Way back in the 1970s, when my Anglican mother insisted we
have fish on Fridays, she’d wheel these out for dinner. My brothers and I
awarded her salmon fish cakes the highest of insults by drowning them in tomato
sauce. She made them with mashed potatoes, as this recipe calls for, but oddly
she also served them with mashed potatoes. She had economy of effort on her
mind, clearly. Even though she called them salmon fish cakes, she made them
with tinned tuna. Go figure.
These are one of the simplest meals to make, the
hardest part being the peeling of the potatoes. So get your husband to do that.
And don’t use tinned tuna if you can help it. Not that there’s anything wrong
with it, but shout yourself some proper hot smoked salmon. Flake it up and add
it, and you’ll be a convert. And thanks to Jamie Oliver and Woolies at North
Lakes for this recipe.
Ingredients
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
50g frozen peas (fresh if you have the energy; I rarely do)
600g potatoes (4-5 if you prefer to count)
Knob of butter
Fresh chives
350g or thereabouts of salmon or tuna (hot smoked from your
fishmonger or good-quality tins)
1 lemon
1 tablespoon plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 large egg
Olive oil
Method
Put a saucepan of water on to boil, peel the potatoes then
cook them with a pinch of salt until tender. Add the frozen peas to the last
few minutes. Mash with a knob of butter. Leave to cool. I’m not going to bore
you with details on how to cook potatoes. Believe me.
Finely chop the chives and add them to a mixing bowl.
Flake the salmon, or drain it if using canned and add to the
chives.
Zest the lemon and add it to the bowl along with the flour.
Crack the egg and add it to the salmon and season with
pepper.
Once cool, tip the potatoes and peas in with salmon and mix
really well.
Sprinkle a little flour over a clean work surface. Use your
hands to shape the salmon mixture into calls, about 2cm thick. Put them on a
plate and dust with flour.
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the fishcakes
for 3-4 minutes each side, until crisp and golden. Remember, everything is
already cooked, so you’re now just heating it and putting that fabulous crisp
on it.
Serve the fishcakes with some seasonal green veg or a fresh
green salad and lemon wedges for squeezing over.
Consider doubling the quantity and having leftovers for
breakfast. Topped with a fried egg. Yum!
