Rev: Salmon Cakes - EW Winter 04

[SueK]

I made these last night and they were quite good. Nothing to knock your socks off, but the fact that they were quick, easy, family loved them and they can be made ahead of time is enough to make them a repeater for me.

Here's the recipe from the EW site:

Easy Salmon Cakes
Winter 2004

If you are trying to boost your intake of omega-3s, try this easy classic. It is a great way to use convenient canned (or leftover) salmon. The tangy dill sauce provides a tart balance.

3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
15 ounces canned salmon, drained, or 1 1/2 cups cooked salmon
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 3/4 cups fresh whole-wheat breadcrumbs (see Cooking Tip)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Creamy Dill Sauce (recipe follows)
1 lemon, cut into wedges

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery; cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in parsley; remove from the heat.
3. Place salmon in a medium bowl. Flake apart with a fork; remove any bones and skin. Add egg and mustard; mix well. Add onion mixture, breadcrumbs and pepper; mix well. Shape the mixture into 8 patties, about 2 1/2 inches wide.
4. Heat remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add 4 patties and cook until the undersides are golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a wide spatula, turn them over onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining patties.
5. Bake the salmon cakes until golden on top and heated through, 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare Creamy Dill Sauce. Serve salmon cakes with sauce and lemon wedges.

Makes 4 servings.
323 calories per serving; 13 g total fat (1 g sat, 4 g mono); 133 mg cholesterol; 24 g carbohydrate; 32 g protein; 7 g fiber; 672 mg sodium.

To make fresh breadcrumbs: Trim crusts from firm sandwich bread. Tear the bread into pieces and process in a food processor until coarse crumbs form. One slice makes about 1Ú3 cup.

Creamy Dill Sauce

1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill or parsley
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.

Makes about 1/2 cup.
28 calories per tablespoon; 2 g total fat (0 g sat, 0 g mono); 2 mg cholesterol; 2 g carbohydrate; 0 g protein; 0 g fiber; 50 mg sodium.

[Karen in VA]

Thanks for posting. That sounds great and something that my kids, who love salmon, would enjoy.

[cniles]

Sue - did you use canned or fresh salmon? Just wondering....

Will have to add this to the to try pile(s)!!

[SueK]

I used canned salmon, and it worked fine. The dill sauce was fine, but I did not have fresh dill, so used dry. I'm sure it would have been much better with fresh dill, but it was still good. The lemon juice really perked it up.

[lhall]

Sue,
Do you think these would hold toegether if I reduced the bread crumbs. They look good, but DH is on Atkins and 24g is most of his daily allowance right now.

Leigh

[SueK]

Leigh- I actually only used about 1 1/4 cups of bread crumbs, so about 1/2 cup less than called for, and they held together fine. I did make them ahead of time and just chilled them in the fridge until dinnertime, so the chilling might have helped them stay together a bit better, too.

[lhall]

Thanks Sue. I'll put them in MC and get a carb count w/less breadcrumbs. I think I'll make them for Monday Night.

Leigh

[lhall]

We had these Tuesday night. Since DH is on Atkins I did reduce the breadcrumbs to about 1/4 cup. They were a little crumbly, but held together well enough for me. These were very good, I will definately make them again. The girls even liked the dill sauce (minus the green onion pieces).

Leigh

[imloulou]

I made these tonight and they were good. Like SueK said...not knock your socks off but I thought they were as good as any other salmon cake recipe I've made.

What I especially liked was the fact that they go in the oven for 15-20 minutes and that gives ya time to make a side dish, set the table...or just put your feet up with a glass of wine for a few minutes before dinner.

Thanks for posting the recipe SueK...I wont have to type it into MC!:D

[SusanL]

a can of salmon in the pantry. Thanks Sue. I will put them on next week's menu!!

[SusanL]

we enjoyed them, the only change I made was to add a dash of cayenne pepper. Good for a weeknight meal! I used less of the fresh breadcrumbs also. We loved the dill sauce! I couldn't keep the cat away from the salmon, but that is another story! Thanks SueK for posting this recipe.

