Fisherman’s Holiday Pie
Serves 6
Difficulty = 4/5

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Yukon gold potatoes, diced (or 4 small red potatoes also diced)
2 yellow onions, diced
2 leeks, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
½ cup white wine
1 ½ cups clam broth
1 cup milk
½ cup Wondra flour
½ bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper

½ lb halibut fillet sliced into ½” cubed pieces
¼ lb small to med sized raw shrimp (60-70 size)
1 sm to med sized uncooked lobster tail, shelled and also cut into ½” piece
¼ lb fresh chantrelle mushrooms chopped (or dried reconstituted and then chopped)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Top Crust:
6 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
½ cup heavy cream plus ¼ cup half and half
1/4 c sharp cheddar cheese grated fine
¼ cup unsalted butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic crushed (optional)

A pie you ask? For those of you a bit confused at this point, think pot pie meets shepard's pie on a dive boat where they have one helluva party. It's a savory entree', not a sweet dessert.

In a medium skillet melt the butter over medium high heat, saute the potatoes, onions, leeks, carrots, and garlic until golden. Add the white wine and simmer for 1 minute. Add the clam broth and simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender. In a separate small bowl, mix the flour and milk until smooth and add to the vegetables. Cook gently until thickened. Season to taste, with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet heat the oil over medium heat and saute the fish until just translucent. Add the shrimp and lobster and continue to gently cook until the shrimp turns pink. Remove the seafood from the pan and add it, along with the thyme and parsley, to the vegetables and set side.

Put the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water, season with salt. Over high heat bring to a boil and simmer until tender. Drain the potatoes and let them sit for 5 minutes to dry out a bit. Put the potatoes through a food mill or mash by hand until smooth. Gently heat the cream in the microwave and stir into the potatoes along with the butter. Once mixed, fold in the cheese until well incorporated. Add the optional garlic if you wish. Season, to taste with salt & pepper.

* A note on using fresh garlic; fresh garlic will always provide the optimum flavor in freshness and intensity. Heating garlic will mellow out the flavor and make is less 'sharp' to the palette. Also, chopped garlic will provide more aromatic effect than sliced due to the increased overall surpace area of the garlic coming into contact with food. Chopped and raw for intensity, sliced (or whole) and sauted or roasted for mellow. One final note about garlic - don't let it burn. There is nothing worse that tasting a dish with a pungent bruned garlic taste to it.

Pre heat an oven to 400 deg.  Fill 6 12 oz ramekins with 1 cup of filling each and top with the mashed potatoes. Bake for 30 minutes.

Wine selection is an obvious dry white or even a dry sparkling wine for a more festive experience.

I recently spent almost three weeks in the UK on business. The food served in the local pubs is considered to be as typical as possible to UK cuisine. One pub in the Tottenham Court Road district of central London serves this English pie to customers all day long. This is my version which incorporates lobster into the mix.

OK, since I first posted this recipe a couple days ago, I have received two emails from people trying it out. One person asked if she could use instant mashed potatoes, the other told me his pie didn't brown on top, but rather burned when baked.

The sideways answer to both questions is...  use the real mashed potatoes, not instant for the pie top. The starches in the fresh mashed will allow the top crust to brown properly, whereas the instant potatoes have less inheirent starches from processing and therefore will not brown properly, but burn once enough temp and time have been applied in the final step.