We aren’t having the fish mornay until dinner tonight because Husband wanted sardines on toast for lunch. Even though he is not at all religious, he was brought up to always have fish on Good Friday. He is having an afternoon nap now, so here are both recipes (I’ve had a few queries about the mornay):
Sardines on toast
Lightly toast some bread
Mush up a can of sardines or two and mix in some tomato sauce, worcestershire sauce (had to look at the bottle to get the spelling right!), lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Spread the sardine mixture thickly on the toast and bake in a hot oven for 5 minutes.
Fish mornay
Put a generous slab of butter in a saucepan and melt it
Stir in enough flour to make a gluey paste
Gradually add milk (very gradually) whilst stirring vigorously – keep adding milk and stirring until you have white sauce and try not to let it boil up to much
Mush up some cooked fish (we use canned pink salmon with juice in) and add it to the white sauce and stir it in on lower heat
Chuck the mixture into a baking dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs, dobs of butter and grated cheese
Bake in hot oven for 10 minutes
Serve with rice or mashed potatoes, and salad
[Variations can include the addition of asparagus, parsley, spinach etc.]
Okay now to give credit where credit is due, these were Husband’s mother’s recipes and, believe it or not, once upon a time I used to look after her too. It was my first job and she taught me how to cook. At the time, she was 82 and needed a hand because she had recently broken her hip and I had just quit my first attempt at university studies; I was 17, nearly 18. Husband was 41 and for me it was love at first sight so I really tried to get the mornay thing right because I soon discovered this family loved lots of things mornayed!
Husband’s mother was a rather formidably dignified woman who weilded her walking stick like a weapon and my first attempt at fish mornay elicited from her a subtle grimace and a not-so-subtle, “Well, darling, that was diabolical!”
These days, Husband says (about my mornays), “Perfect – just like Mum’s”.
Life is weird….
PS. The sardine recipe won’t work without the worcestershire!
jmgoyder 
The mornay dish sounds delish. I have never had it before, but will definitely add it to my bucket list! Don’t know about Sardines though..they kind of scare me! Great post!
Thanks! Not my usual kind of post but whatever!
That reminds me of creamed tuna on toast we used to have when I was a kid! Sometimes we had it on baked potatoes, and sometimes it wasn’t fish, but hamburger in the white sauce. I loved it, but now my husband won’t touch it with a ten foot pole. 🙂 Love the post. I also somehow missed the last couple of posts. Glad you finally got the rain. The peahens are quite funny! Thanks for sharing!
Well I’ve never heard of hamburger in white sauce – that sounds very different!
Actually, I liked that better than tuna, but we didn’t always have it, a can of tuna being cheaper (at the time) then a pound of hamburger. It’s richer, and more filling, and absolutely heaven on a baked potato. 🙂
I’ll try it out but if it doesn’t work I will blame you – hehe!
O.K., but I was just thinking, it was made like biscuits and gravy. Brown the hamburger, sprinkle with flour without draining, and when the flour absorbs the oil, pour in milk until you have white sauce. And season with salt and pepper, as it will be bland otherwise. Hope you like it!
Sounds delicious.
Sardines on toast is a comfort food for me. We used to eat it a lot when we were kids. If we came home from school and were hungry, it was that or home-made pikelets.
Except ours was minus the sauces. Just the toast, butter, sardines, lemon juice and salt.
YUM!
When I get well enough to eat dairy again, I’m going to give the Fish Mornay a try. Thanks for sharing the recipes!
That’s so interesting because one of Husband’s nieces used to take sardine sandwiches to school – sounds like you had similar background!
Well – sounds like you had a fishy day – wishing you a very good Friday. Thanks for the recipe
Hope the recipe works for you guys and dogs!
Ah, fish in white sauce! This sound good, but What kind of cheese? Julie, I adore that picture of your husband and the pooch. They both look so happy to see each other! ~ Lynda
Any cheese I guess – yeah that’s Jack the Irish terrier we bought for Husband before his condition deteriorated.
Your sardines on toast are very elaborate. I go for sardines and toast.
Yes, but you’re probably talking about freshly caught sardines aren’t you? If you eat them straight out of the tin then you are very much akin to Husband!
Ah I’m not so religious myself, but when I read your post and remembered it’s Good Friday I did feel a bit badly about my jokey stripper title today. Oh well!
Hope you have a great visit Julie.
I loved your stripper post! Ohoh, I better check I commented – you have a great weekend!
Your MIL sounded like a real sweety! HAHAHAHA!
Heehee!
That’s funny. Like “doublehomestead” (above) I also refer to mine as “mil” when I’m writing about her.
Sounds like you won’t have to work too hard with the cooking if Husband is easily made happy with sardines on toast – at least for lunch. Have a happy Easter weekend.
You too – very much so!
I love to cook. Used to love all kinds of cream sauces, but now milk/milk products don’t like me. I still love them, but from afar.
Pity about the milk products!
[…] Fish mornay etc. (jmgoyder.com) […]
I am seriously going to have a character in one of my stories say, “Well, darling, that was diabolical!”
Ha!
I’ve never read recipes like this – so different from what we eat in NETexas, but I’ll be willing to give them a try. We like salmon but never been a fan of sardines.
Will you please write a post about your love affair with an older man – what you saw and experienced that made you madly in love with a man twice your age. I think it would be an interesting read. 17 and 41? Wow.
Love affair post? Okay!!!
Go for it, young’un!
My family also as fish on Friday. Now that I’m an adult I can eat whatever I want whenever I want. lol
Yummy! It sounds delicious.
Bella and DiDi
Both sound delicious! When I was growing up we had cream chipped beef or chicken with peas on toast. I haven’t had it in years. Can’t wait to try your version.
Well I’ve never heard of those recipes – you better give us the info.!