Roasted fish with béchamel and potato and celery puree

To make this dish you need three pots, baking dish and a little bit of patience! No one said it will be easy. Although it’s not a quick dish its worth the time! Since I first made fish that way, it became my favourite way of preparing it. And the extra advantage: you don’t smell fish in the whole house! As the kitchen isn’t a lab you can change the proportions, add more fish, less celery, additional ingredient..and it’ll always be good!

The recipe is from ‘British cuisine’ from the series: Culinary journeys

Ingredients
2 ½ cups milk
½ onion
1 bay leaf
few grains black pepper and pimento
4 fish filets (i.e. walleye, cod)
35 oz (1000g) potatoes
20 oz (600 g) celery root
1 egg yolk
½ cup ground Parmesan
6,5 fl oz (180 ml) cream
2 oz (60 g) butter
2 tbsp wheat flour
2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt


Method
Bring to boil milk (leave just ½ cup of milk on a side) with onion (whole), pepper and pimento. Put the fish filets in a pot with milk, cook for about 1 min. Place the cooked fish filets in a baking dish (leave the milk in a pot). In another pot cook potatoes and celery root (in salted water). When the vegetables are soft mash them and puree using the milk left from cooking the fish. Add 1 tbsp butter, Parmesan and egg yolk, whisk.

Béchamel: in another pot heat up the remaining butter, whisk in the flour. Pour in the remaining milk and cream, season with salt. Cook until sauce becomes thick. Add chopped parsley.

Pour in the béchamel sauce over the fish. Spoon the potato-celery mixture into the baking dish on top of the béchamel. Bake in preheated oven to 400F/ 200 oC until golden brown.