baby's fishy pie

As babies grow their need for variety of food and vitamins grow as well. Texture and taste change, it is becoming to look more and more like adult food. Nevertheless babies still need much less salt, sugar, fried things and other not very healthy food options. Their teeth grow as well and that means food should be encouraging babies to chew.
By the first year of your baby's life most of the food has already been introduced as well as meat, chicken and fish. Fish is a great source of protein as it contains all 9 amino acids. Fish is also rich in omega 3 and phosphrus.
I noticed that babies tend to like white fish more than any other kind. I remember cooking some really yummy salmon dishes for my baby and she would just turn them down, spit it out and try to push it away. I tired cooking white fish like cream dowry (my favorite) and voila, my daughter ate it all without second thought. White fish also has less "fishy" smell and more neutral taste. I believe it is softer than other fish thus it is easier for babies to chew it.
Fry it, boil, steam or bake - fish makes an excellent dish that not only taste good but is also good for your baby as well as for you.
When choosing fish go for fresh. If buying whole fish check the gills they have to be bright red not dark and the eyes of fish should be clear. Fresh fish doesn't have strong smell, on contrary it should smell fresh and mild. If buying a fillet - white fish should be slightly pink in the middle.

Here is the recipe of fish pie I put together. It is quite simple but my daughter liked it and ate it all. I made only one generous portion in a big (a bit more than a cup) ramekin and baked it. One might say what a waste of oven energy only for one ramekin. Well you can make something along, like some bread or dinner for yourself and the rest of the family. It was actually an experiment so I didn't want to cook a lot in case it didn't come out nice and tasty.

For the recipe you will need:
piece of fish, the size of the bottom of the ramekin you are using. (the piece I used was square with approximately 3 inch sides)
a small pinch of salt and pepper
1/4 tsp dried dill
a squeeze of lemon juice
generous tbsp frozen petits pois/ green peas
enough cream to cover fish - 1/4 to 1/3 cup (you can substitute part of the cream with milk if you wish)
2-3 little cubes of butter
3 medium size broccoli floret, cut into small pieces
1/2 small onion, quartered
1/4 medium potato, cut into cubes
1/4 cup butternut squash cubes
 handful of grated cheese (I used kashkaval cheese made from cow's milk)

ufff I love cheese

Preparation:

• Place the potato and butternut squash in a small pot, add enough water to cover, add a bit of salt. Bring to boil and simmer until soft and cooked through. Remove from the heat and mash.
• Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180C. Oil the ramekin, place the fish season with salt, pepper and dill, a squeeze of lemon juice. Add the cream to cover fish, place butter and the peas on top. Cover with tin foil and put in a preheated oven for 10-15 minutes until the cream mixture is bubbly.
• In the meantime steam broccoli and onion for about 10 minutes or until soft enough to mash. Mash lightly. (you can actually steam them over boiling butternut and potatoes. Just put the pieces in a small colander or a sieve and place over the pot. The boiling water should steam them soft.)
• Take the ramekin out of the oven, keep in mind it is very hot. Carefully cover it with broccoli-onion mash and then with potato and butternut squash. Generously cover with cheese and return to the oven for a few more minutes until the top is melted and golden in color.

• Once it is ready, let it cool for quite some time and serve with your baby's favorite vegetables cut into bite size pieces.

My daughter loves munching some cucumber in between the bites of the main dish.

Here is my waiting for food happy baby.

Try this delicious dish and let me know what you think.