We eat a lot of fish and chicken in our home. Mostly chicken, and then fish. Sometimes it is fresh fish, but often I take advantage of good tinned fish, such as salmon or tuna. It is something I grew up with, so I quite like tinned fish.
I will often make us a salmon loaf, or fish patties, fish cakes, tuna melts, or another of our favourites which I am sharing with you here today, Salmon Pot Pie. You don't have to use tinned fish in this. You could certainly use leftover cooked salmon. I have used a mix of cooked and hot smoked salmon which is really tasty. You could use Tuna if you don't like salmon. Its a very forgiving, very delicious recipe.
It is a very simple recipe, which involves sauteing a mix of vegetables (leek or onion, peppers and celery) in a bit of butter until softened. You then add some flour, stock and milk to create a creamy sauce, which is flavoured with thyme and cayenne pepper. (How little or how much is up to you. I prefer to err on the side of caution myself!)
Once the sauce is made you flake the fish into it along with some frozen peas. You pour this mixture into a casserole/pie dish or dishes (if making individual ones) and top with some short crust pastry. I like to brush it with an egg wash prior to baking which gives it a lovely golden glaze.
For all of my chopping today I used the 6 inch knife from the MyKtchn Premium Black Ceramic Kitchen Knife Set.
The six piece set (including an attractive acrylic holder/stand/storage unit) 6 inch, 5 inch, 4 inch and 3 inch knives, plus an exclusive vegetable peeler.
These knives are really great, and make short work of chores such as slicing and chopping all of the vegetables for this lovely pot pie.
They are sharp, durable and also very attractive. To find out more just click on the above link.
The end result is positively scrumptious.
That rich and creamy sauce goes perfectly with the salmon. Salmon is an oily fish and quite good for you, being high in protein, vitamin D and heart healthy omega 3 fatty acids.
Its a good practise to eat oily fish at least once a week, if not more often.
Fresh salmon can ofttimes be a bit cost prohibitive, so that's why we will more often than not use tinned.
And this simple and delicious Pot Pie is an excellent way of preparing it.
If you want to make it even more colourful, you can use a mix of frozen vegetables, such as peas/carrots/corn/beans. My mother always used frozen mixed vegetables in her pot pies.
And she made GREAT pot pies. She was the Queen of pot pies!
You can of course use ready rolled pastry for convenience, but if you are keen to make your own, I have an excellent recipe for Short Crust pastry that you can use. You would need to double it.
One of the things I love about this fabulous Salmon Pot Pie is that it uses simple ingredients that I have in my home most of the time. I also love that it is quick and easy to make. Best of all, its very tasty!
Yield: 6
Salmon Pot Pie
A simple, yet flavourful salmon filling beneath a crisp crust. Ordinary ingredients done well. Delicious!
ingredients:
- 1 lb prepared short crust pastry
- (alternately make enough pastry for two crusts)
- 2 TBS butter
- 1 medium onion or leek, trimmed, washed
- and thinly sliced (leek) or chopped (onion)
- 2 stalks celery, trimmed and chopped
- 2 small sweet bell peppers, trimmed and chopped
- (I used green and yellow)
- 35g plain flour (1/4 cup)
- 3/4 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 240ml chicken or vegetable broth (1 cup)
- 180ml milk (3/4 cup)
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 (170g) tins of boneless, skinless cooked salmon, flaked (12 ounces)
- a handful of snipped fresh parsley (optional)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Have ready a deep pie dish, or six individual pie dishes.
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the leek/onion, peppers and celery. Saute for 4 to 5 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Whisk in the flour, thyme, salt and cayenne. Add the broth and milk, and cook, stirring until the mixture is thickened and bubbly. Stir in the salmon, peas and parsley. Pour into the pie dish, or divide between the individual dishes.
- Roll the pastry out to fit the top of the casserole dish (s). If using individual ones, cut shapes large enough to sit on top of each. Place the pastry on top of the hot filling. Brush with beaten egg.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until crust(s) is/are golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes prior to serving.
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You could serve a nice mixed salad on the side of this tasty dish, or coleslaw, which would also be fabulous. I really think you are going to like this, or at least I hope you do! Bon Appetit!
