My Mom used to make Salmon Pie almost every Friday. I went years without it because I always felt that it would be too hard to make. A couple of years ago when I visited my sister in Florida, I was looking through her recipes and found this one. I am not sure if it is the same as what my mother made, but it works for me. Of course, Mom made the crusts from hand. That is not my thing. I cheat. I buy the ready made crusts and the crusts that unroll for the top. The rest, I can do. I use pink salmon. If your bank account is flush, you can buy the Red Salmon, but I have found there isn’t much difference in taste to support the extra cost. I also use an instant potato packet for my potatoes. Either that or you can cook and mash potatoes.

1 can (14 oz.?) of salmon

2 cups mashed potatoes.

1/2 cup onion (chopped very fine)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Drain the salmon but reserve the juice. Debone the salmon and remove all dark skin pieces. Use the juice when you mash your potatoes or use it as part of the water measurements for the instant potatoes. Add in the salmon (broken into smaller pieces), onion and salt. Mix together well.

This makes a 8″ or 9″ pie. It will not cook down as an apple pie would. Place mixture in pie crust and cover with unrolled pie crust. Seal and poke some airholes in top crust with a fork. I brush the top with a beaten egg or milk. Ths will make the crust a little more flaky.

Cook in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

WHITE SAUCE

Start a roux. A roux is a mixture of butter and flour.

2 Tbls of butter

2 Tbls flour

Melt butter is a small saucepan. Add the flour and wisk. Give this mixture a couple of minutes to cook as this will cook off the flour taste. Slowly add 2 cups of milk, 1 cup at a time. Stir this constantly with a rubber spatula. If it lumps up, use a wisk to smooth it out. It will thicken slowly. Don’t lose patience and walk off. When it has thickened, put on low heat to keep warm. You can add hard boiled eggs at this time if you want. Add pepper and salt to taste.

When the pie is done, let it rest on the counter for about 10 minutes. Slice it up and serve. Put the white sauce in a serving dish that has been warmed. Let each person choose how much or little they want of the white sauce. I know it is redundant, but I serve this with whatever mashed potato I have left that wasn’t used in the pie. Add something green to balance the colors and enjoy!