Duo of salmon fishcakes, minty pea puree and roasties

[Monkey Hanger]

The other thread today with the bean recipes got me thinking about food for the weekend. I’ve decided to make my all time fave again on Sunday and thought I’d pop it on here to share.

Just had a quick check in the recipe section (tbh I hadn’t even realised there was one!) and it’d be great if we could get a few more forummers to post a few of their faves in here.

I’m sure this would feed four but there’s never any left when two greedy pigs get their snouts into it!

Duo of salmon fishcakes with minty pea puree and quick roast potatoes.

Ingredients. (The quantities aren’t that exact I’m afraid as I tend to make it up as I go along)

For the fishcakes
200g skinless filet of wild salmon (raw)
100g of the best smoked salmon you can get your hands on (chopped as fine as you can manage)
1 medium potato (pre-cooked)
1 medium onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 medium-hot red chilli (seeds removed)
1 tbsp of finely chopped chives
1 tsp of balsamic vinegar
1 tsp of ketchup
Seasalt and black pepper
2 slices of stale white bread for crumbs
1 beaten egg
Olive oil and butter

For the peas
400g of fresh peas
1 large sprig of mint (I love the stuff so the more the better for me)
2 tbsp of crème fraiche

For the potatoes
1kg of your favourite spuds for roasting, peeled, halved and sliced into 5mm or so thickness
1 large sprig of rosemary
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1) Put the onion, garlic and chilli in a food processor and blitz til very finely chopped (as fine as you can get it).
2) Put these into a frying pan on a low heat with a small knob of butter and allow to slowly cook without browning.
3) After 15 mins or so add the pre-cooked potato and mash it into the other ingredients
4) Add the balsamic and ketchup and mix thoroughly together, season well and continue on a low heat for 5 mins
5) Put the raw salmon into the processor and pulse very very briefly til the salmon is broken up but not so that it turns mousse-y (tech term ).
6) Remove the frying pan from the heat and allow to cool for 5 mins
7) Add the salmon and chives to the pan and mix well with the other ingredients
8) Now for the messy bit.... take up a small amount of the mixture in your hand (depends how big you like your fishcakes I guess but I think this works best if they are relatively small as the salmon is raw and we want to cook them quickly without drying them out too much) , shape into a rough ball, made an indent with your thumb, add an amount of the smoked salmon to the middle and then reshape around it and flatten out slightly.
9) Continue til all the mix is done and then pop the fishcakes in the fridge for an hour or so to let the ingredients get to know each other and also to let the fishcakes firm up a little.
10) Put the cleaned pan back on the gas and whack up the heat to the highest setting. Put a really good glug of olive oil in the pan ( half a cup full??) and add the rosemary. Heat oven now to 180c.
11) When the rosemary starts to fry chuck in the spuds and cover with a lid. Don’t shake the pan or be tempted to toss the spuds yet.
12) After 4-5 mins take off the lid and give the spuds a good turn. (12bis: Step back from the cooker and run hand, which has been splattered by burning oil, under cold tap. Say ouch quite loudly!)
13) Replace lid and leave for another 4-5 mins.
14) Bring a pan of salted water to the boil
15) Turn spuds again and cover for another 2 mins
16) Drain off most of the oil and put spuds in the oven for 15 mins.
17) Add peas to water with some of the stalks from the mint and boil for 5 mins or so.
18) Clean frying pan, reduce heat and add a knob of butter and a few tbsps of oil
19) Dip the fish cakes in the beaten egg and roll them in the crumbs and gently fry for 5 mins on either side. We’re looking to cook the salmon through without completely drying out the smoked salmon middle.
20) Put the peas in the food processor with the mint add salt n pepper, blitz and add a slow continuous stream of olive oil. We want the peas to retain a little texture. Take the bowl and add the crème fraiche and mix well.
21) Spread a generous amount of the puree onto each plate, top with the fishcakes and add the spuds to the side.
22) Bon app!

[Beesknees]

I'm going to print this off and keep it in my receipe file as Mr BK would like it (when we are somewhere that we can afford fresh salmon!) I made him Thai salmon fishcakes last night (tinned salmon). Another great standby:

Thai salmon fish cakes

2 x 213g cans salmon drained
1 tsp Thai red curry sauce
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tbsp corn flour
zest of 1 lime
2 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves
1 egg beaten
salt and pepper
plain flour for coating
oil for cooking

Basically mix everything together and shape into small fish cakes. Coat fish cakes with flour. Place on baking sheet and chill for 1 hour.
Heat oil in large non stick frying pan and fry for 2 to 3 minutes each side.