Salmon Pie

This recipe is based on salmon coulibiac, a pie of Russian origin containing rice, fish, dill, onion and mushroom. In this version I left out the mushroom and because I happened to have some leftover roasted butternut squash I added that. I don't like dill, so I replaced it with tarragon. This makes quite a large pie, enough to serve about 8 people. In Delia Smith's version, she suggests serving it with foaming hollandaise sauce.

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tsp dried tarragon

1 oz butter

100g basmati rice, soaked for 10 minutes in cold water, rinsed and drained

3 hardboiled eggs, chopped

700g salmon

1 bay leaf

500ml vegetable or fish stock

2 sheets of puff pastry (about 600g)

optional - half a butternut squashed, roasted in oil, seasoned and chopped roughly (I had some left over!)

squeeze of lemon juice

seasonings

1 beaten egg

1. Preheat the oven to 190C.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy based saucepan and gently saute the onion with the tarragon until the onion is softened, but not browned.
3. Stir in the basmati rice, add the stock and bring to the boil. 
4. Cook for around 15 minutes, adding more stock if the rice boils dry, until the rice is just cooked and all the liquid absorbed. Leave to cool.
5. Meanwhile, put the salmon on a large sheet of foil, squeeze some lemon juice over and season with salt and pepper. Fold the foil over to form a loose parcel and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
6. When the salmon is just cooked, remove it from the oven, pour any liquid from the salmon into the rice and leave the salmon to cool.
7. Flake the salmon into a large bowl and stir in the chopped egg.
8. When everything is cool, place one sheet of the pastry on a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray.
9. Spread half the rice mixture over the pastry, leaving a border of around 2 inches along each long edge.
10. Pile the salmon on top of the rice, pressing it down and shaping it into a brick shape.
11. Spread the other half of the rice over the salmon, pressing down again to shape into a brick.
12. Press the pieces of butternut into the top layer of rice.
13. Brush around the edges of the pastry with beaten egg.
14. Roll the second piece of pastry out so it is slightly larger than the first, and then use it to cover the first piece and the filling.
15. Press down the edges to seal the parcel, crimping them in a decorative manner. Use a knife to decorate the pastry eg with fishes or swirls.
16. At this stage you can cover the pie with cling film and refrigerate overnight until you are ready to bake it.



Layering the rice and salmon

17. Brush with beaten egg and bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. 

Adding an optional layer of roasted butternut

Crimped and decorated and ready for an egg wash

Lime Coriander Rice

We had this with some vegetarian chili and some Mexican style belly pork carnitas and it was really good. We had tortillas too, so this quantity was fine for six, but without the tortillas you might need to make a bit more. If you really like lime, you could add the zest and juice of another one as it was quite subtle. It would probably also go well with Thai dishes.

Serves 4 - 6

300g basmati rice
1 onion, finely chopped
sunflower oil
bunch fresh coriander, finely chopped
salt
chopped red chili (optional)
juice and zest of one lime
2 1/14 cups water

1. Rinse the rice, then soak for about 15 minutes in cold water. Drain and rinse again.
2. Fry the onion (and chili if using) in sunflower oil in a heavy based saucepan until soft and slightly caramelized.
3. Add the rice and finely chopped lime zest to the pan, stir it around for a minute to coat with the onion.
4. Pour in 2 and a quarter cups of cold water. Add 1/2 tsp salt and stir, then cover with a lid and simmer very gently for 15 minutes, by which time the water should all be absorbed and the rice perfectly cooked. Try to avoid lifting the lid and stirring too often - once should be enough if the heat is low.
5. Once the rice is cooked, remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice and coriander. Serve immediately.