- 24.2020
FRESH SALMON PIE
Gluten and Lactose-Free
9” pie serves 4
Measure out and set aside what you will need. (prep)
Lately I ‘ve found fresh not previously frozen fish, salmon, tilapia, trout, at the Aldi’s near me and I purchase fresh fish at least once a week.
I had just gotten a l lb portion of salmon and was stumped on what to make by the time I got home.
I wanted something interesting, yummy and different, not the usual grilled, broiled or whatever. Then I though fish pie. I made one with a top and bottom crust. As I sat down to write up the recipe I thought, why didn’t I make this into a ‘mock’ Shepheard’s Pie? Or why not a pie with only the top crust.
So now we have three ways to make this Fresh Salmon Pie. Just remember that if you go the Shepheard’s Pie way, where you only need to brown the ghee dribbled mashed potato, you need to cook the vegetables and fish so that they are done as there is no 50 minutes in the oven to cook them through.
It was a success! Peter who is not too much into fish unless its breaded or battered and fried, loved it. it was very delicious even though it took a lot of time to prepare. Next time there will only be a top crust or I will go the Shepheard’s Pie way for a very quick fish pie.
The vegetables:
Ghee – 1 T (or butter or oil)
Onion – 1 c, ½" dice
Green cabbage – ½ c, ½" dice
Purple cabbage – ¼ c, ½ “dice
Parsnip - 1 c, ½" dice
Carrot – 1 c, ½" dice
Kosher salt – 1 t
Ground pepper – ½ t
Poach the salmon:
Ghee - 1 t
Onion celery, carrots – ½" dice, ¼ to ½ c each
Water – 1 c
Reserved liquid from the cooked vegetables
Bay leaf – 2
Peppercorn – 3
Parsley sprigs – 3
Salmon – 1lb fresh or thawed from frozen
The sauce:
Ghee – 1 T
All-purpose flour - 3 T
Reserved salmon poaching liquid
Milk – ¼ c
Nutmeg - ¼ t
To assemble the pie:
Pie crust – 2 (home-made flakey pastry crusts*)
Frozen green peas – 1 c
Egg wash – 1 egg beaten with 1 T water
Let's sauté, poach and bake:
Sauté:
Cook the parsnip and carrot halfway through, 5-10 minutes, strain and reserve the liquid.
Heat a skillet and melt ghee.
Add onion when slightly golden add cabbages and stir to coat with ghee, add the parsnip and carrot and stir and let cook for about 2 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside to cool.
Poach:
Add ghee to skillet, when heated add the onions, carrots and celery and cook till the onions begin to be golden. Add water, the reserved liquid from the parsnip and carrots, the bay leaves, pepper corn the parsley sprigs, bring to a boil and place the piece of salmon, skin down, if skinless no problem. (You can remove the skin after the salmon has poached.)
Turn the heat down to a simmer and poach the fish for about 5 minutes 10 minutes so it is barely cooked through. When done, remove the salmon to a plate and set aside to cool, remove the skill and discard, and pour the liquid and solids into a bowl.
Sauce:
In the same skillet, melt 1 T ghee add flour and stir well, (you are making a roux) add the reserved liquids and the milk while slowly while whisking. Include the vegetables too. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Strain the sauce through a sieve into a bowl, push the solids left in the strainer into the sauce with the back of a spoon, and pour the sauce back into the skillet and cook so it becomes reduced and thick. The whisk should leave trails in the skillet.
If you think the sauce is still too thin, make a slurry of cornstarch and water and dibble while whisking as much as you need of the slurry into the sauce for it thicken more. Grate and stir in the nutmeg.
Assemble pie: *
Roll out and fit the larger piece of pie crust to the bottom of the pie pan, trim off the excess leaving ½" overhang, fold this overhang to the inside.
Place a piece of parchment paper or foil to cover the uncooked crust, fill with pie weights, dry beans or rice and bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Remove the pie weights and parchment or foil, keep the rim covered with a pie shield or foil and bake for 10 more minutes.
Gently mix the vegetables, the frozen peas and the poached fish which you have flaked/cut into 1 to 1½” pieces with the sauce. Pour into the cooled pie crust.
Roll out the top crust and place on top to cover the pie trim excess to ½". Fold the top crust inside the pie and pat down the rim so the two pieces are firmly stuck together. Crimp the edge with a fork or the index finger of one hand and thumb and index finger of the other hand or just your thumb.
Fork is easier, thumb and fingers are prettier. Brush the top of the pie with egg wash and make a few slits on the pie for steam to escape. I used the leftover parts of pasty to make some decorations, unfortunately I didn’t have a fish shape.
Place the pie in the refrigerator while you heat up the oven to 350F. Bake pie for 50 minutes. Remove from the oven, let the pie cool for 10 to 15 minutes.
Serve with a salad.
*After the dough is made, the vegetables sauteed, the fish poached and the sauce made you can refrigerate everything separately, put it all together on another night and bake it.
Enjoy!