Happy Valentines Day. I know that to many people it is just a huge money grab, and really, if you love someone you can celebrate that love for them any day of the year in large and small ways.
It is nice however, or at least I think it is . . . to do something out of the ordinary for your loved ones on this special day!!
When I was a child it was always marked by exchanging special cards with all of the children in my class at school . . . at least while I was in Primary school.
It wouldn't have gone over well in Middle or High School! (To say the least!)
In Primary school however, great care was taken in the run up to Valentines day picking and cutting out Valentines, gluing them together, gluing the envelopes and then deciding who you wanted to give what Valentine to.
Oh, you could always get the already cut out fancy boxes of cards . . . they cost a bit more . . . but, in all truth, I really enjoyed the whole exercise of cutting them out and putting them together. I've always been crafty in that way.
There used to be a contest at school for whoever had made the prettiest/most unusual box to collect your Valentines in. One year my mother helped me make my box using an old chocolate box.
It was all decorated with white crepe paper and looked like a cake. On the top were little hearts standing upright on toothpicks, with little sayings on them . . . like a field of valentine flowers.
I won the prize that year (rightly or wrongly) and I have never forgotten how pretty the box was. It is one of my happy mom memories in the annals of my heart.
These brownies are so special and yet so simple to make. You can use a boxed Brownie mix (I used Ghirardelli. You get it as Costco.) or you can use your favourite brownie recipe.
I have an excellent recipe here for Fudge Walnut Brownies.
They are excellent brownies (both the boxed mix and the from scratch ones.) You can't go wrong with either one.
Just bake them in a paper lined muffin tin. I used Valentine wrappers, but really paper wrappers never look great after you bake in them.
Most of the pictures/patterns on them just kind of disappears into blah, blah, blah . . . so plain brown paper cups will work just fine, and might even look better.
Bake them to the degree that you enjoy your Brownies, as fudgy or as cakey as you like. The longer you bake them the cakier they will be.
Once they are baked, take them out of the tin and let them cool on a wire rack.
While they are cooling you make a really simple chocolate ganache topping.
Its as simple as chopping chocolate and then pouring hot cream over it. Let is sit, and then stir to melt the chocolate. Once it is all amalgamated together you spoon it over the top of the brownies.
After that you just need to pop one of your favourite chocolates on top, and let it all set up.
Its as simple as that. Easy peasy an look at how cute they are!
I can't think of anyone who wouldn't enjoy one of these delicious little cakes!
Well, my husband maybe . . . because he doesn't like chocolate cakes of any kind . . . but I know a neighbour of mine who is really going to enjoy these!
She's had a bit of a rough go lately and I reckon these will really cheer her up!
Yield: 12
Chocolate Box Brownies
prep time: 5 minscook time: 40 minstotal time: 45 mins
Something cute to share with those you love on Valentines Day. You can either use your favourite Brownie Recipe or a mix. They are a very simple bake and really cute!
ingredients:
- 1 box of Brownie Mix (I used Ghirardelli)
- (Or your favourite Brownie recipe)
- For the Ganache:
- 115g of bittersweet chocolate, chopped (4 ounces)
- 150ml double cream (2/3 cup)
- You will also need a box of assorted chocolates
instructions:
- Preheat the oven to the temperature recommended on your box of brownie mix, or according to your recipe for Brownies. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners. Following the directions on the box or in the recipe, make the brownie batter and then spoon it into the lined muffin cups, dividing it equally. Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes, or until the tops are glossy and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out a little wet (if you want fudgy brownies) or clean (If you want drier brownies.)
- Remove the paper cups from the pan and set aside to cool on a wire rack.
- To make the ganache, put the chopped chocolate into a heat proof bowl. Measure the cream into a small saucepan. Bring the cream just to the boiling point. Pour over the chopped chocolate and let it sit for a few minutes. Whisk together to melt the chocolate and make a smooth mixture. Spoon the ganache over top of the brownies. Top each one with a chocolate. Leave to set completely.
- Store in an airtight container.
- Note - Alternately you can melt some white chocolate and drizzle over top in decorative manner.
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No matter what you do, or how you celebrate it, I hope that you have a really lovely Sweethearts Day! Bon Appetit!
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One of my favourite television shows, long before I even dreamt of moving over to the UK was a British soap opera called Coronation Street. I started watching it when I was still at school and had no idea that I would one day be living in the North West of England in a brick terraced house. Funny how life turns out!
