GOOD EATS - Salmon (Alaskan Wild-Caught) Cakes

It's been a while since the last 'Good Eats' post on The Fiberglass Manifesto (you can circle back to past foodie recipe posts HERE and HERE) and summer for us means that we can usually find Alaskan wild-caught salmon in our local supermarkets for a month or so and it typically sells for $10 or less a pound.  We prepare salmon a few different ways but salmon cakes are a family favorite.

I'll publish another 'Good Eats' post this week on a simple and tasty marinade and method of using the Traeger pellet grill with salmon to be used in this recipe but today we're jumping ahead on the salmon cakes themselves.
 
This is an easy recipe that is more or less a repurposed crab cakes recipe that my wife tweaked for salmon.  It's a keeper. 

And, it's not lost on OCD me that the egg in the above photo rolled over and is touching the basil.

EEEKKKKKK...

I don't like it at all but I didn't realize until I had brought everything in from my impromptu photo shoot and we were halfway done with making the salmon cakes mix when I realized it.  Oh well.

SALMON CAKES INGREDIENTS & RECIPE:
Salmon - Smoked/Grilled
One Red Pepper
One Sweet Onion
2+ Tablespoons Basil
1+ Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1+ Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
Tabasco
Salt
Pepper
Old Bay Seasoning
1+ Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1+ Cup Bread Crumbs
2+ Tablespoons of Mayonnaise
1-2 Eggs (Depends on Batch Size)

Flake your pieces of salmon in a large bowl and add the diced red pepper and sweet onion.  Chop up several tablespoons of fresh basil and add to the mix. Add the lemon juice, Worchestershire Sauce, a dash or two of Tabasco along with seasonings to include salt, pepper, and Old Bay Seasoning. Add the Dijon Mustard and mayonnaise into the mix with the bread crumbs.  Mix again.

Minus mayonnaise, your mixture should look similar to this...   

Now, before adding the egg, give your mix a taste and then add whatever you think it still needs more of. That's where all the +'s are in the recipe. You're never wrong for adding more Old Bay Seasoning.  Once you've got the right taste, add the egg, and you're ready to begin frying up your salmon cakes.

We are huge fans of the Smithey Farmhouse Skillet and the carbon steel (a cast iron pan works too) takes very little heat and a bit olive oil to give the salmon cakes a quick fry.  Consider the salmon cakes to be done when each side is browned to well done.  It's also helpful to have your oven on bake at 275 degrees and move finished salmon cakes from pan to another pan in the oven which keeps them hot for when ready to serve.

Now, we serve our salmon cakes with a dollop of a lemon basil mayonnaise using this recipe...

1/2 Cup of Mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice
1 Teaspoon of Minced Garlic
2 Tablespoons of Fresh Basil Chopped
Dashes of Salt, Pepper, and Tabasco

Mix well and it's ready.

Looking for the right side for this meal?  We usually make some sort of slow-cooked yellow, white, or a mix of yellow and white grits with this meal.  Last night we had yellow grits with sweet corn kernels (think corn with more corn) which is made with milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and whatever else my wife adds to the mix while I'm frying up salmon cakes.

Now is the time to be enjoying fresh wild-caught salmon and we're even thinking of getting six or eight large filets, grilling them in the Traeger, and then prepping a huge batch of salmon cakes that we'll vacuum seal with all the ingredients aside of mayonnaise and eggs.  This would give us salmon cakes at the ready through the times when we can't purchase wild-caught salmon in season. Just an idea if you really enjoy this recipe as much as well do.