Solar Salmon Pie

Thought I'd check out the grounds before cooking.  Isn't this a great winter harvest scavenged from the gardens and yard? Some fresh chard, purslane, green onions, garlic chive, rosemary, thyme, and oregano, decided to check out our unusually warm winter days and, now, it's just a matter or putting it all to good use. Let me go on record to say that the temperatures do NOT make me very happy. I have fruit trees that need their wintering and I will thank Mother Nature to stop interfering in the process. I do understand that my pastry fish isn't shaped like salmon; but, then, I'd have to carve out the river and the bear, too, and that just seemed a bit much...

 

 

The purslane will be a nice addition to the chard and I won't have to go into my dehydrated chard cache. I want to try something a little different in the solar oven, today, and glad that old Mr. Sun is shining while I can still remember the thought! I'm going to use two round 9" pans to bake the pie and remove the top in the last half hour for browning. If it doesn't work, I have no problem browning inside with my kitchen torch.

Salmon Pie

1 14-3/4 oz can salmon
1 15 oz can diced potatoes, rinsed (or, two med potatoes, pre-cooked, peeled and diced)
1 egg
2 large green onion bulbs and a small amount of green stems
8 or 9 medium chard leaves, chopped and lower stem removed
1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
6 or 7 garlic chive stems, chopped fine
1 T lard
1 T unsweetened butter
1-1/2 T flour
1-1/2 cups water or vegetable broth
1/2 tsp mace
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/8/ tsp black pepper
1 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
1/2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
1/8 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped

1/4 cup white wine, optional
pie crust for one topping
paprika

Over med-high heat in heavy skillet, saute spices until you can start to smell them, add onions and bell pepper and cook until soft; add flour and let cook until it begins to brown and then slowly add water and keep stirring to prevent lumps. A quarter cup white wine will pop it up a notch!

In large bowl, mix salmon, potatoes, and egg, together. Add herbs and greens to mixture in skillet, stir to combine, and then add salmon mixture. Remove from heat and mix thoroughly but gently. Pour into baking pan.

Cover with pie dough and cut to fit inside baking pan. Make slits in top to allow steam to escape. Add optional decorative dough piece and make slits through design. Cover with second inverted baking pan and secure with two or three binder clips.

Place in SolarWear(tm) and bake in solar oven at 275F for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Remove top baking pan and return to oven to brown top of crust, or use kitchen torch.  Share with loved ones.  A touch of citrus is a delicious counter to the pie; don't you think?