The Worst Leftover, Made Better

If I were to take a poll concerning the food that makes the worst leftover, I think most people would say that fish ranks right up there. It's just . . . not good left over. For me, it's barely good fresh. And when I say fresh, I mean caught-by-A.-in-our-lake-yesterday fresh. Even that kind of fish is only okay in my own, non-fish-person opinion. Don't even speak to me of that nasty commercial salmon. Gross.

ANYWAY.

So, even fresh, I can only tolerate the nice, mild white fish A. catches. But then to have to stare at whatever's left in the refrigerator for a few days, where it gets all cold and gelatinous and extremely unappetizing? No, thanks.

This is a problem. Because for one thing, I hate to waste food. I especially hate to waste food that A. has gone to all the trouble to kill himself. But the fish he brings home tend to be really large pikes and pickerels, which I just cook whole because all the bones make it impractical to fillet them and which always result in some left over. And that brings us back to cold, gelatinous fish in the refrigerator.

Enter Darina Allen and Forgotten Skills of Cooking. The MiL gave me this awesome book for Christmas, and so far the only thing I've made from it is fish pie. But that I've made at least four times already. It's the best way to use leftover fish that I can think of. I mean, really, what wouldn't benefit from being smothered in white sauce and mashed potatoes?

The original recipe calls for poaching fish fillets in milk and then using that milk to make the white sauce. Since I always have the leftover fish when I make it, though, I skip that. The rest of it is stupid simple: First, make mashed potatoes. Then saute finely chopped onion in butter; take the onion out, crank up the heat and cook some sliced mushrooms until the liquid is mostly gone. Take the mushrooms out, make a white sauce in the same pan. Pull the fish apart into small pieces, making sure to remove all the bones in the process.

This part takes the longest for me, because pike and pickerel are some seriously bony sumbitches and fish bones in food are a serious downer, so I spend a long time carefully checking each and every little piece.

But after that (teeeeeedious) job is done, I just dump the fish pieces (and whatever leftover sauce I made to go with the fish, which is most often just butter, lemon juice, and whatever herbs I have on hand), onions, and mushrooms into the white sauce, add thyme, salt, and pepper and mix it all up. Then that gets put in a glass casserole dish, topped with the mashed potato, and baked until it's all hot and brown on top. You see? It's like a shepherd's pie. Only with leftover fish. It can be made ahead, too. Bonus.

This is not a fancy recipe, and it's not particularly exotic in its flavors. But it does its job, which is to use leftover fish in a way that is appetizing to the whole family. And that includes Cubby. He loves it.

Incidentally, it's the perfect food for small, messy people who are attempting to master utensils. Because of the mashed potatoes, you see. Last night when we had this, I stirred Cubby's all up in a bowl and he swiped at it with his spoon. The potatoes make it nice and clingy, so he managed to get some of it on his spoon and in his mouth. And some of it in his nose. But that's just part of the fun of dinnertime with a toddler.

Anyway. Fish pie. You should make it next time you have leftover fish. Unless the fish you have left over is salmon, in which case I recommend calling for pizza and giving the fish to the dogs.

Happy Friday, poppets! Have a delicious weekend.