Red Salmon, Basil And Parmesan Fish Cakes

I love a good fish cake, and you can always rely on Belinda Jeffery to give you a good recipe - for anything!  This is from Belinda's book In Belinda's Kitchen.  I've mentioned before (probably more than once) how I went to one of her cooking classes with a friend; she was waving her knife around and I was waving my hand around, and the two met mid-air.  Blood and swooning all over the place!

And then I went to another class with a different friend.  No blood this time, but I came over all faint and had to lie down for a while.  Who knows why?  So odd.  Belinda no longer holds classes, but does demos at food festivals, etc.  No, not my fault ...  :=)

add a bit of salad and some mash

Makes 9 or 10 small patties: (Belinda says this feeds 2-3)

ingredients:

1 x 415g./15 oz can of red salmon (or use 2 x 210g./7.5 oz cans)

40g./1.4 oz of cold smoked salmon (optional)    see Notes

2 large spring onions, finely chopped

1/4 cup (c.25g./1 oz) celery, very finely diced

2 Tbs of basil (either fresh or lightly-dried), finely chopped if using fresh

2-3 tsp chives, finely chopped (I used lightly-dried)  (optional)

1/2 large red chilli (or one small), finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon of Tabasco (or your fave hot sauce)

1/2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup (75g.) of mayo

sea salt flakes and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

2-3 Tbs panko breadcrumbs, or regular if that's your fancy

extra panko breadcrumbs (about 4-5 heaped Tbs) or plain flour, for coating

2-3 Tbs EV olive oil, for frying 'em up

basil leaves and wedges of lemon, for serving

A green and/or a potato salad to go with ...

Basil mayo:

Make your own mayo if you have the time or inclination, otherwise use good quality bought stuff (Kewpie is my fave) - 2/3 cup - around 200g./7 oz

1/3 cup (30g.) parmesan, freshly grated - or more!

10 large basil leaves, finely chopped

a splash or a dash of Tabasco or sriracha  (optional)

Method:

Drain the fish, remove the skin and bones, and place into a large mixing bowl 

Grab a fork or small tongs, and break it up into big flakes

Now add the spring onions, celery, basil, chilli, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, mayo, salt and pepper

Then add most of the panko/breadcrumbs - add more or less according to the moistness of the fishy mixture

Mix it all very gently so as not to break the fish up too much, then let it sit for a few minutes to recover its equilibrium

Shape into 9-10 small patties, about 1.5 cm/0.5 inch thickness

Put them on a baking-paper-lined tray or plate, cover loosely with plastic wrap and whack 'em into the fridge for at least half an hour

For the mayo:

Stir all the ingredients together in a small-ish bowl, taste for seasoning, then place in the fridge till the patties are fried up

The patties:

Take 'em out of the fridge, lightly coat in panko or plain flour, and place into your non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat - don't forget to heat up the EVoo first!

Fry them five minutes each side, or till crisp and brown

Drain on paper towel

Serve with the salad, mayo etc

Will last in the fridge for a few days, in a well-sealed container

Notes:

I just happened to have a slice or 2 of smoked salmon in the fridge so bunged that in as well!

Another funny story about the cooking classes - they were held in the Northern Rivers region of NSW, about 2.5 hours away, so we stayed at a holiday apartment, with our friend.  We were told very emphatically that we had to be super-careful about cooking in the tiny kitchen as the smoke alarm was very sensitive.  And we would have to pay for the emergency services!  

So, we were careful (takeaways for dinner, no cooking), and went to bed - only to be woken up by a screaming alarm, (thankfully not ours), several fire trucks, firies, police, neighbours etc, and had to run out the front in our pyjamas.  A very exciting night!  

ingredients gathered

ready for chilling 

and now ready for frying

stir up the mayo

get Mr P. to fry 'em up - hehehe

aaaaand flip!

and eat!  Where did that mash come from? :)

c. Sherry M.