HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

IRISH SMOKED FISH CASSEROLE

Feel free to substitute smoked haddock or trout or whitefish for the cod used below. Cafe Drake dishes this homey Irish "bake" up alongside boiled new potatoes (you'll need a starch of some sort anyway) and buttery steamed carrots. Only one beverage to accompany this meal of course - a tall, frothy glass (or two) of Guinness stout.

1 - 1.5 lbs. smoked cod / 2 T. butter / 2 leeks, thinly sliced / 1 oz. flour / 1 C. milk / 2 T. of cream / fresh black pepper / bay leaf / chopped parsley / grated SHARP cheddar cheese

1. Generously grease a pie dish with butter, remove all bones from fish and cut in portions, place in pie dish.


2. Melt butter in a saucepan, add leeks, cook gently for two minutes. Add in flour and cook for one minute.


3. Whip in milk and cream. Bring to the boil.


4. Pour sauce over fish, add bay leaf.


5. Cover and bake at 350°F. for 25 minutes.


6. Remove cover, sprinkle cheese over the fish and return to the oven to brown.