Salmon Potato Cheddar Pie

I mentioned in a previous post that I haven't been feeling the soup love this winter.

But the weather has turned colder, so the yearning for comfort food kicked in.

I turned to one of my favorites.

Salmon Potato Cheddar Pie.

I really should call it Cheddar Salmon Cheddar Potato Cheddar Pie.

I'm guessing you figured out the key ingredient. :)

The recipe is one of my creations and it's really simple.

First I boiled potatoes and baked the salmon filets.  (The amount of each would vary according to your preferences. I definitely err on the side of potatoes.)

Sacrilege here - but I used deep dish pre-made pie crusts. This is easy, remember.  Those of you who are pie crust whizzes, feel free to whip up your own. I pre-bake the crust for about ten minutes, just long enough to make sure it won't be soggy.


Now comes the fun part.

A layer of shredded cheddar, a layer of potatoes.

I added in some sweet onion to this layer. It gives it a nice bite.

More cheddar.

I crumbled the salmon on top.

More cheese and potatoes.

I used the Kraft Triple Cheddar shredded cheese.

Place the crust on top. Then, you guessed it - sprinkle more cheese over the crust.  The first time I did this it was because I only had some broken pieces of crust left over and I was trying to fill it up. It was so delicious that it became an official step in the recipe.

Heat for about half an hour or until everything is heated through and the cheese is nice and melty. I took Fenway for a walk during this part and it was the exact right amount of time.

Enjoy!


My husband is not a fan of salmon so often if I'm making chicken pot pie for him, I'll whip up one of these and then I have lunches for a week.

Where's my Velveeta?

It's been all over the news. Kraft has announced a Velveeta shortage due to changes in production location! Oh, what to do for the Superbowl? Never fear. They promise the fast melting ingredient for the queso dip made famous will be in stock prior to the Big Game. Find the original recipe here. But Kraft is warning people in advance it will be hard to find afterwards!

This is actually called Velveeta LOAF on the Kraft.com website.

Now I have been around for a few decades so I've experienced a few product shortages.  I also am a WWII historical fiction writer so I know about shortages before my time. But the most traumatic time was the 70s. I remember it well.

The oil crisis in 1973 led to a gas shortage. Daddy was glad he had a VW Bug but he still had to wait in line an hour to get gas. Dinner was later because Daddy came home later. We watched every mile we drove in the family station wagon.

I inherited Daddy's bug when I went to college. Pictured here with our first house and ManO's Nova!

But 1973-4 was also the year of the infamous toilet paper crisis. Thanks to the writers for Johnny Carson, king of late night at a time when folks watched a few channels instead of hundreds, and a government official who remarked they were behind on getting bids on toilet paper supplied, people were in a panic. They took what Johnny said about not being able to find TP, added their own anxiety caused by the oil crisis, and voila. Toilet paper flew off the shelves.

So you can see I know panic over shortages. Just because I have four plus 24 packs of toilet paper in my upstairs closet does not mean I was scarred in any way. Never mind we are empty nesters.  

Ahem. Well, back to Velveeta. I can't argue with the smooth melt ability of the orange block. But if you want to try something different, here is an easy substitute that ends up with the same smooth texture. There are lots of recipes on the web but this is by far the easiest and so delicious.

2% Milk, cream cheese, and cheddar. That's it.

1) Combine two cups shredded cheddar, one 8 oz block cream cheese and a scant 1/2 cup of 2% milk in a small sauce pan. NOTE:  Do NOT use pre-shredded cheese because it will clump due to additives.

2) On medium heat, constantly stir ingredients with a whisk until smooth. You can turn the heat up a bit at the start but turn down to medium low as soon as the cheese starts to melt. Keep stirring with the whisk until smooth and there are no shreds of cheese left. Don't let it sit without stirring.

You will have this:

Smooth, creamy and NO flour added. Amazing.

Your substitute sauce is now ready to mix with salsa (fresh is fantastic to add) to make a great dip or pour over shells or any recipe where you would use one large block of Velveeta.

Are you worried about a Velveeta shortage? Do you have a favorite Velveeta recipe? Do you remember shortages on a mass scale or just when someone forgot to go to the grocery store?