Salmon Patties

Canned salmon.  I've never thought twice about getting a nice can of tuna, but for some reason the salmon always skeeved me out.  Even after living among native Pacific Northwesterners stocking up and using the stuff despite freezers full of fillets and ready access to more, I was not a believer.  But, I've changed my tune, and if you find a good brand, there's not much to complain about.  It's inexpensive, it's healthy, compared to shipping fresh fish it's something you can feel pretty good about eating in the Midwest, and it's delicious.  We've been using canned sockeye, but pink is good too.  Often packed in the US, if you consider Alaska the US, it also appears to be sustainable, as far as it's possible to really know what it means for fish to be sustainable.  There are a bunch of ways to make good use of canned salmon.  This is far and away my favorite.

To make, for one drained six ounce can of salmon add: 1 egg, half a diced medium onion (shallots are even better), one slice of fresh bread w/o crust finely minced, a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, and some salt and pepper.  Mix well and let that sit for a few minutes for the bread to absorb some moisture, and then form into three or four patties and pan fry in a thin film of oil until browned on each side.  When making the patties, form into pucks somewhat firmly--there's no need to be super delicate.  Also after flipping it over feel free to press down on the top of each patty with the turner to ensure good texture and contact with the pan.

For the sauce, it's something I've been putting on fish all winter.  Greek yogurt (fat free is perfectly fine) thinned with lemon juice, a little mustard, salt, pepper, and some water if necessary to thin further.  Usually the sauce gets loaded with chopped dill, which makes it appear a little less like . . . well, mayonnaise I guess but that's not really what I was thinking when I looked at the picture.  Adding an herb or herbs (fennel tops work, parsley is fine, chives are great, so is tarragon) makes this go from very good to amazing and also makes it look very nice.  We were just short of herbs, and even though this all purpose fish sauce is on the table pretty often, when I finally got around to grabbing the camera we were herbless.

Even if you don't like salmon, I can't recommend these patties enough.  Seriously, these simple things give crab cakes a run for their money for a fraction of the price.