Fishcakes and tarter sauce
So last Saturday we had a family lunch, which included aunts, uncles, cousins (first and second) as well as parents and siblings. This was the main course.
Fish cakes are really easy. The basic recipe is as follows:
Equal amounts fish and mashed potato (mashed with no milk or butter).
Egg, flour and breadcrumbs to coat them in.
For four people, you need about 350-500g each potato and fish, one egg, plus flour and about 60g of breadcrumbs - two or three thick slices, blitzed in the food processor.
Cook and mash the potatoes.
Lightly poach the fish in slightly salty water for about 5-8 minutes until it's cooked.
Mix the fish and the mashed potatoes together, along with any other seasoning (mustard, freshly chopped parsley or watercress, etc.). I usually mix half the fish in really well, and then flake the rest of the fish and hold it in so you get nice big flakes in the fish cakes.
Season with salt and pepper.
Shape into cakes in whatever size or shape you want-- palm-sized and round is easiest.
Cool in the fridge for at least an hour.
Beat the egg. Easiest way to get the breadcrumb coating on is have one bowl with the egg, one with the flour and with the breadcrumbs.
Dip the fishcake in the egg,, shake the excess off, in the flour, shake the excess off, then the breadcrumbs and shake the excess off. The egg and flour help the breadcrumbs stick and the breadcrumbs give you a nice crisp outer coating when you fry them.
Shallow fry them in oil (I use olive oil) until the outside is nice and golden brown and they're warm in the middle.
Because there were a lot of us, a lot of cakes, so I fried the outside to give them a nice crispy coating and colour, then stuck them on a tray in the oven to actually warm up properly.
I made the following variations. Same basic mix = equal amounts potato and fish in all of them.
Smoked haddock and horseradish fishcakes
500g smoked haddock, a few pinches of fresh grated horseradish. I poached the horseradish in plain, not salty water and seasoned it just with the horseradish and pepper, since smoked fish is usually pretty salt anyway.
Salmon and watercress
500g salmon, zest of one lemon, one bunch of fresh watercress, finely cut, all mixed.
Hoki and parsley. This is pretty much your basic fishcake. Cod is traditionally used, but I don't eat cod because I worry about the cod reserves. Hoki is cheap, tasty and has nice big flakes).
500g hoki, one bunch of finely cut fresh parsley, one teaspoon mustard, salt and pepper.
I also made Tarter Sauce because it's a) traditional, b) easy and c) wonderful. It's also one of those things that's generally pretty manky unless it's homemade.
Basic recipe:
30g finely sliced capers
30g finely sliced gherkin
60ml/4 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley.
Mix together. It should be pretty nice and sharp, but you can add a little lemon juice if you want. For the family meal, I made about four times this amount in the (foolish) hope that I'd be able to save some for leftovers.
Crossposted to jamjar
Fish cakes are really easy. The basic recipe is as follows:
Equal amounts fish and mashed potato (mashed with no milk or butter).
Egg, flour and breadcrumbs to coat them in.
For four people, you need about 350-500g each potato and fish, one egg, plus flour and about 60g of breadcrumbs - two or three thick slices, blitzed in the food processor.
Cook and mash the potatoes.
Lightly poach the fish in slightly salty water for about 5-8 minutes until it's cooked.
Mix the fish and the mashed potatoes together, along with any other seasoning (mustard, freshly chopped parsley or watercress, etc.). I usually mix half the fish in really well, and then flake the rest of the fish and hold it in so you get nice big flakes in the fish cakes.
Season with salt and pepper.
Shape into cakes in whatever size or shape you want-- palm-sized and round is easiest.
Cool in the fridge for at least an hour.
Beat the egg. Easiest way to get the breadcrumb coating on is have one bowl with the egg, one with the flour and with the breadcrumbs.
Dip the fishcake in the egg,, shake the excess off, in the flour, shake the excess off, then the breadcrumbs and shake the excess off. The egg and flour help the breadcrumbs stick and the breadcrumbs give you a nice crisp outer coating when you fry them.
Shallow fry them in oil (I use olive oil) until the outside is nice and golden brown and they're warm in the middle.
Because there were a lot of us, a lot of cakes, so I fried the outside to give them a nice crispy coating and colour, then stuck them on a tray in the oven to actually warm up properly.
I made the following variations. Same basic mix = equal amounts potato and fish in all of them.
Smoked haddock and horseradish fishcakes
500g smoked haddock, a few pinches of fresh grated horseradish. I poached the horseradish in plain, not salty water and seasoned it just with the horseradish and pepper, since smoked fish is usually pretty salt anyway.
Salmon and watercress
500g salmon, zest of one lemon, one bunch of fresh watercress, finely cut, all mixed.
Hoki and parsley. This is pretty much your basic fishcake. Cod is traditionally used, but I don't eat cod because I worry about the cod reserves. Hoki is cheap, tasty and has nice big flakes).
500g hoki, one bunch of finely cut fresh parsley, one teaspoon mustard, salt and pepper.
I also made Tarter Sauce because it's a) traditional, b) easy and c) wonderful. It's also one of those things that's generally pretty manky unless it's homemade.
Basic recipe:
30g finely sliced capers
30g finely sliced gherkin
60ml/4 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley.
Mix together. It should be pretty nice and sharp, but you can add a little lemon juice if you want. For the family meal, I made about four times this amount in the (foolish) hope that I'd be able to save some for leftovers.
Crossposted to jamjar