Potato, Spinach, and Salmon Patties with Garlic Dill Cream

I can't remember who sent me the recipe for this, but it was a recipe in the NY Times. I've never made any type of patties before, but the potato, salmon, and spinach mixture sounded great and the sauce sounded even better. I love dill! So when Rachelle came over to our place for dinner, I decided to try it. The last couple of times she came over I made salmon fillets, since she doesn't eat red meat. I wanted to make somethign different. I had to alter the original recipe because I didn't like having to fry it in oil. I wanted to bake it for a healthier version. So here's the recipe and the changes I made.






FOR THE POTATO SALMON PATTIES:
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed
2 cups mashed potatoes, chilled
8 ounces cooked salmon fillet, flaked To save time, I used canned salmon
2 1/2 cups 1 cup panko or bread crumbs to put in patties, and more for coating
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Note: For the first 3 ingredients, you don't have to use the amounts exactly. You can use whatever amounts you like.

FOR THE GARLICKY DILL CREAM:
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste
1 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Olive or vegetable oil for frying.

1. Preheat oven to 350. Squeeze as much water from spinach as possible. Place in a bowl and add potatoes, salmon, 1 cup panko, 2 eggs, salt and pepper; mix well to combine.
2. Place remaining bread crumbs in a wide, shallow bowl. Place remaining eggs in a second bowl and beat lightly. Place flour in a third bowl.
3. Form spinach mixture into 3-inch patties, about 3/4-inch thick. Dip each patty into flour, tapping off excess, then the egg, letting excess drip into bowl. Coat evenly with panko crumbs. Transfer patties to a large baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours. Bake in oven for 15 min or until browned.
4. Meanwhile, make dill cream: In a mortar and pestle or with the back of a knife, mash garlic and salt together to make a paste. Stir it into the sour cream or yogurt. Add dill and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Chill until ready to serve.
5. Heat 1/4-inch oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; if using olive oil, you don’t need to use good extra virgin oil. Cook patties in batches, turning once halfway through, until golden and cooked through, about 3 minutes a side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Serve hot, with a dollop of dill cream.

Rachelle and I enjoyed this a lot. The recipe made about 18 patties. Kev was a bit indifferent about it since he's not crazy about dill. These patties may be small, but they sure are filling. I froze half of it because I didn't want them to go bad and it was just too much. I think a person can eat maybe 3 patties + a sidedish. 4 patties if eaten alone. When I made the frozen leftovers, the defrosted patties were a mess. They tasted fine, but were much harder to handle. I'd suggest making these as appetizers if you're having a lot of guests.

Salmon Tartare

I've been an avid raw fish eater for many years. Whenever I go to AYCE sushi places, I always attack the sashimi list first. One of my favorite fish to eat raw is salmon. It's delicious. At several places, they sometimes offer spicy salmon sashimi, which is chopped up salmon mixed in the deliciously spicy mayo sauce and roe. I just never realized that this is pretty much tartare. For many years, i've sampled a few beef tartare (sliced raw beef). Although good, I have never had a huge craving for them.


Last year, my friend Marilyn took Rachelle and I to Holders restaurant. She kept going on and on about the delicious salty fries. I was ready to order the beef tartare, but then Marilyn said she was ordering the same thing, so I decided to try the salmon tartare with yogurt and Mujjol caviar (entrée $9.50, meal $17.50 comes with fries). That night, i fell in love. Ever since that night, i kept having cravings for the tartare. I took my friend Anh Thu there and she liked it as well. But now, it's not just an obsession with Holder's Tartare, but all tartares. Whenever I see the words "Salmon Tartare", I jump to it.


I've also had the Salmon Tartare at a japanese restaurant in the Old port, called Tatami. It's a cute little restaurant where your table is an aquarium with tropical fishes. Their Salmon Tartare has that spicy mayo sauce mixed in with tempura batter bits. The bottom is a layer of rice, the top layer is nicely decorated into a ying yang sign with 2 colors of roe and two pieces of fruit for the dots (raspberry or blackberry) for $14. I recommend this restaurant for a quiet romantic dinner and for their beautiful presentation of their dishes, they are always accompanied by flowers and fruits.

