 | | | Dill Salmon Cakes Photo Susie Iventosch | | | | | | These salmon cakes are so tasty - and gluten-free, too. No one in our family has gluten issues, but being a food columnist, and cooking for a large group this past summer with a variety of dietary restrictions, I realized that I needed to step up my GF game! I haven't been terribly happy with the all-purpose or other gluten-free flours I've used lately. They are often too fine for what I am baking, which creates a texture mismatch, or the flavor isn't exactly what I'm after.
What I discovered in developing this recipe is that finely ground nuts make a great alternative for some things, and especially for these salmon cakes. I toasted almonds and pepitas (shell-less pumpkins seeds) before finely puréeing them into a nut meal. This made a perfectly delicious replacement for the flour in these cakes and created a nice, rich, crispy coating on both the top and bottom. We really loved the flavor of these salmon cakes, and the aroma from the toasted almonds and pumpkin seeds is alluring and so satisfying. It's almost like you can inhale the goodness. Of course, if you have no gluten allergies, you can use flour in place of the nut meal, but we don't recommend it. Don't miss the goodness of toasted nut meal!
Dill Salmon Cakes
(Makes 4 large salmon cakes)
INGREDIENTS
1 lb. salmon fillets
1 large shallot, finely diced
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons fresh dill, finely snipped
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 egg white, beaten
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds, ground to a meal (divided)
1/2 cup toasted pepitas, ground to a meal (divided)
1/4 cup olive oil (for cooking the cakes)
DIRECTIONS
Prepare the Nut Flour/Coating
Toast the almonds and pepitas in the oven or toaster oven, just until beginning to brown. Be careful . it's so easy to burn nuts when you're toasting them!
Place toasted, cooled almonds and pepitas in your food processor. Process until fine, almost like a cornmeal texture. Remove from processor bowl and set aside. You will use half of this mixture in the salmon cakes and half to coat the tops and bottoms of the salmon cakes.
Prepare Salmon Cake Mixture
Remove skin from the fillet and cut the fish into small chunks. Remove any obvious bones.
Purée fish in the food processor until fairly smooth. Remove from processor bowl and place in a mixing bowl.
Add shallot, Dijon, dill, lemon pepper, lemon juice, beaten egg white and 1/2 cup of the nut purée. Chill the salmon cake mixture for about 30 minutes, to allow it to firm up." Shape into 4-6 patties.
Spread the remaining nut puree onto a plate. Pat both sides of each salmon cake into the nuts, to coat both sides.
Heat olive oil in a skillet. When hot, place salmon cakes in the pan and cook over medium-high heat until golden brown, about 1 minute. Flip over and brown the other side. Cover and reduce heat to low. Continue to cook just until cooked through. You don't want to over cook them.
Remove from the skillet and serve with remoulade sauce, a wedge of lemon and a sprig of fresh dill.
Remoulade Sauce (Makes about 3/4 Cup)
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon freshly grated horseradish root
1/2 teaspoon pepperoncini juice (can also use dill pickle juice)
1 teaspoon hot sauce (Louisiana hot sauce or Tabasco)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely minced parsley
Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Stir well. Refrigerate until ready to serve. |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA