Salmon Pie & Plum Spoon Bread

Tonight we made a recipe I have been wanting to try for a long time. We didn't really care for it, so I don't want to name the chef because I like really like her.  I know I didn't make it perfectly because there was some liquid on the parchment and it made the bottoms soggy.  The flavor was pretty good, but it was nowhere as good as the smell promised.  Also, while I didn't find it too labor intensive, it was more work than I wanted to do for the average results.  I also used sockeye salmon and for the money, I have much better recipes.  The best part of the meal is the dessert.  It is from an older issue of Food & Wine. (2008)  It is a spoon bread, and it came from the feature "Test Kitchen".  I love this feature.  This particular one was about a seasonal fruit dessert.  The same basic recipe can be used to create variations on the same dessert. (cobbler, crisp etc...)  I LOVE it made with plums!  It is so freakin' awesome!!  I haven't tried all the variations, but have tried all kinds of fruit.  (go with plum and a variety if you can)  The dessert is a keeper, but we won't be making the salmon pie again.

  Salmon Pie

  4 Servings

      4    (6-ounce) center cut salmon fillets,skin removed
      1    lemon,zested and juiced
           Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
      4 T  canola oil,divided
      1    medium Vidalia onion,chopped
      2 ea garlic,minced
      1 c  chopped shiitake mushrooms stems discarded
      2 t  chopped fresh thyme leaves
      4 c  SPINACH,dried, and loosely packed fresh baby
    1/4 c  sour cream
      2    frozen puff pastry sheets defrosted
           Chopped fresh parsley leaves,for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Brush both sides of the salmon with 1 teaspoon lemon juice and sprinkle
with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.

Warm 2 tablespoons oil in 2 separate skillets over medium-high heat.
Add half of the onion and half the garlic to each pan. Season with salt
and pepper, to taste, and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in
the mushrooms and thyme into 1 pan and the spinach, lemon zest and
remain lemon juice in the other pan. Stir the spinach until it wilts,
then transfer it to a bowl and set aside. Saute the mushrooms until
they are reduced and tender, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and
stir in the sour cream. Set aside.

Trim the thinner ends of the salmon fillet so you have 4 pieces of even
thickness. Unroll a pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Pass a
rolling pin lightly over 2 or 3 times to seal the seams and lengthen
slightly. Cut the pastry sheet into 3 equal strips, using the natural
seams as a guide. Roll out the second puff pastry sheet to get 1 more
strip. Save remaining puff pastry for another use. Lightly prick the 4
strips with a fork. Put 1 heaping spoonful of mushroom mixture on 1
half of each pastry, top with salmon, then layer with a heaping
spoonful of spinach mixture. Wet the edges of the pastry with water and
fold over the other half, pressing lightly and folding to seal the
edges. Repeat with remaining pastry and filling. Cut 2 vents on the top
of each pastry packet and arrange them on a parchment-lined baking
sheet.

Bake until the pastry is golden and fish is just opaque in the center,
about 25 to 30 minutes.
Transfer the pies from the oven to serving dishes and garnish with
chopped parsley.

Spoon Bread
      Yield: 10 Servings

           Filling   
   4 pt Strawberries,Hulled And Quartered
      2 pt Blackberries
      2 pt Raspberries
    3/4 c  Sugar
      2 T  Cornstarch
           Batter  1 1/2 c  Flour
      1 c  Sugar
      2 t  Lemopn Zest
  1 1/2 t  Baking Powder
      1 t  Kosher Salt
      2    Egg
    1/2 c  Milk
      1 t  Vanilla
  1 1/2    Butter,Unsalted And Melted
[Note: you can change the topping to: cobbler, crumble or pound cake
crisp.  you can sub the 8pints of fruit for 4 pounds of stone fruit.  I
love plums!!  slice or cube the stone fruit.  If you want to use
blueberries, use 6 pints and 2 tbsp of lemon juice.  ]
Make the filling by tossing the berries with the sugar and cornstarch
in a bowl.  Let stand 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder and
salt.
In a small bowl whisk the eggs with the milk and the vanilla.  Whisk
the liquid into the dry ingredients until evenly moistned. then whisk
in the melted butter until smooth.
spread the filling into a 13x9" baking pan
spoon the batter over the top, leaving gaps
bake one hour until a toothpick inserted into the topping comes out
clean
let cool one hour