Salmon Cakes

Well, I'm not sure where December went to and January is quickly disappearing as well.  I have started various posts about all the goodies we enjoyed over the holidays, but like many of you I am over the holidays and already back in the rhythm of regular days.

While my days have gotten back to normal, I haven't found my blogging rhythm yet, so to get me started I thought I would share our meal from January 2nd.  All of our company had left.  We were tired of vacation and tired of what felt like constant eating.  We wanted something light, simple and comforting, that would begin working our way through leftovers.  The answer - salmon cakes.

I remember eating salmon cakes as a kid and loving and hating them.  My mom made them using canned salmon, which is a fine option, but canned salmon doesn't always contain the best cuts of the fish.  The result is salmon cakes with a funny texture.  Some bites are wonderfully smooth a great blend of flaky fish and flavorful filler, other bites though, are a little crunchy as those pieces that maybe should have gone on the processing room floor somehow wound up in the can.  It is one of those things that it is best not to give too much thought to.  My taste buds loved the flavor of salmon cakes, but my brain did not like those random crunchy bites.

Now when I make salmon cakes I use the second cuts of the fish, but I make sure it is fish we have cut.  I love getting a whole salmon at COSTCO and cutting it up, or more accurately having Mike cut it up.  The upper cuts are used for grilling and lower cuts by the tail are poached, flaked and used to make this super simple dinner.  Apparently the tails are also great for playing with.  Making the tail dance is optional and not an important part of the recipe or filleting a fish.

Salmon Cakes

Printer Ready

1 lbs. Poached Salmon flaked
½ cup Finely chopped red (or green) pepper
2 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
½ cup Dried Breadcrumbs
⅓ cup chopped parsley
¼ cup Mayonnaise
¼ cup Dijon mustard
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°
Put all ingredients in large mixing bowl.  Gently mix together until thoroughly combined and moistened.  Form mixture into 5-6 equal sized patties.  Place patties on lightly oiled baking sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  

I love serving these on a soft roll that has been covered with a creamy red pepper or lemon dill sauce.  

Another Squash Recipe

It must be Fall, it seems as if we are eating squash in some form with every meal.  Most weeks we have at least one meal with squash as the main dish, then if there are leftovers it reappears later in the week.  As much as I like squash I am running out of ideas and I don't know how many more times I can get the kids to eat squash soup.  Tonight I paired leftover acorn squash with pasta, not original but always popular.   The squash had been baked with brown sugar and butter, so it was pretty sweet, to balance out the sweetness I added bacon, sage, chicken stock and a little heavy cream.   I like a nice crusty bread with every meal, but there was none in the house so I baked off some pita chips, not the same but helped provide a nice crunch, some pumpkin seeds or nuts sprinkled on top would have also been a good addition.  It was a good quick meal and used up some leftovers, and I'm always happy when I can use those dreaded leftovers. 

Squash and Pasta

2 Acorn Squash - baked with butter and brown sugar, skin removed
1 lb Pasta cooked (I only had bow ties, but penne or rigatoni would be best)
5 Strips bacon diced
1 onion
1 Tbs. Fresh Sage finely chopped
1 cup Chicken stock
1/4 cup Heavy cream
Parmesan cheese

Saute bacon, add onions.  When bacon is browned and onions are soft add sage cook just to release flavor.  Add stock, heavy cream, squash and pasta heat until warm.  Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

Stomboli

We were supposed to go out on Friday night, but after a long week we just weren't up for it and decided to change plans.  Which meant we need something for dinner that would be quick and easy.  Enter, Stromboli.  I am a fan of anything that hides some of its ingredients and allows the use of those random bits of food that you have leftover at the end of the week.  This week we had some marinara sauce, one uncooked chicken breast, a head of broccoli and some mozzarella.  I made the pizza dough and while it was rising I poached the chicken in white wine and steamed the broccoli.  I used my steamer pot to cook the chicken and steamed the broccoli above it.  Once the chicken and broccoli were cooked I diced them into small pieces.  When the dough was done I divided it in half and rolled it out into two rectangles.  Spread the marinara sauce, leaving about 1/2" boarder on the edges.  Then sprinkeled the chicken, broccoli and mozzarella on top.   Bring the sides up and crimp together, closing tightly.  Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with parmasan cheese, bake at 400 for about 30 minutes.  Serve with a nice salad and you have a great, sort of quick meal.