Salt Cod Pie -- Dill and Bacon

Another salt cod pie recipe? You betcha. Can there ever be too many? This recipe adds in cream and bacon- very traditional complements to salt cod- and dill, which you'll sometimes see Gaspesians pairing with salt cod fish cakes.  


The Filling

2 Onions

4 cloves garlic

2 large russet potatoes

1 tbsp black pepper

1/4-1/2 cup diced bacon (szalonna pref.)

2 lbs salt cod

1 carrot

1 celery

1.5 cups fish stock (dashi)

1 cup cream

5 sprigs thyme

1 bay leaf

5 sprigs oregano

1/4 cup dill

2 green onions

optional 1 tbsp rice flour (sub. cornstarch)

Bake your potatoes on a bed of salt at 425F. The flesh under the skin, when done, should be browned. Scrape them out and mash when done. While the potatoes are cooking, cook down your onions, bacon, and garlic in a lightly oiled pan. Once the onions are soft, add reconstituted cod, pepper, carrot, and celery. Continue to cook for a few minutes. Add dashi, thyme, oregano, and bay leaf.  Hold at a simmer and add the mashed potatoes. Cook until thickened. Add cream, dill, and green onion and continue to cook, while stirring for another 2 minutes. If the filling is too soupy to fill a pie, add in some rice flour or corn starch to thicken it. Salt to taste, but it should be salty enough from the cod.

Double pie crust recipe (leave out the sugar, sugar)

Makes 2 pies.

Troubleshooting Tips

• Always taste your filling before you put it in your pie
• If it is too salty, dilute it with more mash or some reduced cream (yes, you can reduce cream as you would a stock)
• If  you've overcooked  it, some of your ingredients were of poorer quality, or generally you find your filling is not tasty enough:
• Add a shot of wine to the sauce at the end
• Add some fresh herbs to the filling (they may have been overcooked in the court bouillon)
• Add some pan roasted fennel seeds to the filling (1/2 tsp max)
• Add a tbsp of mustard to the filling
• Crumbly Pie crust
• Overworked dough
• Soggy Pie
• Your filling was too wet
• Always taste your salt cod before you put it in your filling
• If it is too salty, soak it a bit longer
• If it is not salty enough, you will have lost some of the flavour while you're at it, but you can't re-salt it.  Just add a pinch of salt to the pie.