Smoked salmon and chive fish cakes

At the end of my daughters unit/topic at school she brought home some chives that they had grown in class without using soil and I was given the task of making something out of them. Considering that both girls turn their noses up at spring onions I thought it best to think of something where they were combined, hence fish cakes. Keeping in mind that both girls love smoked salmon when I spotted Rachel Allen’s Smoked salmon and chive fish cake recipe I knew we would have a winner.

I increased the quantity as it indicated that it made 6 fish cakes but after making them we had extra to go into the freezer so below I have stuck with her original quantities (as opposed to the shopping list for this week).

Ingredients

• 500g Floury potatoes
• Salt and pepper
• 225g smoked salmon (I mixed Wild salmon and normal smoked salmon as the wild had a beautiful deep red colouring)
• 3 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 Red onion finely chopped
• 2 tbsp Chopped chives
• 1 tbsp capers (optional for me)
• Good squeeze of lemon juice
• 1 Egg, beaten
• 75g Breadcrumbs
• 15g Butter

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C and grease a small baking tray with olive oil.
2. I deviated from the original recipe here and just peeled the potatoes and boiled them until tender, drained them and let them stand a minute to reduce the moisture and then mashed them until lump free.
3. While the potatoes are cooking place the smoked salmon on the baking tray. If like me you are using pre-sliced then simply put the slices on top of one and other. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and bake in the oven for 6-8 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
4. Put the mashed potatoes, onion, chives, capers (if using), lemon juice, egg and breadcrumbs into a large mixing bowl. Roughly tear up the salmon and add it to the bowl, then using a spoon combine all the ingredients.
5. Shape the mixture into your fishcakes, whatever size you like. If you have too many you can either save them in the fridge pre-cooked for 24 hours or can freeze them to use another day.
6. To cook, pour the remaining olive oil in a large frying pan with the butter on a medium heat. When the butter has melted and starts to foam add the fishcakes and fry for 3-5 minutes on either side or until each side is golden brown and crispy.
   

You can serve these with a green salad, wedge of lemon and some tartar sauce or seasonal greens depending on your preference.