29.09.08: Jamie's tasty fish bake with mixed leaf salad

He cooked up Jamie Oliver's version of fish pie which includes fillets of trout, potatoes, lots of fennel and onions plus a cream, parmesan and anchovy sauce, all finished off with a crispy breadcrumb topping. A mixed leaf salad with avo, physalis and radish stuck its head round the corner while the lime wasabi dressing played lookout.

HE SAYS: Didn't take too much prep to conjure up this beauty. As the nights draw in and it gets a little nippy this dish will become in handy to warm ye cockles. I believe I cooked it a little too long because the creamy sauce had reduced significantly, still good though. The crunchy breadcrumb topping was a nice touch and very satisfying to dig in to. I'm not that familiar with trout but it tasted pretty good and is good for ya (although maybe next time I'll try it with salmon). The salad was standard but then the wasabi dressing pepped it up to another plane.

SHE SAYS: I was looking fwd to this, but was wary of the anchovy content. (I like fish sauce, which usually is mostly anchovy essence, but the full-on anchovy fillet thing grosses me out.) Never fear, I entirely forgot about those bits as I sank into the pie's luxurious textures. I thought the sauce was perfect, wouldn't have wished it less thick. The fennel and fennel seeds were perfect flava foils for trout, which I suspect would taste a bit musty without robust herby offsetting. Agree with Him that the breadcrumbs gave the whole thing that down-home comfort food edge.