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 