Comforting fish pie and an introduction to Jack Monroe

Today I have to prepare for my colonoscopy, so I’m off work and feeling quite sorry for myself.  Before I start the prep this evening (oh God have mercy) I decided to treat myself a bit and make my day a little bit better.

I recently got a copy of Jack Monroe’s cookbook A Girl Called Jack; it is one of the best cookbooks I own.  Not only is everything cheap and easy to get hold, Jack’s recipes are also easily adaptable to someone who’s on a restrictive diet.  Most of her recipes contain only a handful of ingredients so it’s easy to make substitutes, and to top it off all the meals are a delight to eat!

I made her fish pie today (I won’t put the recipe here – if you want it you’ll have to buy the book) and it was beautiful!  It’s such a treat to tuck into and only took me about 30 minutes to rustle up.

Pure comfort food at it's best

I made a few changes to make it suitable for a Lofflex diet:

1. Instead of onions I used leeks.  Leeks take a little longer to cook than onions so I gave them 10-15 minutes extra poaching time in the milk to make sure they were cooked through. 
2. Instead of butter I used olive oil spread – one of the easiest substitutes to make and works in nearly every recipe I’ve tried so far.  
3. The white sauce takes a little bit of practice, but I’ve found both rice flour and gluten free plain flour make a decent sauce.  For the milk I used lactose free milk, it's the creamiest and most milk like product that I can have – rice and soya milk just don't work as well.
4. I served it with some peeled and sliced courgettes, lightly fried in olive oil.  Make sure to get them nice and brown and season with salt and pepper at the end.  The fish pie is quite rich so it's good to have something lighter to go with it. 

I’m now sitting in bed feeling very happy with myself.  A meal well done.