Nelson at the keyboard today…
Yesterday I woke up with fish on the mind (is that wierd?). We eat meat often… maybe a little too often. Since we didn’t have anything scheduled for the evening, I had a little extra time to drop by one of my favourite grocery stores (our local Longo’s) to do some shopping and look for inspiration for our dinner. I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for but the fresh wild salmon caught my eye…and it was on sale! Obviously there’s nothing like a proper fish market, and we do have one close to home, but I was already at the store and Longo’s does have nice fresh fish. I was also in a bit of a rush because I wanted to get home and get my mystery meal under way.
Fresh wild salmon and a sale price—it was a win-win situation and everyone at home loves salmon (even our pickiest eaters—and that includes Liz).
Once I had the salmon in my shopping cart, the next question was, “now what?” I often grill, bake or sear salmon, but I was in the mood for something different. As I was browsing through the store, I saw an overhanging sign with a picture of crab cakes (it was a sign…literally). The light bulb went off! Salmon cakes. I picked up some more goodies and headed home.
Our little guy wasn’t sold on this idea at first (having discovered this would be different than our traditional salmon dinners), but then I told him it would be like “chicken burgers”. I wonder how many more years I can use that one on him 🙂
The prep work was fast and easy (it helps to have a meat grinder). Also, while the salmon cakes were on the griddle, I had time to prepare the rice and salad. The end result was a fantastic meal that was quick to prepare but didn’t taste like it was rushed. Even Daniel got through most of the salmon cake without any major complaints!
Food gems like this can help turn a busy weeknight into a tasty and relaxing dinner. We hope you enjoy this twist on fresh salmon and the crab cake.
Eat well, friends!
- 2 tbs vegetable oil
- ½ red bell pepper (1/3 cup) finely diced
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- ½ small cooking onion finely diced
- 2 lbs fresh wild salmon ground (use a grinder or food processor)
- 3 tbs fresh parsley chopped
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup plain bread crumbs
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper freshly ground
- ½ tsp Old Bay Seasoning
- 2 tbs lemon juice freshly squeezed
- Grind the salmon. I use a Kitchenaid grinder attachment, but you can also use a food processor.
- Add ground salmon to a large bowl and all remaining ingredients accept for the vegetable oil.
- With clean hands, mix all the ingredients very well.
- Heat a cast iron pan or griddle to medium.
- Rub the oil evenly over the griddle surface.
- Using your hands, form a ball with the mixture, about the size of a billiard ball.
- Place the formed fish ball on the hot griddle and slowly pat down to form a round patty.
- Let the patty cook for about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Flip the patty over and let cook for another 3 to 4 minutes.
- Cut into the first patty to test the inside for doneness. Cooking times may very depending on the stove, cooking surface and patty thickness.
- Repeat (accept for cutting into the patty) until there's no mix left. IYou can typically make three at-a-time on a large griddle.
- Serve the salmon cakes with your favourite sides and enjoy!
Keep the stove at medium or just slightly higher to avoid burning the outside before it's cooked on the inside.
I plan on making this tonight!
I have one question, what is the sauce that you have on the side in the picture?
Hi Jadeley, I’m so sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. We had some server issues (still happening) and I could only get to your comment now. The sauce in the shot was actually the salad dressing which can also double up as sauce for the fish or a “dipable” for the bread 🙂 Let us know how it turned/turns out. Take care and happy weekend!