Good Tempered Food

After running across a recipe similar to my mother’s salmon croquette recipe in The Deep South Natural Foods Cookbook, I thought there must actually be a “natural” salmon croquette recipe that used fresh salmon. What better place to look than in Good Tempered Food.

Tamasin Day-Lewis is a calm, collected cook. She has been on television in the U. K. but since she doesn’t throw pots of food at people, and call them names, her show hasn’t, as they say, made it across the pond.

Day-Lewis is the daughter of the poet Cecil Day-Lewis and the sister of Daniel Day-Lewis, so writing and performing probably come naturally to her.

Salmon Fishcakes

about 600g wild salmon, cooked
about 300g cooked potatoes, mashed without milk and butter
a handful of flat-leafed parsley, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs, beaten
85g stale wholemeal bread, baked in small squares in a slow oven to dry out for 15 minutes, then whizzed into crumbs
vegetable oil for frying

Mash the salmon into the potatoes roughly, so it still has coarse textured flak and is not a homogeneous puree. Season and throw in the parsley, then shape the mixture into 2cm thick cakes and place them on a large flat plate. Keep covered in the fridge for an hour or two to firm up, or longer if convenient.

Whisk the eggs on one large flat plate, and spread the dried bread crumbs on another. Dip the fish cakes first in the egg on both sides, then turn them into the bread crumbs, making sure the sides are well crumbed too. Place them on a third large plate. Heat a shallow film of oil, about 50ml in a frying pan over medium heat, Put the fishcakes in and fry for 4 minutes or so on a side until golden brown. Drain on a kitchen paper and serve two per person.

This is the last salmon recipe for a while, I promise!