Pikelet & Lollo eat salmon cakes because of the book “Big Blue Whale” by Nicola Davies. They call them ‘whale cakes’ and eat loads because thought of having stinky ‘whale’ breath is an attractive trait when you are five and three years old.
“When it breathes out, it makes a great misty puff as high as a house. This is the whale’s blow, and you can see it from far away. You can hear it, too – a great PROOUFF. And if you are close enough, you can smell it, as the whale’s breath is stale and fishy.”
For another Itty Bitty Foodies dinner idea inspired by a children’s book, see Eating Pam the Clam.
Salmon cakes
2 medium sized potatoes (my children like more salmon than potatoes in their salmon cakes)
Splash of milk (about 1/8 cup)
1lb salmon filet
3 tbs of olive oil
1/2 cup sliced shallots (you can also use onions or scallions)
1/2 cup of flour
2 eggs beaten together
breadcrumbs
Optional: sour cream and chives/scallions to top the salmon cake with.
Tonight’s dinner menu was adapted from another mommy blogger - The Good Life by SanyaLiving. However, I prefered to quickly pan fry the salmon instead of poaching it in milk and lemon as the milk curdled. Also for the green beans recipe, I used bacon not pancetta as I had that on hand.
Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Peel potatoes, cut them into quarters and boil until tender. While potatoes are boiling, prepare salmon. Wash and pat dry with paper towels. You do not need to remove the skin. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a nonstick fry pan on medium high heat. Pan fry salmon – 2 minutes for the skin side and just 1 or a 1.5 minutes for the other. Take salmon out of the pan and pat excess oil off with paper towel. The skin should be brown and crisp and easy to remove from the flesh.
Don’t worry if the salmon is rare. It will cook a little when you add to mash and then cook through when it goes in the oven. When potatoes are tender, drain them dry and put them in a big bowl. Add a little splash of milk and mash until smooth. Combine salmon to the potatoes, add scallions and mash until well mixed. Season with salt and pepper.
Set out your flour, eggs and bread crumbs into three separate bowls. Use a spoon (or ice cream scoop) and make little patties in the palm of your hand. Roll the patty in flour, then dip in eggs before coating the salmon cake with bread crumbs.
When all your patties are done, place in fridge for at least 20 minutes. These can be left overnight too – just put plastic wrap over it. When ready to cook, add 2 tablespoons of oil to a nonstick fry pan on medium high heat and quickly brown each side for about 30-45 seconds. Place patties on an oven tray and cook for about 10 minutes in the oven. In a bowl combine chives/scallions with sour cream. Top each salmon cake with sour cream.
Blanched beans with bacon.
Beans (1 handful per person)
Bacon (1 strip per person) cut into little pieces.
Fill a pot up with water (enough to cover beans). When water boils, add beans for 3 minutes. While beans are in the pot, fill large bowl with water and ice cubes. Drain beans and put in the ice water bath for about 2 minutes. While beans are chilling, fry bacon in a nonstick fry pan on high heat till crisp. Remove excess bacon fat with a paper towel. In a bowl combine beans and bacon.
The method of boiling vegetables briefly, chilling them in an ice bath and then reheating them slowly is called blanching. I love it because it is quick, it cooks the vegetables well and it preserves the crispness and texture.
Till our next Happy Meal!
