Salmon Cakes...and I don't even like fish!

Ok, ya'll, it's confession time...I'm a Texan. Not one of those Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, grew up near the Gulf Coast, eating fresh caught fish at dinner kind of Texans. I'm an El Paso, Bordertown, Tex-Mex, Burger, and BBQ Beef eatin' kinda Texan. Let's just say, I did not grow up eating seafood,......well, come to think of it,...there was the popcorn shrimp at Long John Silvers..., and of course "fish sticks"...but what teenager doesn't eat fried stuff with ketchup???

Quite some time ago beef became a "sometimes" food in my house, we're mostly chicken eaters now. However, I married a man born and raised on the East Coast of Florida, a fish eating man... he loves the stuff! Much to his dismay, I have tried everything to avoid cooking fish for him. It's not that I don't want to please him, I just had my self convinced that "I don't like fish". I thought it smelled fishy (found out that if it does it's not fresh), thought it was slimy (don't have a clue why). Now as I've aged, I become quite a healthy, natural, whole grain, organic veggie, homemade pretty much everything kinda woman, I've also learned that eating fish, the right kinds, cooked the right way, is almost essential to good health, especially as we age.

Believe it or not, this fish "hating" gal has found a few recipes that she really likes...here is one I tried just last night.

I wanted to make Salmon Salad, but as this whole "fish" thing is relatively new to me, I had no clue what to put in it, so I turned to my dear friend Kim,...she had no idea either...BUT she did have a recipe for Salmon Cakes. Armed with her recipe, and another 2 I found online, I whipped up these Salmon Cakes with Creamy Dill Sauce - though I did have my share of difficulties during the process, they turned out really good!!! :)

Here's how it went down....

I grilled and shredded my Salmon, then chilled it. I then tossed a couple of slices of whole wheat bread in my food processor and mixed all the necessary goodies together...

Next I was supposed to form patties, but my mixture just didn't want to stick together, so I added a litte extra virgin olive oil...maybe it's because I used fresh grilled Salmon instead of the canned Salmon???

Anyhow, after adding the oil it was a LITTLE easier to make patties. I carefully put them on a pan covered in wax paper, which I had sprinkled well with flour. I then sprinkled more flour over them and gently patted it in, I prayed they would stay intact, and topped with another sheet of wax paper, popped it in the fridge for about an hour (only 20 minutes is needed, but I was in no hurry).

I heated the butter and olive oil over med-high heat, and began to fry the cakes. They still didn't want to hold together very well, so it was a little hard getting them into the pan. Turning them took 2 spatulas, and one of them lost it, and fell apart...after some counseling, he pulled it together. (See my sweet puppers down there, dreaming about Salmon Cakes).

I made this yummy Creamy Dill Sauce to top them with and they tasted fantastic!

Here's what you need to make the sauce.

Here's what I found out:

- You shouldn't cook them for the same amount of time on both sides, they cook faster after you turn them over, be careful not to burn the second side.

- If the mixture doesn't want to hold together, Ex. Virgin Olive Oil is a good helper.

Since it's just me and the Hubby, I had some cakes left over. I froze them on wax paper then transferred them to a freezer bag to use at another time.

Have a beautiful day!