At the fabled Bisson’s butcher shop on Meadow Road in Topsham, where the beef or dairy you buy there comes from the cows grazing across the road, the least likely treat from their freezer case is Bisson’s salmon pie. It’s an old family recipe that’s highly regarded by regulars and staff. As with the other pies that the shop makes–beef and chicken–salmon seems an unlikely choice where meat otherwise reigns.
Bisson’s salmon pie
But there it is and I’ve wondered about it for years. I finally bought one, which I served at dinner this week. It’s a rich pie filled with salmon (probably canned) mixed in with mashed potatoes and finely diced carrots. The pie dough is your basic short crust made with vegetable shortening.
But one of the Bisson ladies suggested that I serve it with a white sauce enriched by adding hard-boiled eggs. This is a very New England style recipe, typical of a Marjorie Standish recipe.
To bake the pie put it in a 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours if it’s frozen or an hour if thawed. Then with each serving ladle over the white sauce that’s enriched with sliced hard-boiled eggs.
I loved the pie and it was one of the easiest dishes to prepare for a simple supper at home.
Ingredients
- 1 Bisson's salmon pie
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
- White Sauce
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups heated whole milk
- Heavy cream, optional
- 1 small onion, peeled and cut in half
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Fifteen minutes before the pie is ready prepare the white sauce by melting the butter in a medium saucepan and whisk in the flour until thoroughly incorporated. Cook, over medium-low heat, for a few minutes, whisking constantly.
- Take the pot off the heat and add about a third of the warmed milk, whisking it in hard until smooth; add the second third, off the heat, whisking in hard. It will be very thick. Then return the pot to medium heat and add the remaining milk, whisking constantly until smooth. Add more milk or heavy cream for a sauce as thick as a pourable custard. Season generously with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add the onion and simmer the sauce gently for about 5 to 10 minutes, adding more milk or cream to thin the sauce to your preference. Add the sliced eggs and warm through for about a minute. Remove the onion and serve.
L & P Bisson’s Meat Market, 116 Meadow Rd., Topsham, ME 207-725-7215
