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Polish Housewife

Polish recipes served up with tidbits of folklore, customs, and history

Fish

Salmon Patties with easy sauce

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salmon patty, salmon patties

Salmon patties are something I remember from my childhood. My mom made them with canned salmon. I’m sure it was an effort in every mom’s most challenging pastime, trying to get a variety of nutritious food into her children. I didn’t like them at all. Everything I wanted from the sea came in the form of fish sticks with tartar sauce and butterflied breaded shrimp with ketchup — not very sophisticated,  I know.  Have hope, moms, tastes change. I now quite enjoy salmon. (Because Polish is a language with no silent letters, let me just toss this out here for my Polish friends, the l in salmon is silent. It’s pronounced something like sa-men.)

I just returned to Poland after four weeks in the USA. I’m sure some of you picture me returning to an empty refrigerator, but that’s not the case at all. Ed had the fridge stocked and cooked all the meals for the first 24 hours that I was home. We had some great beef from Argentina, a green salad, and Gordon Ramsey style scrambled eggs with fresh chives.  There was also some salmon in the fridge that Ed had cooked earlier in the week, which I used to make salmon patties for our lunch this afternoon.  I topped them with a sauce we could call a lazy woman’s hollandaise, mayo and Dijon mustard mixed together.  Garlic toast, a pickle and a couple of sun dried tomatoes on the side, and Ed looked at Benson (our dog) and said, “the Polish Housewife is back.”

Try the salmon patties; I hope you’ll like them. I also hope this has struck a chord for you — reminded you of something your mother wanted you to eat, something you’ve come to enjoy, the state of your kitchen after being away. Let’s get the conversation started. Maybe my dear sister-in-law, Carol, will share a story about husbands in the kitchen. 😉

 

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salmon patty, salmon patties

Salmon Patties

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 5 mins
  • Total Time: 15 mins
  • Yield: 2 - 4
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Description

A quick and tasty use for leftover cooked salmon

Ingredients

  • 10 ounces cooked salmon, flaked
  • 1 small onion, finely diced (1/4 – 1/3 cup)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs, divided
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley (1 tablespoon fresh)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • olive oil for frying
  • chopped chives for garnish (optional)

Instructions

  1. In a bowl, combine salmon, onion, egg, 3 tablespoons bread crumbs, mustard, parsley, salt, and pepper
  2. Without overworking the mixture, form into four patties, flattening to about 3/4 of an inch and also pushing in on the sides to make sure the patties are structurally sound
  3. Coat the patties with the remaining breadcrumbs
  4. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to a frying pan, over medium high heat
  5. Add the salmon patties, reduce heat to medium, cooking until golden brown, 2 – 3 minutes
  6. Turn the patties (I like to use two spatulas when turning delicate things, place one underneath, and then a second spatula over the top to gently flip it and ease it back into the pan; it also keeps the oil from splashing because the patty doesn’t plop back into the pan) and add more olive oil if necessary, cooking until the second side is golden

Notes

For my “lazy woman’s hollandaise sauce” mix 2 tablespoon mayo (I like Best Foods or Hellmans) with 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

For dinner last night, we visited the first ever Browar Fest Poznan — a festival featuring craft beers from Poland and other places. A write-up on this, which we hope becomes an annual event soon!

 

Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs

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During a recent road trip, I was listening to a Barbara Taylor Bradford audio book.  The main characters often referred to Parisian Eggs as a family favorite.  They described them as hard boiled eggs with some little fish – anchovy or sardines, I can’t remember which.  That got me to thinking about the smoked salmon I had in the fridge for a pasta dish.

I borrowed a small amount to add to deviled eggs.  As long as we were going fishy, it seemed like a good idea to top them with a bit of caviar.  The result was subtle and attractive.  Next time, maybe a little more of the salmon and caviar (as if I always have caviar in the fridge.  Mine came from the grocery section at Ikea.)

This was a small batch.  You could just use the fishy add-ins for your usual deviled egg mix.

