How to Make Fish Cakes

This particular fishcake recipe is one of my favorites. It is one of the cheapest, easiest meals to prepare and cook. It takes minutes to prepare and less than 20 minutes to cook. Good, wholesome food high in protein and carbohydrates. (Atkin’s diet fans tune out now.) Regular readers will be shocked to hear that this is also a low fat recipe.

For this version I have used pilchards in tomato sauce, but you can use almost any fish, tinned, smoked or fresh. When I use fresh fish, I prefer to cook the fish slightly before hand. For an up-market version, substitute a mixture of smoked and fresh salmon. This one is fun to make, but can be a little messy. Serves four.

You will need:

Equipment:

• A bowl

• A medium saucepan

• A skillet or heavy frying pan

• A spatula or fish slice

• A potato masher

• A potato peeler

Ingredients:

• 3 medium potatoes

• 1 14 oz can of pilchards (or several smaller cans)

• Breadcrumbs (see “Making breadcrumbs”)

• Olive oil

• Salt and pepper

• A bottle of wine

First, open the wine and pour a glass. Sip the wine and prepare to cook. Next, paut some water in a medium sauce pan, peel and quarter the potatoes. Add the potatoes to the water in the saucepan, making sure they are just covered by the water. Add salt to taste. Boil the potatoes for about ten minutes until they start to become soft. Drain, put into a bowl and mash coarsely.

Next, open the tin of pilchards and add to the potatoes. If the mixture is a little sloppy, add flour or breadcrumbs until it becomes sticky enough to hold together. Salt and pepper to taste. It is also possible to use smoked fish such as salmon or trout for this, but be sure and de-bone of you are doing so.

Next, throw a layer of breadcrumbs onto a chopping board or freshly cleaned work surface. This is the messy part, but don’t be afraid to get your hands in the mixture. Pick a handful of the potato mixture, form into a ball by hand and put on top of the breadcrumbs. Continue until all the mixture is used. Pat the cake down to a suitable shape. These amounts will make four large or eight small cakes. Sprinkle more breadcrumbs over the cakes until they are completely coated.

Next, wash your hands, put the skillet over a medium heat, add two tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet. When the oil is hot, add the fishcakes to the oil.

Cook gently until the breadcrumbs turn brown and crispy. You may need to use two spatulas to keep the fishcakes from breaking as you turn them.

Serve with salad, fresh bread or whatever pleases you. I served these with macaroni cheese and a sliced Roma tomato. For more formal meals, they make a great appetizer served with salad and a dip. (See Dips)

Bon Apetit !