Recently I began making salmon cakes with a crunchy kasha coating and topped with a spicy remoulade sauce.
The first time I dipped salmon cakes in kasha occurred because I had kasha, but no breadcrumbs. It turns out that dinner guests love the crunch; thereafter it's become my permanent way of making salmon cakes.
Remoulade sauce is popular in New Orleans. A French condiment, it is delicious on po' boy sandwiches and other seafood dishes, such as crab, shrimp or lobster. My party guests say, remoulade sauce makes the salmon cakes. I agree; so now when I make the one, I always make the other. A graduate of New Orlean's Tulane University gave me the remoulade sauce recipe, and I'm very grateful! I add a few more flavors like pickle juice to it, though the original recipe is mighty fine too.
Salmon cakes can be seasoned a number of different ways. Here's what I add:
Salmon Cakes
Ingredients:
1 14 ounce can of Alaskan salmon, drained and skin removed
2 large eggs
1 cup of Quaker oats (or breadcrumbs. I use 1-minute, or 5-minute rolled oats. You can toss a little extra oatmeal into the mixture to balance the moisture if needed since sometimes you have bigger or smaller eggs.)
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup celery, diced
1 tablespoon mayonnaise (I use reduced fat, but never non-fat -- which has zero flavor. Add more if dry.)
1 tablespoon mustard (I use either Dijon mustard.)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (or lime, whatever you have)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
a sprinkle of dried garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (= 12 turns of the pepper mill)
a turn of fresh nutmeg (I have a nutmeg mill to save my fingers.)
a sprinkle of Herbes de Provence
a sprinkle of parsley
2 tablespoons of olive oil (for the skillet)
Optional:
1 cup of kasha (to coat the salmon cakes) - See note in step #3 below.
Directions:
1) Set aside a skillet brushed with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. I use my hand to coat the pan with the olive oil, then mix the salmon with my oil-residue-hand. Extra virgin olive oil is healthy to eat.
2) In a large bowl, combine the salmon, eggs, oats, red bell pepper, onion, celery, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice and seasonings and form into patties. Usually I make them hamburger size (for dinner), or small bite size (for a party tray).
3) Pour the kasha onto a large plate and dip both sides of the salmon cakes into it, coating each side. (If feeling lazy or doesn't have kasha, skip this step. It adds an extra crunch to the cakes, but isn't vital.)
4) Next lay the salmon cakes in the heated olive oiled skillet. Brown both sides. I like to put a lid over the pan as each side gets golden brown. It takes a few minutes per side, then onto a big serving plate they go.
Next finish the dish off by mixing the hot, creamy sauce.
Ingredients:
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Dijon mustard (A spicy brown mustard works too.)
1/4 cup tomato, diced
1/4 cup onion, diced
2 teaspoons hot sauce, either Louisiana, Frank's, chili or Sriracha
2 teaspoons of pickle juice, or vinegar (Eyeball for thickness.)
a sprinkle of Worcestershire sauce
a sprinkle of soy sauce
a sprinkle of dried garlic
salt and black pepper to taste
parsley for garnish
Directions:
Stir the ingredients together with a fork and pour into a serving dish. Guests can add a dollop of the sauce on top of their salmon cakes.
This healthy dish is a real crowd pleaser. One can of salmon generously feeds four people. It's fancy, filling and frugal. It reminds me of ultra delicious bar food!
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Alternate to Remoulade Sauce: One day I didn't have enough mayonnaise to make the Remoulade sauce so I substituted a slash of the following and we loved the flavor too. It's also less work to make since you can simply toss the ingredients into the pan around your finished grilled salmon and let the cakes soak up the small amount of sauce:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
