Potato-topped haddock and crab chowder pie

I think it was Nietzsche who first and best expressed the sentiment: "When you gaze too long upon the tweets of 70s Dinner Party,  you'll end up covering everything in duchess potato."And so it was. Bored and confused, I pushed most of a kilo of potatoes through a sieve, all in the name of putting deeply silly hat on a crab chowder.Honestly, if you don't enjoy dicking about with a piping bag then it is not worth it - just slather on the mash and carry on with your life. Maybe run a fork over it to make those weird little furrows that seemed mandatory in the 90s. But if you really want a fish pie that Robert Carrier would have thought looked fancy as balls, then this might just be for you.It's a thickened crab and smoked fish chowder, with a load of mash on top, and it's big and solid and satisfying.

Ingredients:

• Potatoes, about 600g
• Smoked haddock, 200g
• Crab meat, 150g
• Other fish or seafood, 50-100g
• Sweetcorn, 100g
• Leeks, 1 large
• Milk, 300ml
• Fish stock, 300ml
• Flour, 60g (approx, maybe a bit more)
• Eggs, 2
• Butter, 100g (in 2x50 units)
• Parsley, 1/4 tsp

Serves 4. Haddock and crab is a good combination. I've also used haddock, salmon, and prawns.

Instructions:

I'm including the full duchess potato rigmarole here. To skip it (as wisely you should) just mash a load of spuds and dump them on top. It's fish pie - you know the drill.First, make the duchess potato.Peel and chunk the potatoes, and boil them in salted water until completely soft. Drain and let dry. Roughly mash them, and either put them through a ricer, or press through a sieve if you fancy a blend of regret and instant arthritis.Unfortunately it needs to be completely lump free, or the piping nozzle will clog. When the potatoes are mostly cool, work in the egg yolks and 50g of butter. I like to add a splash of cream, some pepper, and nutmeg too.For the pie filling, we're basically making a thick white sauce. You can infuse the milk with bay leaves, green peppercorns, and onion if you like first. Otherwise: slice the leek finely, melt the butter, and fry the leek for a few minutes until softening. Work in the flour, and cook it all out as a roux for a couple of minutes, then add some of the stock and whisk together into a thick paste. Gradually add the milk and remaining stock, whisking as it thickens into a smooth but rather gloopy sauce. Add the parsley, and let it all cool a bit. We're going to bake it, but we don't want the fish to overcook.To finish, add the fish and corn, slop it into a big pie tin, and then pipe the potato mix onto the top to give it whatever kind of fancy-ass starch hat you're in the mood for. Bake at about 200c for 20-30 min until the potato is firm and golden.Here's mine ready for the oven:It's quite heavy, but it's tasty. The duchess potato is different to straight up mash, but it's kind of hard to articulate how. It's firmer, and the exterior has this slight crust and bite that I rather enjoy. Done with a ricer, it's almost worth the bother.Oh - some recipes suggest baking the potatoes first, and then scooping them out of their skins. This may be easier, and then you'll have potato skins.Dessert pairing note: mini almond and pear tarts go quite well, but can have unintended presentational consequences...

Also, I... um, I did not properly think through the geometry of these pear tarts. pic.twitter.com/vW7QUHCZDc— Roger Hart (@RMH40) December 22, 2015