I recently tried the Salmon Tartare at Vallier Restaurant with Anh thu. The portion was smaller, but it was not meant to be a meal. The Salmon Tartare was $9. The waitress asked us if we wanted it spicy. We ordered it medium. The Tartare was pretty standard, nothing too special about it. It had bits of shallots and celery in it with some cream sauce (could be mayo, yogurt, or sour cream).


With my obsession in full swing, I was craving for more. But it can get a little expensive. On Tuesday night, Kevin had plans to meet with his friend for a very meaty dinner at Milsa's. knowing that we had half a pack of smoked salmon in the fridge, I looked up a recipe for salmon tartare. I have never had salmon tartare made with smoked salmon before, so I wasn't sure if i'd find such a recipe online. The only recipe I found for salmon tartare that used smoke salmon was a recipe by Emeril Lagasse. BAM! So I decided to try it. I had most of the ingredients at home.

• 4 ounces smoked salmon, julienned
• 1 teaspoon capers chopped
• 1 tablespoon homemade or prepared mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon chopped dill
• 1 teaspoon minced shallots
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• Salt and pepper
• 2 slices pumpernickel slices, squared of and cut into4 triangles each, toasted
• 8 small dill sprigs
  

1. Combine salmon, capers, mayonnaise, dill and shallots. Taste, and adjust seasonings with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Divide among croutons and top each with a dill sprig.

Instead of using pumpernickel slices, I had bought Swedish toasts by President's Choice at Loblaws. Of course, this tartare wasn't as great as the ones i get at the restaurants, but it was good. However, I found the smoked salmon to be too strong. I could barely taste anything else.

Restaurant Holders / 407 McGill street (Metro Square Victoria)/ 514.849.0333
http://restaurantholder.com/

Tatami Sushi Bar Restaurant / 140 Notre-Dame street / 514.845.5864

Restaurant Vallier Licencié/ 425 McGill street (Metro Square Victoria)/ 514.842.2905
http://www.restaurantvallier.com/

Carb-fest: potatoes

Kevin and I had half a sack of red potatoes in the fridge that were starting to...not look too good. There's really only one way we eat potatoes on a regular basis: mashed. But we don't have mashed potatoes very often either...we have it occasionally when we have ribs. So I had to find a way to use up all the potatoes or count our losses. Being someone who doesn't like to waste, I wouldn't let Kevin throw away good potatoes...the term "good" used loosely. The potatoes were starting to look pretty damn sad.

So, when Kevin was out with friends the other night, I got to work. I decided to make two dishes, because it seemed like a lot of potatoes to make just one. I decided on making Kevin's aunt Sherry's scalloped potatoes, and dill potato salad.




Scalloped Potatoes

• Potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
• thinly sliced onions, then chopped
• grated mild cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper
• parsley flakes
• cayenne pepper
• garlic powder
  

1. Preheat over to 400 F degree.


2. In a baking dish, drizzle olive oil. Make one layer of potatoes, sprinkle all spices, one layer of onions, one layer of cheese. Repeat layers if you wish.


3. For each layer, you should bake in the over for 20 minutes. I did two layer, baked for 40 minutes. Some ovens run high, please check on your potatoes, it might be burning.

Creamy Dill Potato Salad

• Potatoes cubed
• dill weeds, chopped
• Plain Yogurt
• garlic salt
• cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper
• green onions/shallots chopped
• onions, chopped into small pieces
• dried Thyme
• 1 hard boiled egg, chopped

1. Boil potatoes until tender
2. Boil one egg
3. Once done and drained, mix potatoes with all ingredient. Chill in the fridge and serve. Voila! Facile non?

For the Creamy dill potato salad, there's no measurements. Use your best judgment...don't overload on onions and shallots. Be generous with spices. I was quite happy to receive a few compliments about my Creamy dill potato salad. I had no recipe for it. I just used whatever I had. I had planned on using mayo, but decided to use up my plain yogurt and it worked out well. I'll admit I wasn't too sure about it.