Salmon Patties

I am a fan of scratch fish patties and have tried different recipes and styles over the years. I decided to make some last night using fresh salmon.  It turned out terrific and it’s really not very hard to make.  I hadn’t tried this fresh salmon recipe before and I admit that the next time I make it I will use a 1/3 measuring cup to make uniform size patties.  Still once the fish is processed and you mix the flavors into it and coat the patties with the panko all that’s left is to fry them and get happy.

If you are comfortable using a food processor then this dish is for you. I bought two salmon fillets weighing 1 ¼ lbs. I removed the skin from the fillet using a fillet knife and cut the fillets into approximately 1 inch wide pieces.  Since I had two fillets I decided to process each fillet separately.  I put the one inch pieces into the food processor and pulsed 4 times leaving small pieces about ¼ inch size. I removed the salmon, put it in a bowl and repeated the same process with the second piece. Do not over process the salmon. 

Ingredients:

1 – 1 ¼ lb fresh salmon

3 tablespoons plus ¾ cup panko bread crumbs

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

2 tablespoons mayo

4 teaspoons lemon juice, in my case I used one lemon

1 scallion, sliced think

1 small shallot, minced

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

¾ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ cup olive oil or more as needed when frying.

Technique:

You need two bowls. One for the flavor ingredients and one for panko crumbs

Combine 3 tablespoons panko, parsley, mayo, lemon juice, scallion, shallot, mustard, salt, pepper, cayenne in a bowl.

Combine salmon with this flavored panko mixture.

Make uniform size patties about 2 inches wide and 1 inch or less high and carefully place into panko crumbs bowl. Carefully coat each side and set on a plate. Repeat until all salmon and mixture are gone. Don’t place patties on top of each other.

Heat 12 inch skillet and add olive oil. Make sure oil is hot and shimmering and carefully add the patties. I used two separate rubber spatulas, one for balance the other to set it down into the oil. Cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Carefully flip cakes and cook the other side until golden brown. Transfer patties to a plate that has paper towels and let drain for 1 minute. Serve.

I made rice and steam broccoli for sides.  I put some Louisiana Fish Fry Products Remoulade dressing on the plate for dipping the patties and topped the broccoli with blue cheese dressing.

For fabulo Italian Oil and Balsamic Vinegar:

www.saporedellavita.com

 

 

Shallow Deep Fried Chicken

The purpose of this chicken recipe is to use less oil than if you made deep fried chicken.  I wanted a nice crispy crust but also moist chicken without over doing the oil.

Now, I know that everyone has a family recipe handed down and well, it’s not a competition.  My recipe has not been handed down from Mount Olympus or even my grandmother it’s simply a different recipe and technique that if you try it I think you’ll agree that it’s delicious and tasty fried chicken. And, you know what?  This might just be the best fried chicken I’ve ever made or had. 

You need two large bowls.  I like using large bowls because I don’t like spilling over the edge when the bowl is small.  One of the bowls will be for the liquid and the other will be for the flower.

Ingredients:

3 lb chicken cut up, Buttermilk, Salt, black pepper, paprika, flour, baking powder and a Cajun spice mix (any brand). Vegetable oil.

Ingredients for the wet bowl (brine):

1 ¼ C buttermilk, 1 tblsp salt, 1/4 tsp paprika, pinch cayenne, ¼ tsp garlic powder, dash hot sauce.

Ingredients for dry bowl:

1 ½ C flour, 2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp salt, ¾ tsp paprika, ¾ tsp paprika, pinch cayenne, 2 tsp baking powder.

Technique:

Preheat oven to 450F.  Whisk together wet ingredients and add chicken pieces. Mix well, cover and put in fridge for one hour.  This time will make the salt work in the buttermilk brine and marinate the chicken well.

Whisk together the dry ingredients in other bowl.  Take chicken from fridge and take about ¼ cup of the buttermilk from the bowl and pour it onto the dry ingredients.  Mix with your hand. This will make what’s called shaggy bitgs. Then individually take the chicken pieces using your hands and carefully coat each piece with the flour mixture and set on a plate or two. Don’t put the pieces on top of each other. Now sprinkle Cajun spice mixture lightly over all the pieces.

Take a large fry pan, I used a 12” diameter pan and put 1 ¾ cups vegetable oil in it. Heat the oil to 375F. Use a deep fry/candy thermometer to make sure the oil comes to 375F.  Once the temperature is right add all the pieces carefully 5 minutes on one side and turn over carefully for another 2 – 4 minutes. You want it browned not blackened.

Take a baking sheet and place a rack on it. Coat or spray the rack, the oil goes through the rack to the baking sheet and carefully remove the chicken from the fry pan and place it all of the chicken on the rack.  Now, put inside preheated oven for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes remove chicken and let it set for 5 minutes and place the pieces on a paper towel lined platter. Serve.

For fabulo Italian imported olive oil and balsamic vinegar’

www.saporedellavita.com

 

Strawberry Pie for the 4th of July

This recipe and technique are to explain how to make a strawberry pie using whole strawberries and a strawberry puree that won’t moisten the pie crust. This recipe and technique is the absolute best tasting strawberry pie that I’ve ever had. A keeper.

There are various methods that people use in order to avoid a moist crust.  People use cornstarch, tapioca, or jello among their choices.  If you make a jello pie with pieces of strawberry what do you have?  You’ve got a truck stop pie with the flavor of jello. I wanted a strawberry pie not a jello pie and my goal was to have a pie that didn’t make the pie crust wet. I found that a mixture of corn starch AND pectin (Sure Jell) did this well.

What I’ve done is mix some cornstarch with pectin the brand name being Sure-Jell. There are two types of Sure-Jell. There is low sugar and high sugar pectin. The pink box has the low sugar and that’s what I’m using in this recipe.

I’m trying to also make my life a little easier and so I’ve decided to use a frozen store bought pie shell.  Unless you want to make your own flaky crust with lots of Crisco I think the store bought pie shell that 12” deep is fine.

Ingredients:

Pie crust – 9″ and 2″ deep

2 quarts whole fresh strawberries, looked over and rinsed.

¾ cup sugar

2 tblsp Sure Jell – low sugar pectin (If I can buy it at the IGA in my little town you can buy it anywhere)

1 ½ tsp cornstarch

1 tblsp lemon

Technique:

Preheat oven to 425F.  Take pie crust and place wax paper into the 2” shell and put pie weights on it. You can use two cups of rice or black beans for the weight.  Place in oven for 15 minutes, remove from oven and remove the wax paper with weights carefully. Return to oven for 5 or 6 minutes. Careful that it’s not too long. You want to brown the crust not burn it.  Once browned remove from oven and put on a rack to cool.

Take 6 ounces of the worst looking strawberries in the group (yes, slice off the green tops of all the strawberries evenly). Take the worst looking strawberries, slice them in half and drop them into a food processor. Puree them.

Place the sugar in a sauté pan along with the Sure Jell and cornstarch and whisk them. Using a spatula remove the pureed strawberries and add to the sugar mixture. Mix and bring to a boil letting it boil for 2 minutes or until the cornstarch thickens. Use your whisk to make sure sugar mixture is blended well.  Stir in lemon juice.  Then remove from heat and set aside to cool a little.

Place the nice looking strawberries in a bowl and add the sugar strawberry puree and carefully stir it all together.  Pour the mixture into the cooled and browned pie crust using the spatula to remove as much of the puree from the bowl as possible.

 Put in the refrigerator for two hours uncovered.  Serve.

 

For fabulo Imported Olive Oil and Balsmic Vinegar:

www.saporedellavita.com