Fogarty's Cod Fish Pie - A Lenten Casserole

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I've had this "pie" at least a hundred times since I was a little girl. It's one of those dishes that people try to relegate to the back burner, but it always manages to push its way back to the front of the stove. Fish pie is great Lenten fare, and it usually ends up on the tables of the observant at least once during the Lenten season. Those of you who are not familiar with fish pies have probably had their kissin' cousin, Shepherd's Pie. Here, instead of ground lamb or beef, it's fish that is sauced and top with a thick blanket of mashed potatoes. Like many cooks, I enrich the sauce in which the fish cooks with cheese, despite  injunctions from food Nazi's who insist fish and cheese should not be served together. I also go all out and make a very rich potato topping for the pie. As a matter of fact, I make Champ, a potato dish that's much loved in Ireland, to cover the casserole. Champ looks like colcannon, another  potato dish that is native to the Northern Ireland. It's made by blending scallions or green onions into a base of rich and creamy mashed potatoes, and while it is great on its own, angel's sing when Champ is used to top a fish pie. It's also great with Italian sausage, but I'll save that discussion for another day. When I was quite young, my grandmother, the very Irish Maude, would add a handful of shrimp or chopped sea scallops to the white fish she used to make the pie. Back in the day, white fish, usually perch or cod could be bought at the supermarket in a frozen block for less than a dollar a pound, so Maude lived large when she made fish pie and added more expensive fish with abandon. She and my mother also shared a love of Finnan Haddie, so we often found that smoky addition in our pies as well. Now, I must be honest. There are those among you who will not like the pie even if it's made with lobster, and I suspect that most of you would not want to eat this on a daily basis, but it is good basic food and great for an occasional meatless meal. Good Friday is coming and that's a perfect day to give the pie a try. Here is how it's made.

Pissaladiere

From the kitchen of One Perfect... I can't tell you how often I've made pissaladiere. It is a favorite of mine and it is one of the dishes I make when I'm on my own for dinner. This is often called a Provencal tart. That's a bit of a misnomer because the pie, which is layered with caramelized onions, anchovies and olives, contains no eggs. While I may not be right about this, I think of pissaladiere as a pizza that gets its name from the anchovies, or pissala, that are stirred into the onions to intensify their flavor. While the recipe I'm featuring tonight comes from Dorie Greenspan, I use Julia Child's recipe more frequently. The recipes are similar, but Julia's uses a pie crust as the pizza base. I suspect Dorie's recipe is more correct in its use of a pizza type dough, but I don't want you to get hung up on what you use as the base. I've used flat bread, and tubed pizza dough to hold the filling and because this pie is more about the filling than it is  about the crust, I have never been disappointed . It is simple to make and if you are adventurous and like strongly flavored foods, pissaladiere  just might become a favorite of yours. The onions can be made a day before you assemble the pie and once it is baked the pie can sit for several hours before it is served. Do try this. I don't think you'll be disappointed and it fits into Lenten menus. Here is how the pie is made.