add the chunks of fish and poach the fish in the milky liquor for around two minutes. Remove the fish and allow it to cool on a plate.

You can then make a béchamel sauce with the milky liquor.

TO DO THIS:

Melt a little butter in a small pan, and add some seasoning.

cooking on a wood stove cooking on a wood stove

Add some plain flour.

Stir the roux and heat it through a while, stirring it all the time.

Add a little milk and whisk in. Add a little more as it starts to thicken.

Add more of the milk and you should aim for a consistency of double cream. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

When all the elements have cooled you can assemblemange the dish by combining the sauce, chopped fresh herbs and fish gently in a dish.

cooking on a wood stove

 

Top this with the mash, loosely heaped over the fish. Scatter morsels of kiln roasted smoked salmon around the mash. A few healthy turns of the black pepper grinder and a drizzle of olive oil and then place this in the wok oven on top of your stove.

You really need to crank up the stove at this point so open the bottom door air control on the stove to increase the burn rate. The lid of the cooking pot combined with a pair of oven gloves can be placed on top of the wok for added insulation. This should increase the oven temperature. Bake for around 30 mins.

cooking on a wood stove

cooking on a wood stove

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More fishy info

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3174/fish-pie-in-four-steps – this looks good but without the manky eggs!

http://www.mcsuk.org/downloads/fisheries/fishweek/FishWeek_FishList_Jan2011.pdf – the good fish list!

Tips for choosing sustainable fish

If you don’t have a guide handy when you’re choosing fish in a shop or restaurant here are the key points to remember:

The big five

Take care with the most common fish we buy in the UK such as cod, haddock, salmon, canned tuna and prawns. Due to their popularity, there are problems with all these fish and you need to choose carefully.

Only choose those that are certified. Tuna labelling schemes aren’t as thorough though and while the Dolphin Safe – Earth Island Institute is the strictest dolphin-friendly labelling scheme it doesn’t ensure overall sustainability. Greenpeace regularly assesses the sourcing of all top brands in their Tuna League. Sainsbury’s came top of the 2011 league.

Fish in danger

Definitely avoid bluefin tuna, swordfish, skate and eel – the stocks of these are all too vulnerable. In addition to the big five there are a large number of popular fish that are best avoided unless you can be sure that they have been caught in a sustainable way (see the pocket guides for more on the specifics). These include hake, halibut, plaice, sole, monkfish and seabass.

Eat more variety

Try cooking and eating a greater range of sustainable fish and seafood. It’s good to spread the load of our fish eating onto many different types of fish, not just a few. All the following get the MCS thumbs up:

  • Check out alternatives to cod such as coley, pouting, pollock and pollack can all be used in many recipes in place of cod, such as fish pie, fish cakes or stews.

https://www.rivercottage.net/cookery-courses/fish/catch-and-cook – River Cottage Catch-and-Cook courses

http://www.thekitchn.com/the-river-cottage-fish-book-by-hugh-fearnleywhittingstall-and-nick-fisher-cookbook-spotlight-183803 – Good Fish cookery book

http://www.lovelocalfood.org.uk – local sustainable food thing in Exeter

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Our Hobbit Stove Has Been Fitted!

"We had a Hobbit stove fitted this week by Alex Reay from Flues and Fires, and I just wanted to get in touch to say it is AMAZING and we love it! We have a lovely cast iron tiled fireplace which I was desperate not to lose when we installed a small wood burning stove, but until I found the Hobbit on Google, everyone told me it would be impossible to keep the fire surround. The Hobbit is perfect - not only does it fit very snugly, but it looks fantastic and the blue door complements the tiles very nicely. We are sitting enjoying a fire now and absolutely loving it! Thanks for creating such an amazing product."

Nicola Williams

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Lynn and Andrew, West Yorkshire

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First Small Stove Installation

Was looking for a small stove for my first self-install. Found Mark very helpful. Knowledgeable, friendly service. Stove burns well and generates lots more heat than the previous open fire. What is not to like?

Sam

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A Huge Thank You!

"Dear Mark and Gill, a huge thank you for designing and making the Hobbit stove! We had two different London-based fireplace companies tell us that we simply had to knock out the old cast iron and tile fireplace to fit in a woodburning stove, and that there was no other option! Then we found you online. We are delighted with our little Hobbit, which swallows up logs and kicks out a good amount of heat. Perfect for the winter! I will also be writing to the London-based fireplace companies to put the Hobbit on their radar. Best wishes."

Nat

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Delighted With Our Hobbit Stove!

"Mark, Gill, thank you for your assistance, we are delighted with our Hobbit! I fired it up this evening after taking all afternoon making a register plate to fit the opening."

Alan

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It's Brilliant!

"Hi Mark, here's a photo of the Hobbit installed in my Yorkist grate. It’s brilliant! It also throws out a lot more heat than the grate did."

Roger T

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Just to Say Thank You!

"I just had a chat with Gill saying how delighted we are with our little Hobbit stove, and to also thank you both for your attention to detail and excellent customer service!"

Derrick

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The Little Hobbit Has Stepped Up To The Challenge!

"We just wanted to say how impressed and how much of a life saver our little Hobbit has been! It was fitted a few months ago in our holiday home in Rhu, Scotland, which is a large open plan conversion in a Victorian house. This weekend our boiler decided it was not going to play ball. The little Hobbit has stepped up to the challenge, providing heat to a very large area, about twenty eight foot by twenty four foot with a high ceiling of about eighteen foot, keeping the room reasonably warm, warm enough for us not to use cardigans!”

Alan W

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Very Pleased With Our Hobbit!

"We are very pleased with the stove and think it looks great! We restored our fireplace (it was hidden under plaster!) and the whole look is better than we hoped!"

Neil

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Absolutely Delighted!

"Just had our Hobbit SE installed in our Victorian fireplace and we are absolutely delighted with the end result. We felt passionate about preserving our lovely fireplace!"

Andy

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Our Pride And Joy!

"What a fantastic fireplace with the beautiful Hobbit stove. It fits perfectly into the small space and throws out a lot of heat. Here's a photo of our little stove, now our pride and joy and much admired by all who see and feel the warmth."

Chris and C

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Fantastic!

"Just to bid you all a Happy New Year and to say how much we’re enjoying having our Hobbit stove! It was easy to fit with the help of your excellent ‘how to’ videos and we’re just awaiting our inspection by building control for the certification. The Hobbit has fitted neatly into the hearth vacated by the old gas back boiler (with a little cosmetic rendering) and never ceases to surprise us how much heat it can deliver to the point that the new condenser boiler is having an easy life, thereby saving us on gas bills too! Everyone loves having a ‘real fire’ in the living room."

Philip Baird

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A Brilliant Little Wood Burner!

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Brilliant Product!

"Just wanted to share a picture of our newly installed Hobbit. Absolutely delighted with it, and so pleased we were able to retain our existing fireplace as well. Brilliant product, thank you!"

Marion

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