Salmon Pie

My salmon pie is slightly different than the one associated with Quebec, yet it has many of the same elements. Instead of flavouring it with savoury (which is traditional) I use chervil and a bit of dill as well as a product called “lemon pepper” (dehydrated lemon, pepper and salt). I also omit the onion as I don’t think it works well with the dish. Mine is a two-crust pie whereas the traditional one has only a top crust. Certainly, you could prepare it without crust at all-I have seen some that resemble “cobbler” with dollops of batter and I would think Vermont Common Crackers (they look like giant oyster crackers) would make an excellent topping as well.

You Will Need:

1 15 oz tin of salmon
2 ½ cups mashed potatoes prepared light with three tablespoons butter and enough milk or cream to keep them from being leaden.
½ teaspoon lemon pepper (or ¼ teaspoon salt, a pinch of pepper and a small squeeze of lemon juice)
¼ teaspoon chervil or savoury
Crust for double pie
1 egg + t teaspoon water for optional wash.
Serve with crème fresh*

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Drain and break up the salmon. In another bowl, combine the mashed potatoes and spices. After fitting the bottom crust into the pie plate, smooth in a layer of mashed potatoes. Then spread the salmon on. Top with the remaining potatoes and remaining crust. Cut to vent. I prefer to brush my crusts with an egg wash of 1 yolk plus 1 teaspoon water. Then I sprinkled extra chervil on for appearance.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until browned.

I served mine with crème fresh that I made yesterday from 1 cup heavy cream and ¼ cup sour cream. Shake well in a glass jar and let sit at room temperature anywhere from 5-24 hours (depending on the room temperature) until thick. Shake well again and refrigerate. Keeps ten days.