Salmon Cakes

Last week, it was A's turn to cook and she was craving Salmon Cakes.   You did not hear any complaints from our grateful crew about A. surrendering to her hankering!  

This particular recipe calls for coating the prepared patties with panko bread crumbs.  Wikipedia explains that "panko is a variety of flaky bread crumb used in Japanese cuisine as a crunchy coating for fried foods. Panko is made from bread baked by passing an electric current through the dough, yielding bread without crusts, and it has a crisper, airier texture than most types of breading found in Western cuisine.”  I like to use panko breadcrumbs in my meatballs.

What makes panko bread crumbs different from regular bread crumbs the processing. Panko bread crumbs look like flakes or slivers of bread rather than their traditional, crumbly counterparts. Each panko flake or sliver covers more surface than a traditional crumb which results in a crispier, lighter coating. 

These patties were light, crispy and delicious indeed! Perfect topped with the sauce....either one.  Keep reading.

Salmon Patties
by: A
1 1/2 pound fresh salmon - diced into small pieces
1/2 onion - grated
2 pieces of white bread (pepperidge farm) diced very small
2 tablespoons mayo
Lemon zest and juice from one lemon
Fresh parsley
Salt and pepper

Combine all of above, shape into patties and place in freezer on parchment lined sheet pan for 20 -30 minutes

Coating preparation
Beat 2 eggs with a little oil and water in flat dish
Put flour in another flat dish
Put panko bread crumbs in a third flat dish

Dip patties in flour, then egg, then panko. Fry in a mixture of olive oil and butter until golden and cooked through.

Sauce
Combine ½ cup of mayonnaise, ½ cup of sour cream, lime zest and juice, chopped cilantro and finely diced jalapeno to taste. Add salt and pepper or whatever else you want.

A. had another tomato-based sauce prepared but she thought it was too tart so she whipped up the creamy number described above.  If that were me, I would have been all twitterpated causing me to hop in the car, rush to the Co-Op and buy a commercially prepared replacement, probably made by Stonewall Kitchen. That's why she's my cooking idol, next in line to Martha.

A. served the salmon cakes with oven baked asparagus and varigated carrots.