fish cakes

One of my husband's hobbies is fly fishing.  He even ties his own flies.  I never mind when he goes fishing because usually 9 of out 10 times it means he will come home with a reward!  Last Saturday while I was cooking my boeuf bourguignon, he was out fishing.  To my delight, he came home with six trout shown on the left.  I learned that trout has similar qualities to salmon.  It has a pink flesh and similar consistency to salmon.  The taste is more earthy than salmon.  So I like to find ways to hide the earthy-ness.

Then my challenge to think of ways to use this salmon.  This time I decided to make fish cakes.  Rather than the usual tarter, we enjoyed our fish cakes with sweet chili dipping sauce.  I made a side salad using our homegrown cherry tomatoes. My husband said he wouldn't mind if I made it again. Nice and easy meal.

If you don't have breadcrumbs at home, try making your own. I just take the ends off the bread that no one ever eats, and let them dry out. Then I bake them in the oven for about 10 minutes. Then pop them into a food processor to get your own homemade bread crumbs.  

Ingredients

• 2 large potatoes cut into big cubes
• 2 fillets of trout (or salmon)
• salt 
• pepper
• 1 cup of bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp flour

1. Boil the potatoes for about 10 minutes until they are tender.  When done, let them steam dry for a few minutes. Then mash them in separate bowl.
2. While potatoes are boiling, grill the salmon for about 10 minutes until fully cooked. 
3. Once the trout has cooled, break apart the trout into flakes into the mash.
4. Combine the trout and potatoes added some salt and pepper to taste. 
5. Make the fish cakes about 6cm (2 1/2 in) in diameter. You should have about 8 cakes.
6. Dip them in the flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. (Tip: I use different hands for this step.   I use my left hand for the dry ingredients, and my right hand for the wet ingredients.)
7. Chill the cakes in the fridge for about 30 minutes so fish cakes don't fall apart when you fry them.
8. Place about 3 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan on medium heat.  Cook the fish cakes about 4-5 minutes on both sides until they are nicely brown.
9. Serve with sweet chili dipping sauce or any dipping sauce of your choice.