It was a show my Aunt Freda loved as well. One of its charms for me was the gritty reality of it. Not very many people on it were wealthy . . . no were they drop dead gorgeous, like in the American soaps. Plus they had jobs that they worked hard at . . . for the most part they were ordinary working class folk. I believe it is the longest running soap on television in the world.
A lot of the social life in the show centred around the Rover's Return Pub, which also let out rooms as a B&B on occasion. True to life there. Most communities over here have their own "local" as a pub is lovingly known as, and they are truly gathering places and the heart of the community in most cases.
As a pub/local the Rovers Return also served some simple food. Mostly sandwiches, potato chips, nuts and salty snacks, in addition to the drinks . . . but also one of the most famous and popular things on their menu was Betty's Hot Pot.
Betty Turpin was a barmaid in the Rover's Return and Betty's Hot Pot was her signature dish.
Hotpot is a very regional Lancashire dish consisting essentially of meat, onion and potatoes left to bake in the oven all day in a heavy pot and on a low heat. Originating in the days of heavy industrialisation in Lancashire in the north west of England, it requires a minimum of effort to prepare.
There are many regional variations, and it is frequently found listed amongst the usual pub grub dishes in various hostelries around Britain. The basic recipe consists of a mix made up of meat and vegetables (carrot, turnip, potatoes, onions or leek) which are then covered with a buttery thatch of sliced potato or pastry. Don't you just love the idea of a "thatched" roof of potato covering the top?
The type of meat to be used in a true Lancashire hotpot is a matter of
some controversy, with many being of the opinion that it should be lamb
(with optional lamb kidneys) and some thinking it should be beef. As
much food can be added as will fit in the pot, so it is very easy to increase the quantities to serve more people as desired.
We like it with lamb, and today I actually decreased the amounts to create a dish perfectly sized for two people. It worked out very well.
I had posted it originally here, some ten years ago, but thought it would be a good idea to update the recipe with North American measurements, and with nicer photos. I believe it was one of the first recipes I posted on here, so an update was long overdue!
One thing remains true and constant about this dish and that is this . . . it is simply delicious. Humble, yet . . . it almost tastes gourmet . . .
It is culinary proof and a testimony to the fact that it really is the simple things in life which bring us the most pleasure!
Yield: 2
Lancashire Hot Pot
prep time: 15 minscook time: 2 hour and 30 minstotal time: 2 hours and 45 mins
A scaled down version of my original recipe. A deliciously humble dish which originated in Lancashire. There is no way to rush a hot pot. Long and slow cooking is its secret to tender tastiness.
ingredients:
- 1/2 TBS olive oil
- 350g diced lamb (3/4 pound)
- 1 onion, peeled and sliced
- 1 carrots, peeled and grated
- 1/4 medium swede (rutabaga) peeled and grated
- 300ml lamb stock (1 1/4 cup) (can use chicken stock)
- 1/2 TBS Worcestershire sauce
- 1 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 350g of potatoes, peeled and cut into thin slices (3/4 pound)
- softened butter
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
instructions:
- Pre-heat the oven to 165*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the meat in batches and fry it until browned on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon to a large casserole dish (one with a lid) as it browns. Set aside.
- Once all the meat it browned and removed from the skillet add the vegetables to the pan. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring them occasionally. Return the lamb to the skillet and pour over the stock. Add the Worcestershire sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix it all in well and then carefully pour the mixture back into the casserole dish. Tuck the thyme into the mixture, burying it.
- Cover the top of the mixture with a layer of half of the sliced potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and then dot with butter. Finish layering with the remaining potatoes and adding a final dusting of salt and pepper and dot once again with some butter. Put the lid on.
- Bake in the heated oven for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the lid and bake for a further hour until the meat is very tender and the "thatch" is nicely browned in places and tender as well. Serve hot spooned out onto hot plates along with seasonal green vegetables on the side and plenty of crusty bread and butter to mop up the delicious juices.
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This is comfort food in it's most basic, purest form. I like to serve it with a green vegetable on the side, but many serve it with red cabbage, which is quite traditional, as is some crusty bread to mop up all the juices! Bon Appetit!
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