A Family Favorite From Scratch - Salmon Loaf

 As the Friday cook in a Catholic family while I was growing up, I learned to cook a lot of fish dishes. Salmon Loaf Supreme was one of them. I loved to make this because once it was put together and into the oven, it took about an hour to bake. Baked potatoes could be put in the oven at the same time and, a little later, a chocolate pudding cake could join all these items so that there was a yummy dessert, too. A green salad or some steamed veggies added to the dinner plate was all that was needed, so I had some time to enjoy myself while all the dinner items baked.

We had some lovely salmon during the week before Christmas, but there were leftovers, so I thought of ways to use them up. My first thought was salmon chowder, but then I remembered salmon loaf. Sweetie loves it and the warm oven warms the house, too, a consideration when it is cold and rainy out. The only problem was that I didn't have the condensed cream of mushroom soup the recipe calls for. Guess I get to make my own!

The Joy of Cooking cookbook has a cream sauce recipe that sounded like it would make a thick cream sauce that would work. I used leftover bacon grease for the fat, chopped fresh mushrooms, celery, and onion to cook in the bacon grease for the appropriate flavor and veggies, and used slightly more flour than for a regular cream sauce. Now that I can use regular milk, the sauce didn't have sweetness that sometimes comes with using nut or soy or coconut milk, so the sauce was savory and delicious. I added some chopped parsley, too, plus salt and pepper. No red pepper on hand, so I skipped that. Bread crumbs add stability, as do the egg. Lemon zest and juice add zing. The salmon had the skin removed and I then shredded it with my hands to flakes. All this took far longer than just using canned soup, canned salmon, and some bread crumbs and lemon, which is what the recipe I used as a child had. Helps me understand why housewives in the 50s were so taken with using commercial canned goods - much less work!

This salmon loaf was head and shoulders above my childhood loaves! The salmon flavor was fresh and robust, the texture was more tender and overall it was more enjoyable. Sometimes it's easier to do it the hard way, as Max used to say.

Below is the original recipe and then the variation I did this time. Feel free to make either one. Sometimes it just depends on if you have the ingredients on hand or more time to play in the kitchen.

Salmon Loaf Supreme

½ Cup salad dressing
1 Cup  diluted condensed cream of celery soup
1 egg, beaten
½ Cup chopped onion
¼ Cup chopped green or red pepper
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
2 Cup flaked salmon (pink or red)
1 Cup fine bread crumbs

 Combine first seven ingredients and mix well. Add the salmon and bread crumbs and combine well. Pack into a greased 4” x 8” x 2” loaf pan; bake 1 hour in a 350 degree oven. Turn out of pan into platter. Garnish with lemon wedges and serve. Serves 6-8

From Scratch Salmon Loaf Supreme

½ Cup salad dressing or mayonnaise
Cream Sauce with mushrooms, celery and onion (see below)
1 egg, beaten
¼ Cup chopped green or red pepper (optional)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
zest from 1 lemon
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 Cup flaked cooked fresh salmon (pink or red), skin removed (ours was grilled)
1 Cup fine bread crumbs or stale baguette crumbs, ground fine in food processor

 Combine first eight ingredients and mix well. Add the salmon and bread crumbs and combine well. Pack into a greased 4” x 8” x 2” loaf pan; bake 1 hour in a 350 degree oven. Turn out of pan into platter. Garnish with lemon wedges and serve. Serves 6-8

Cream Sauce with Mushrooms, Celery, and Onion

3 Tablespoons bacon grease or butter
1/2 pint fresh mushrooms, wiped clean and diced
1 stalk celery, diced fine
1/2 Cup chopped onion
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 Cup milk (I used whole but reduced fat is fine)
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley

 Saute' mushrooms, celery and onion in the hot bacon grease in a medium pot. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add the milk all at once and stir vigorously to combine with the slurry in the pot until well combined and any part sticking to the bottom of the pan has been incorporated. Continue stirring until mixture thickens. Should be about the consistency of condensed soup. Use in Salmon Loaf Supreme recipe.