Really Retro - Creamed Salmon and Peas

I frequently make this dish at the cottage, a place at which I revert to making a lot of unusual dishes due either to lack of key ingredients, or a dearth of required tools. Don't get me wrong, the cottage  kitchen contains lots of gadgets, many more than I have in my own home kitchen in fact; it's just that many of them look like ancient instruments of torture.

My mother used to make creamed salmon and peas. Despite being old-fashioned, it's a very easy-to-make, very comforting form of comfort food. You'll note that I used a puff pastry base, which turned out totally weirdly because I didn't have a rolling pin to roll the pastry properly, but the salmon and peas are equally good when served on toast. My mother used to butter slices of crustless white bread and jam them into muffin tins, then toast these in the oven until they formed crispy 'cups' used to hold the creamy mixture. I would have done the same had I had anything other than whole wheat soda bread available to me. 

Ingredients:

• 1 tin of high quality salmon, drained 
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• about 1 and 1/2 cups of milk
• about a cup of frozen peas
• 4 pieces of puff pastry baked, or pre-made vol-au-vent shells, or buttered toast, or toast 'cups'

Methods:
Open the tin of salmon , drain it and place the contents in a bowl or on a board to remove any dark bits of skin or large bones. Chunk the salmon into large pieces. In a medium-sized heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat, then add the flour, stirring the flour into the butter with a whisk to make a roux. Cook the roux for several minutes stirring constantly, then add the salt , pepper,  and 1 cup of milk and stir over a medium-low heat until a sauce is formed. You have just made Béchamel sauce, BTW. 

The sauce is likely to be very thick, so continue to add milk in small quantities while stirring until the sauce is at your preferred consistency. Traditionally, one might heat the milk before adding it, but I never do and it always works. Add the peas to the sauce and stir until they have warmed through, then add the chunks of salmon, again stirring gently until the salmon is also warm. Check the seasoning and adjust as you wish. Place two pieces of toast (or whatever base you have chosen to use) on a plate and spoon on the creamed salmon and peas. This recipe serves two generously (or should I say comfortably). 

It's a roux.

The source of the salmon