The way food is prepared now is changing. It's more styled and has to look great whereas when I was growing up, food was judged more on taste and smell. I still cook the way I always have and if you ever see a tower of food or a collection of foam on a plate I've prepared, you can hit me on the head with a mallet. I am also game enough to re-introduce the salmon rissole.
Salmon rissoles or fish cakes are a cheap and healthy old fashioned staple that deserve another 15 minutes of fame. If you've never had one before, a salmon rissole is a mix of potato cake and fish cake, made with tinned pink salmon, a common stockpile favourite. They are easy to make, will get you through a mid-week meal nicely and can be premade, then cooked quickly when you get home in the same amount of time it takes to make a salad. In Australia, they would cost less than $6 to make. This recipe could also be made using tinned tuna or any pre-cooked fish.
RECIPE - will make 6 rissoles
- about 2 cups of mashed potato
- 1 tin pink salmon 420 grams
- 1 small onion, chopped
- about ¼ cup parsley or chives
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper
- breadcrumbs
- Olive oil for cooking
Combine the mashed potato with the salmon, onion, herbs, salt, pepper and egg. Mix together thoroughly so the salmon is broken up and combined with the potato. You can crush and eat the bones of tinned salmon - it is an excellent source of calcium. Form into little round cakes and coat with breadcrumbs. Cover, and let them sit in the fridge for an hour to firm up. If they fall apart when you cook them, add ½ cup of breadcrumbs to the mix. That will glue them together.
Heat oil in a frying pan and cook the rissoles on a low-medium heat. They should cook for about 10 - 15 minutes to make sure the onions are cooked and when they're golden brown, they're ready. Serve with a fresh garden salad.
This will do Hanno and I for one meal and we have two rissoles leftover that we eat for lunch the following day.
Meanwhile, out in the backyard, Hanno was cleaning the chook house. This snake should be in the middle of its winter hibernation but there it was, wide awake behind the nesting boxes. Hanno took it down to the creek, but I have no doubt it will be back. Luckily it's a juvenile and not able to eat the chooks ... yet.
