Salmon Cakes/Burgers from @MaddieDayAuthor #giveaway

MADDIE DAY here, with a recipe for a yummy meal mentioned in my new novella "Murderous Mittens"," which you can read in Christmas Mittens Murder, out next Tuesday!

Forty-something widow Cece Barton heads north from her home in Pasadena to Colinas to spend Christmas with her twin sister Allie and family in the Alexander Valley. Cece is a pescatarian - a vegetarian who also eats seafood - and she goes out to lunch at Edie's Diner. Proprietor Ed Ramirez has salmon burgers on the menu.

I love salmon, too. Even though this series doesn't include recipes, I thought I'd share this yummy recipe for salmon cakes with you. We had the cakes with salad and locally grown garlic-fried green beans, but you can easily slide it onto a hamburger bun, as Ed does in the diner.

I share the novella collection with my talented fellow authors Lee Hollis and Lynn Cahoon, and I'd love to send a copy to one commenter here, so be sure to include your email address.

I was delighted to see Lucy Burdette's recipe here two weeks ago for crab cakes. Her avocado-mango salsa would also be yummy on these salmon cakes!

Salmon Cakes

I adapted this recipe from from OnceUponaChef.com, who says, "Made from fresh salmon and dill, these salmon cakes are as elegant as crab cakes but so much more affordable to make."

Ingredients

Salmon cakes:

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, from 1 lemon

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon good paprika

¾ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1¼ lb skinless salmon fillet, finely diced into ¼-inch pieces (see note)

1¼ cups panko bread crumbs, divided

¼ cup thinly sliced scallions, from 3 to 4 scallions, light and dark green parts

⅓ cup finely diced celery, from 2 stalks

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill

1 egg

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

Sauce

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Directions

Salmon cakes:

In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, paprika, salt, and pepper. 

Add the the egg, scallions, celery, and dill. 

Gently mix in the salmon and panko until uniformly combined.

Place the remaining 1 cup of panko in a shallow dish or pie plate. Using a 2-cup measure, scoop the salmon mixture onto the panko.

Gently coat the lump all over in crumbs. The mix seems wet, but the panko helps you form it into a patty.

 Repeat with the remaining mixture to form about 5 cakes. Refrigerate the salmon cakes for at least an hour.

Heat the oil and butter in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Place the salmon cakes in the skillet and cook without moving until golden brown, about 2 minutes. 

Carefully flip the cakes and cook until second side is golden brown, about 2 minutes more. 

Reduce the heat to medium if the cakes are browning too quickly. Transfer cakes to paper towel–lined plate to drain. 

Note: If buying a skin-on salmon fillet, purchase 1⅓ pounds of fish to yield 1¼ pounds of fish after skinning.

Sauce:

Combine all ingredients.

Serve cakes warm with dill sauce, with or without a bun.

Readers: How do you like to eat salmon or other fish, or are you a meat-and-potatoes type of person? I'll send one lucky commenter a copy of Christmas Mittens Murder.

🐟🍷🍷🍷📕

My next books will be "Murderous Mittens" in Christmas Mittens Murder and Murder Uncorked, both featuring my new wine bar manager Cece Barton.

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Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.