Fisherman's Pie with Biscuit Topping

Fish, Shrimp and Mushrooms in a luxurious sauce with herbs

Wanted to make something special for Good Friday.  This isn't a dish that you'd make everyday.  It is decadent but well worth the time and organization it takes to pull it off. 

A traditional fisherman's pie would have a mashed potato topping, but I used a biscuit topping with my new-found skills at making them (see Baking Powder Biscuits).  We didn't have any potatoes since we were under the stay-at-home order, so time to innovate.

I took the traditional recipe from Irish Pub Cooking and pumped up the ingredients.  It was lots of fun to adapt, and both Tom and David (who we delivered a big helping to for after work at the hospital) thought it was really, really good.

Always makes me happen when my experiments turn out well.   

Baked Halibut with Tarragon in White Wine

You can make any of these elements and serve them separately, and they would be delicious, like the fish baked with tarragon and white wine.  
---Barbara


Fisherman's Pie with Biscuit Topping
(adapted from Irish Pub Cooking)

Serves 6 generously

1 lb. white fish filet, like halibut
salt and pepper
1 T. tarragon, dried or fresh
olive oil
2/3 cup dry white wine
12 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 T. dry sherry
12 medium to large raw shrimp, defrosted, peeled and cleaned
cayenne pepper
2 -3 T. butter
1/8 -1/4 cup Wonder flour
3/4 - 1 cup light cream

Biscuit Topping:  see Baking Soda Biscuits, click on link

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 1/8 teaspoons sea salt

1 tablespoon sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, grated

361 grams all-purpose flour (3 cups)

1 1/8 cups whole milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Prep all of the biscuit ingredients:  mix the dry ingredients together, and have the butter grated and in the fridge, and the milk measured and ready to go, but set aside.  Have the surface floured, and biscuit cutter and rolling pin ready.

In a skillet on the stovetop, on medium high heat, add some olive oil, add the mushrooms, a pinch of salt and brown and cook down the mushrooms for about 5 minutes, then add the sherry, and cook until evaporated, another 3 minutes or so.  They should be deep brown.  Set aside.

Dry off the defrosted peeled and cleaned shrimp, place them on a plate in one layer, and sprinkle with salt and cayenne pepper and set aside.

Dry off the fish fillet, add salt and pepper to both sides. Put a little olive oil in the bottom of a wide shallow baking dish.  Add the fish and sprinkle with tarragon.

Bake for 8 minutes or so, until you start to see the sides of the fish start to become opaque.  It will depend on the thickness of your fillet.  Watch carefully. You can add the wine now if you want, but I waited to have more control over the doneness of the fish.

Add the shrimp along the sides.  Return to the oven.  Add the wine.  And cook until the shrimp turns pink.

Then remove from the oven.

Turn up the oven to 425 degrees.  Don't forget to do this step or the biscuits won't bake as well.

Drain the juices from the fish and shrimp into a bowl.  This will be used for making the sauce.

Flake the fish and evenly distribute throughout the baking dish.

Add the mushrooms.

Now make the sauce:  In the skillet where you cooked the mushrooms, over medium-low heat, add 2 T. butter, melt, and sprinkle the Wondra flour over the melted butter, and quickly stir with a spatula or spoon, until the roux starts to brown.  This will eliminate the flour taste, and be the basis of the sauce.  Add the juices from baked fish.  And keep stirring.

Keep stirring -- these lumps will go away.  

It will be a pretty thick paste.  Then, add the cream, and keep stirring until you have a nice sauce.  Add more cream if your sauce is too thick.

Pour over the top of the fish.  And let it sit until you make the biscuit topping.

Now make the biscuits, and place them on top of the fish with the sauce.  Use the leftover biscuit dough to fill in the cracks in between the biscuits, so that the topping doesn't have any gaps, and will keep the steam inside the pie.

Bake in the oven, which should now be at 425 degrees, until the biscuits are golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve warm in a deep bowl.