salmon fishcakes
Soft, tender salmon with a deliciously crunchy coating.
It's the polenta – or maize flour – which makes these so crunchy and delicious. It is worth using the gram flour, too, as a base coat, but if you don't have any to hand you could just use polenta for both coatings. And if you want to prepare these ahead of time, you could cook the salmon and the potatoes the day before and then simply assemble into fishcakes on the night. Perfect for mid-week dinner with the family or a casual weekend lunch.
preparation time 15 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling time cooking 35 to 45 minutes serves 4
contains: egg
1 pound 2 ounces salmon fillets2 tablespoons olive oil1 pound 2 ounces potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks2 extra-large eggs, beatengram flour for dustingpolenta or cornmeal for dustingsea salt and freshly ground black pepper1 Heat the oven to 350°F. Place the salmon in a baking dish and drizzle half of the oil over. Cover and bake in the hot oven 20 to 25 minutes until cooked through.
2 Meanwhile, put the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Place over high heat, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down, cover with a lid, and leave to simmer 15 to 20 minutes until tender. Drain, return to the saucepan, and heat gently 1 to 2 minutes to dry out. Mash coarsely.
3 Take the salmon out of the oven, remove and discard the skin and any brown meat, and flake with a fork, reserving any juices. Mix together the flaked salmon, mashed potatoes, half the beaten eggs, the reserved cooking juices, and some salt and pepper, taking care not to break up the fish too much. With wet hands, shape the salmon mixture into 8 balls, then flatten them slightly to form fishcakes.
4 Spread the gram flour out on a plate and the polenta or cornmeal out on a second plate. Dip each fishcake into the gram flour to coat it, then into the remaining beaten egg, then finally into the polenta or cornmeal until well coated. Place on a clean plate, cover with plastic wrap, and leave to chill in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes.
5 Heat the remaining oil in a large, heavy-bottom skillet over medium heat. Add half the fishcakes and cook 4 to 5 minutes on each side until golden brown. Keep warm while you cook the remaining fishcakes. Serve with vegetables or mixed salad leaves.
related ingredients: corn/maize
