According to the BBC Food website, the Pennsylvania Dutch are said to have transported the traditions of the Easter egg and Easter bunny with them to the Americas. Their traditions also involved baking a large biscuit shaped to depict a rabbit in the act of laying an egg, but this cookie curiosity was gradually phased out due to persistant objections to the ambiguous imagery.
Anyway, since I try not to base my entire diet around chocolate I thought I would share a recipe with you that we traditionally ate at home on Good Friday.
Fish Pie
Ingredients (as usual, you can change the quantities, they're not set in stone)
12 oz white fish (skinless)
10 oz small to medium shrimp (raw or cooked)
6 oz salmon fillet (optional)
1 can tuna (optional)
1-1.5 pts (2-3 cups) low fat milk
1 small onion cut in quarters
4 cloves
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons flour
knob of butter
handful of fresh parsley (chopped)
handful of frozen peas (thawed)
3 hardboiled eggs
spinach chopped (optional)
mashed potato
shredded cheese (optional)
OK......first, put the fish in a pan and cover with the milk. Stick a clove in each onion quarter and add along with the bayleaf to the fish and milk. Bring to the boil (don't let it boil over) and simmer until the fish looks opaque. If you are using the salmon you can poach it at the same time.
When the fish is cooked, lift it out with a slotted spoon into the baking dish you are going to use and strain the milk through a sieve to be used to make the sauce.
Flake the fish in the dish, add the tuna if using and the thawed or raw prawns (they'll cook in the oven). Quarter the eggs and arrange in the dish with the fish, evenly spaced. If you are using the spinach also add it to the dish along with the peas. Now scatter around the chopped parsley in an artistic fashion...
Now for the scary bit..the sauce.....it's actually very easy...
Melt the butter in a non stick pan then add the flour and, stirring constantly, cook it for about 1 minute. Then gradually whisk in your reserved milk that you cooked the fish in. Boil the sauce, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Season with a bit of grated nutmeg if you like and some pepper (if you don't like black specks marring your pristine white sauce then use white pepper). Tada! White sauce!
Now just pour your sauce over the fish etc in the baking dish and then top with your mashed potato (for extra nutritional points you could use sweet potato or a mixture of the two). Use a fork to "rough up" the spud so it gets extra crispy in the oven.
Now, pop in a preheated oven @ 350 (325 fan assisted) for about 45 minutes adding the cheese to the top if desired about 10 minutes before the dish comes out of the oven. This is great served with some microwaved broccoli!
