Meal of The Day: Salmon Cakes

Salmon Cakes Served With Aioli, Mac and Cheese and a Blue Moon Beer

One of my passions, other than writing ridiculous stories about over sized NYC rodents, is cooking. There is nothing I like to do more than try out a new recipe and then subject friends and family to the "taste test". When in college the "taste test" job was not a preferred one until at least the second or third time I tried a dish. Evan can attest to many cooking classes when I was scared for our instructor to come near our station, let alone taste what we had concocted.

However, growing older has afforded me two things: 1. A kitchen that makes sense and doesn't require a bookshelf to store all of the pots and pans that Lauryn and I shared and always conned someone ELSE into washing, and 2. The ability to get a dish not only right the first time, but down right good! I am not one to toot my own horn, but when you have people fighting over being the "taste tester" it says something.

Last nights dish sounded a little scary. I have been reading a book that my grandmother gave me called What We Eat When We Eat Alone. (The fact that the title talks about me being "alone" is not lost on me, but regardless it is an interesting book.) One recipe caught my attention, "Marsha's Salmon Cakes". I love fish and I am always up for a new fish dish, but I will admit that the thought of Salmon Cakes alone were a bit scary. Crab cakes, fine...that we all know. Salmon burgers...okay I have had that before and they were good, but will salmon cakes be as good? That was scary enough but what scared me more was the fact that the recipe called for CANNED salmon. Even scarier was when I googled "What to serve with salmon cakes" and the answer was repeatedly mac and cheese. Salmon and Mac and Cheese?? Gross!! I was now even more scared, but I decided it was worth a try.

So I set off to the supermarket and even though I could have traveled to Wild Edibles to get some ground salmon I though that I would try this recipe the way it was stated in the book first. The result was MORE than a pleasant surprise. The salmon cakes were amazing. With a few tweaks of the recipe I made it my own and I think it will become a recipe that makes it way into the normal rotation. Next time I am going to try it with ground salmon, but as for now this dish is a must try! It's easy, fast and so tasty!

Here's the run down:

The original ingredients and recipe:

1 (7.5 ounce) can salmon, about 1 cup
1.5 Tablespoons minced scallions or onion
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 Tablespoon of mayo
1/2 to 1 teaspoon of mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg, small if you have one
1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons breadcrumbs (fresh or dried)
Olive Oil for frying

1. Open the can of salmon, pour off its liquid then turn it into a bowl. Break up with a fork and remove any small bones and skin. Add the scallions, parsley, lemon zest, mayo, and mustard, and mix everything together lightly with a fork. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Stir the egg into the fish with a fork, followed by the breadcrumbs.

2. Heat a cast iron or nonstick skillet and coat it with a film of oil. Shape the salmon mixture into patties. Slide them into the hot pan and cook about 5 minutes on each side. They should be brown and crisp on the outside, soft and moist within. Serve on a bed of arugula with lemon wedges, horseradish, mayonnaise, or sour cream.

How I modified the recipe:

I don't like parsley so I cut that out completely.

I'm also not a huge fan of mustard so I opted to go for 1/2 a teaspoon instead of increasing the amount to 1 full teaspoon.

When it came to the breadcrumbs I decided (mostly out of necessity because I had run out of plain bread crumbs) to make a mixture of Italian breadcrumbs, corn flake breadcrumbs, and some panko breadcrumbs. This mixture turned out to be a big plus in this recipe. The Italian breadcrumbs added a bit of taste, while the mixture of panko and corn flake crumbs gave the cakes the perfect crisp and crunch.

Also, mostly out of necessity, I changed the cook time. (I think the flame on my stove is super hot!) I cooked each side of the cake for about 3.5 minutes in order to keep them from getting to dark. The end result was a golden brown crust which left the cakes perfectly moist and yet still crunchy.

I also added decided to serve the cakes with a side of Aioli, Velveeta Mac and Cheese, a lemon wedge for seasoning, and a Blue Moon beer (the citrus in the beer really brought out the citrus in the cakes.)

The result: Delish! Try it out for yourself and tell me what kind of adjustments you made!

Aioli Recipe:
1 cup of Mayonnaise
6 cloves of garlic
1 Tablespoon of FRESH lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
a dash of garlic powder (optional)

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. Cover and chill well. **Make sure to chill your Aioli for at least 30 minutes before serving, however, the longer the better...the flavors will start to meld and mellow after several hours and will make an even better side sauce!

NOTE: This makes a lot...if you are only serving 2-4 people halve the recipe.