Salmon Croquettes with Coconut Mayonnaise July 15, 2008

This is a meal I highly recommend. Seth and I both loved it.

It’s not super quick to prepare (you have to chop various things, although the food processor does help some) but it’s very nutritious and not expensive to make since you’re using canned salmon, which is cheaper than fresh or frozen salmon.

Just be sure you are using WILD salmon. Not farmed! Alaskan salmon is wild, so if it says Alaskan, you can be sure it is wild.

For the homemade NT mayonnaise, I used the flavorless expeller-pressed coconut oil from Wilderness Family Naturals — not quite as good as raw, but you can’t taste the coconut oil at all.

This recipe is modified from a recipe in the New Basics cookbook.

1 can (about 15 ounces) wild salmon
3/4 cup dried (or toasted) bread crumbs (I stuck 4 pieces of frozen sprouted bread into the toaster oven — then pulsed them in the food processor)
1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise (I used the recipe for mayonnaise in Nourishing Traditions, only I substituted coconut oil for half of the olive oil)
1/2 cup chopped onion (about 1/2 of a large yellow or white onion)
1/4 cup minced yellow bell pepper (you can use red or orange bell pepper too — it’s about 1/2 of a medium sized bell pepper — I cut it up into big pieces then pulsed it in the food processor)
1/4 cup minced celery (about 1 stalk — cut into pieces and then pulse in food processor)
1/4 cup fresh parsley (I grow this so it was easy to get — just pulse in food processor)
1 egg (I used 1 egg plus one egg yolk — I figured, why not?)
2 tsp grated lemon zest (I didn’t have enough on hand so I used 1 tsp — still came out fine)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (you can get an organic additive-free variety at Whole Foods — I think it’s made by Annie’s)
6 drops of Tabasco (I forgot to put this in — still came out fine)
1/4 tsp salt (sea salt)
1/4 cup macadamia oil (found this at Whole Foods)
Extra coconut mayonnaise to serve

OK, yeah, that’s a lot of ingredients. Make the mayo ahead of time. Then chop/pulse all your various things (onion, celery, pepper, etc.) and set them out mise en place. Get your breadcrumbs all ready too (I toasted mine in my toaster oven — worked great!).

1. In a mixing bowl, combine half the salmon with 1/2 cup of the bread crumbs, along with all the other ingredients (except for the macadamia oil and the mayo to serve).

2. Mix it together with your hands and then mix in the rest of the salmon. Shape into patties that fit in the palm of your hand.

3. Roll the patties in the rest of the breadcrumbs. Set on a plate.

4. Heat 1/4 cup of macadamia oil in a cast iron skillet on medium heat. Cook the patties 3-4 minutes on each side, until brown and crispy.

5. Serve with coconut mayonnaise.

I found that they were not quite salty enough so I added some sea salt.

Serves 4, according to New Basics, but I kind of screwed up and some of my patties fell apart — so this recipe only served two.

Oh, and here’s a tip — cook only 4 patties at a time. Or fewer if you are using a small skillet. Add more oil as needed.

Otherwise your patties will be too close together and what happened to me will happen to you — they’ll break into a million pieces — no fun!.

Delicious with a green salad (we had red leaf lettuce from my garden, plus purslane, some sprouted mung beans and lentils, and chopped tomatoes, with red wine vinaigrette).