[Linda in MO]

These were just like the others said...good but not great. I also liked the dill sauce but had to use the parsley. I added a few shakes of dried dill but think it would be better with the fresh. I'm the only one in my family that ate the sauce though. :rolleyes: I also added kosher salt to both the cakes and the sauce. I think I also added a bit of cayenne like Susan suggested. Not sure if I'll repeat these or not.

Anyone have any other tried and true salmon cake recipes?

[Lynn B]

We liked these a lot. Easy, quick and yummy. I used dried dill and delicious smoked (canned) salmon we toted back from Alaska. Mmmmm!

Lynn

[SusanL]

Thanks for bringing this up. I plan to make them again this week. I think that the fresh dill is a must in this recipe plus some cayenne pepper. It is a really quick weeknight meal for us!

[Linda in MO]

Yes, I think I would have liked these better with fresh dill. Also, to be fair, I had to use a foil packet of salmon because my store was out of the cans and I think they have less salmon in them. So I think my mixture was probably a bit short on salmon.

Oh, one more comment...I was wondering how these would be with cajun seasoning?? It might not taste right with the dill but you could just use the parsley in the sauce.

[Peggy]

I made these last week and really liked them. I thought the dill sauce was great! A nice change from crab cakes (which are wonderful but so much more expensive to make). Will most likely make this again during the Lent season. Can't have too many good fish recipes!!

Peggy

[RebeccaT]

Originally posted by Linda in MO

Anyone have any other tried and true salmon cake recipes?

I chose not to make these because I like the ones from CL a couple of years ago so much! I can't imagine these being better, although if anyone has a comparison I'd love to hear what they think!

Here's the CL one:
Crispy Salmon Cakes With Lemon-Caper Mayonnaise

Recipe By :Cooking Light Magazine. April 2001. Page: 128.
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Fish

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
Flavored mayonnaise:
6 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
2 teaspoons capers
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Salmon Cakes:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil -- divided
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
3/4 cup crushed fat-free saltine crackers (about
20 crackers), divided
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cans (7.5-ounce) salmon, drained, flaked, and
bone pieces removed
1 large egg, lightly beaten

1. To prepare flavored mayonnaise, combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl; cover and chill.

2. To prepare salmon cakes, heat 1 teaspoon oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and celery; saute 4 minutes or until tender. Combine onion mixture, 1/2 cup crackers, mustard, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, salmon, and egg in a medium bowl. Divide salmon mixture into 4 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty. Coat each patty with 1 tablespoon crackers. Cover and chill 20 minutes.

3. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Add patties; cook for 5 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Serve the salmon cakes with flavored mayonnaise. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cake and 1-1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise).


NOTES :
Chilling the patties for these salmon croquettes keeps them from falling apart when you cook them in the skillet. The lemon-caper mayonnaise--used here instead of commercial tartar sauce--is also great with other fish.

Nutritional Information:
306 calories (32% from fat), 11g fat, 22.8 g protein, 27.3 g carb, 1.1 g fiber, 55 mg cholesterol, 3 mg iron, 1214 mg sodium, 215 mg calcium

[doggerham]

Do you think this would be good with canned SMOKED salmon? I have some from the pacific NW somewhere, where you catch your fish, and its canned right there for you. It is AMAZING stuff (or at least the plain was, haven't tried the smoked yet)

Amy

[Linda in MO]

Thanks Rebecca! I'll definitely try that recipe. :)

Amy, I believe Lynn used canned smoked salmon...see her post above.

[Lynn B]

Originally posted by doggerham
Do you think this would be good with canned SMOKED salmon?


Yep, as Linda moticed... I used canned smoked Alaskan salmon, and it was DIVINE. I often use smoked salmon (when I have it) in place of regular... IMHO, it only makes things BETTER! :)

Lynn

[Mary Ann]

Just bumping this up to say thanks for posting this. We really enjoyed it. They really were easy to make, although it was my first experience with canned salmon, so it took me a minute to get over the skin and bones in the can :eek:

I only used 1/2 c. of fresh bread crumbs, which seemed like plenty.

A definite repeater here.