[Sca-cooks] canned salmon

[Lonnie D. Harvel]

Stefan li Rous wrote:

> Lonnie said:
>
>> Pulse oatmeal in food processor, not too much.
>
> He may be using a food processor, but he has that medieval style of 
> recipe writing down. :-)
>
> For us less expert cooks, what does "not too much" mean? Leave some 
> large lumps? Leave only a few, smaller lumps? 


See what Serena had to deal with! ;)

Adamantius was correct in his response. The purpose of the oats, besides 
imparting their unique flavor, was to absorb moisture (they are also 
good in meatballs and meatloaf). I was using rolled oats (Quaker). 
Leaving them large and flaky created a cake that was too crumbly and a 
texture that was not as pleasing. However, if you aren't careful, you 
can process the oats down to powder, resulting in a Salmon-Sawdust 
patty. For those that do not wish to use a processor, I also got good 
results in rubbing a handful between my hands to break the rolled oats 
up into smaller pieces. Other choices are fresh bread crumbs, crushed 
crackers, crumbled day-old biscuits, etc.

Basic idea is: fish-like substance (salmon, tuna, crab, conch, etc. ), 
egg (binder), oil (fat), moisture absorber (oats, crumbs, etc.), 
flavorings (onions, herbs, salt, etc.).

A note on the salmon. My first attempt was with fresh salmon. The cakes 
fell apart. I only used half the salmon, so I put remainder in the 
fridge overnight. Working from cold salmon, cakes came out fine, but I 
also added a bit more oil. I also tried the "fresh pack" salmon. Cakes 
came out very nice, price was too high (higher than working with fresh). 
Tried it with canned salmon and the cakes were ok. I had to use a bit 
more crushed oats to get a good patty. Pan fried in butter, they were 
pretty good. Rinsing the canned salmon (and picking out the bits of 
bone) is necessary if you don't want it to taste like old salt-water 
stored in a tin can. (My favorite was based on the cold fresh salmon. 
For the last few I added some freshly grated lime peel and made a quick 
cilantro-lime cream to serve it with. Nope, not period.)

Aoghann

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For those interested, here is my Great Aunt's recipe for Salmon Patties:
My archive of family recipes is here: 
http://users.ece.gatech.edu/~ldh/Recipes/

Salmon Patties

<>1 can salmon (15 – 16 oz)
1 egg
1/3 cup minced onion
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cup Crisco

Drain salmon, set aside 2 tbs of juice. In medium mixing bowl, mix 
salmon, egg, and onion until sticky. Stir in flour. Add baking powder to 
salmon juice, stir into salmon mixture. Form into small patties and fry 
until brown (about 5 minutes) in Crisco.

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