Making the Most of Leftover Salmon - In "Cake" Form

I'm not going to mess around too much with tonight's post because there really was only one good thing about dinner - the salmon cake. Let me begin by saying that I've never had one before so I really don't have anything to compare mine to. Also, I didn't have high hopes because the name alone reminds me of something that would generally come out of a can.

I have to admit, the salmon cakes surpassed my expectations. They were easy (I prepared them last night) and satisfying. I might even say that they are just as good as a properly prepared crab cake made with jumbo lump. I made these with some things that I had on-hand, and I wouldn't change a thing.

To start, I perused a few recipes on the internet (particularly one of Ina Garten's) to get a feel for the basic necessities. I added/substituted a few of my own flavors, and the end result was pretty dang tasty.

I had about 1/2 of a salmon fillet that I seasoned with EV olive oil, kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper. After baking it to a med-rare, I let it cool, removed the skin and flaked it into small chunks. To finish the cakes, I mixed the flaked fish with a dressing made with some simple ingredients, baked them until warmed through (25 minutes at 350 degrees).

Here's the ingredient list for the dressing:

• About 1 cup of breadcrumbs (from stale bread, crust removed)
• 1/2 of a large red bell pepper (finely chopped)
• 1/2 of a bunch of green onion (finely chopped)
• 1 large stalk of celery (finely chopped)
• 1 small hand-full of small capers (rinsed well)
• Old Bay seasoning
• Cayenne pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 egg (beaten)
• Zest of one lemon
• Salt and pepper, to taste

I gently folded in the flaked salmon, loosely formed them into cakes, then baked them on a cookie sheet (with foil) until they were hot.

One other home run was the sauce that I used to top the cakes. I had some chimichurri (parsley/salt/pepper/garlic/EV olive oil) in the fridge that I whisked with a little bit of mayo, some Dijon mustard, lemon juice and cayenne pepper. It off-set the flavor of the salmon well and was a really nice addition.

I'll definitely be making this one again.