Salmon Two Ways in Two Days

The minute I saw this recipe for a chermoula for oily fish on 64 sq ft kitchen, I knew I wanted to make it and do salmon. I almost never cook salmon steaks, preferring salmon fillets cooked so that the skin gets super crispy for the kid. He is the hoarder of salmon skin around here so it is always all about that crunchy skin but I wanted to try the steaks for a change. I followed the recipe without any real changes other than subbing shallots for the onion and it was really flavourful. Part of master plan was to have enough salmon leftover to make something the next night with it but I wasn't sure that would happen.

The fish was perfectly cooked and very tasty but the sauce didn't really make a nice crust like it did on hers. Perhaps I used the wrong pan but, regardless, I would definitely make this again. I made sweet potato and purple yam oven fries served with two dipping sauces that I stole from Jen. She made them this week on no reEATS and I couldn't stop thinking about them. For the ketchup, I didn't have any canned chipotle chillis in adobo so I just used some chipotle chilli powder and it was still really, really addictive. I couldn't choose which dipping sauce I liked the best to be honest and if I admit how gross I am, I ended up mixing them both together on my plate anyway.

For the yam fries just toss your sliced sticks of yam and purple sweet potato (if you can find them in a west indian market, get them. They are so delicious and keep their colour) in some olive oil, kosher salt and fresh thyme. Roast them on a baking tray in a 425F oven on the lowest rack for about 15 minutes, turning once halfway through.

Jen's Cilantro Lime Mayo

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 Tbsp chopped cilantro

1 tsp lime zest

juice from 1/2 lime

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Jen's Chipotle Ketchup

1/2 cup ketchup
1 chipotle pepper - seeded and minced
1 tsp adobo from the can of chipotles
1 tsp or more balsamic vinegar

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.

The next night, I was left with just over a cup of chunked up salmon. I am ashamed to admit that normally, I would have probably fed it to the dog but this whole no reEATS thing is forcing me to be smarter with my leftovers and plan ahead to avoid waste. I think that the only person in this family who is not on board with my new outlook IS the dog who is no longer feasting on leftover fish and steak and roasted vegetables.

I bought really huge salmon steaks, banking on the fact that between the three of us, we wouldn't finish all of it. Shack has never been much of a salmon guy but he seems to be enjoying it more lately but not enough to eat a large piece of it at one sitting.

Salmon cakes were all I could think about and I was pretty happy that there was, indeed, just enough left over for three of them. I also mashed up the leftover yam fries and added those as well. Double non wasting score. WINNING! DUH!

I made tzatziki to go with them and served them with a horitiki salad and a heap of my organic seedling sprouts that I got at the Brickwork's Farmers Market on the weekend.

Salmon Cakes 

Generous cup of chunked up leftover salmon

1/2 cup panko 

1/2 cup mashed yam (I used the purple and orange yam fries from the night before)

1 egg

1 shallot, finely chopped

a generous tbls of parsley

lemon zest from a lemon

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

more panko for coating

mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Divide the mixture into three equal parts and form three balls. Flatten each ball out to make something that looks like a hamburger patty. I like to refrigerate them for an hour or so to firm them up but if you don't have the time, it's not a big deal.

Put some panko in a shallow bowl and pat each side with some panko until well coated. I don't worry about the sides because they don't brown anyway so just flip it over and coat both top sides. Heat a non stick sauté pan over med heat until it's nice and hot and fry the salmon cakes for about 4 minutes per side until well browned and cooked through.

Serve with tzatziki.

look at those pretty flecks of purple yam in there