Ingredients

3 hard boiled eggs, sliced in half
1 heaping tablespoon mayonaisse
2 heaping teaspoons mustard (I like dijon, whole grain would compete with the caviar texture)
1 tablespoon smoked salmon
2 small pickles (mine were 1/2 inch wide and 2 inches long)
seasoning salt
1 tablespoon finely snipped fresh dill
caviar (optional)

Directions

  • Remove the yolks from the eggs and add to food processor
  • Add mayo, mustard, salmon, and pickles; process until smooth. (I needed to add a tablespoon of pickle juice to get a consistency that would blend
  • Stir in salt and dill
  • Top with caviar and a small sprig of dill

Pasta with Salmon

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This was dinner last night, inspired by my favorite dish at the Dubliner.  A delicious, if not low-fat, meal.  Ed went looking for seconds, but sadly, we’d eaten it all.  The Dubliner makes this with cherry tomatoes.  I wanted to use a large tomato, so I just diced it coarsely.  I used 100 grams of smoked salmon, pulling the thin slices into little pieces; it would be great with grilled salmon too.

Ingredients

4 to 5 ounces of pasta, cooked according to package directions
1 tablespoon butter
1 shallot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 – 1 cup cooked salmon, diced
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 large tomato diced or 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup finely snipped fresh dill
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

  • While the pasta is cooking, saute the shallot and garlic over medium heat until the shallot is translucent, being careful not to burn the garlic.
  • Add the drained pasta, salmon, cream, and cheese to the frying pan, heat stirring constantly until the cream has reduced and thickened, and the cheese has melted.
  • Add the tomato and dill, season with salt and pepper; serve immediately.

Serves 2

Prosciutto Wrapped Halibut

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I had the opportunity to meet Executive Chef Ryan Clark, of Lodge on the Desert, because of his involvement in Primavera Cooks!  He was kind enough to share this recipe.  At the Lodge they serve this with Creamed Corn & Spinach.  Try them together.  You won’t be disappointed.  The crispy prosciutto is in perfect contrast with the creamed veggies.  It’s a polished dish – one that will impress your guests.
Ingredients

4 halibut filets, 7 ounces each
4 slices prosciutto
salt and pepper, to taste
4 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

  • Season filets with salt and pepper.  Wrap each piece with a slice of prosciutto.
  • Heat a pan to high heat and add olive oil.  When the oil begins to slightly smoke add the halibut.
  • Cook for 3 minutes and turn over.
  • Put the pan in a 375 degree oven for 6 minutes or until desire doneness.
  • Serve over creamed corn and spinach.

Serves: 4

Merluza a la Vasca (Basque style hake)

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For Mother’s Day, I thought I’d fix my mom (and the rest of the family) one of my favorite Spanish dishes, sampled often at Restaurante Colon in the village of Torrejon.  The fish cooks in a savory, garlic laced, green sauce and involves no last minute preparation, always a plus in my book.

Ingredients

4 fish steaks, hake or cod, about 1 inch thick
salt
pepper
flour for dusting
4 T. olive oil
1 T. lemon juice
4 cloves garlic
3 T. minced onion
2 T. flour
3/4 c. white wine
3/4 c. clam juice
6 T. minced parsley
3/4 c. peas, fresh or frozen
1 dozen small clams
1 dozen mussels
1 jar (11.6 oz.) white asparagus
1 jar (2 oz.) pimento strips
1 hard boiled egg, finely chopped

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • Season the fish with salt and pepper.  Dust with flour.
  • Heat 2 T. oil in large frying pan.  Cook fish about 1 minute on each side.
  • Transfer fish to 4 individual baking dishes.  Top with lemon juice
  • Add remaining oil to pan.  Cook garlic and onion until translucent.
  • Stir in 2 T. flour, gradually adding wine and clam juice.  Stir until thick and smooth.
  • Add 5 T. parsley, peas, salt and pepper.
  • Pour sauce over the fish.  Add clams, mussels, asparagus, and pimento to the baking dishes.
  • Bake for 20 to 40 minutes, until fish flakes and the clams and mussels are open.
  • Top with remaining parsley, 1 T., and chopped egg.

Serves 4

Fish & Chips

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What to do with a couple pounds of halibut from Alaska?  Fish & Chips, of course!  It was fantastic; thanks Jeff & Rae.  I haven’t calculated the weight watchers points, but Alton Brown assures me that if the proper technique and temperatures are used for frying, very little oil is absorbed by the food.
 This recipe had over 100 reviews with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars.  I did make changes suggested by many comments – additional seasoning and thinning the batter a bit.  We’ll use this batter recipe for many things.  I think zucchini may be next.
         
Ingredients
Adapted from Alton Brown
For the fries:
4 large russet potatoes
1 gallon safflower oil (I used 48 oz. canola oil)
kosher salt
For the batter:
2 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
1 t. kosher salt
1/4 t. cayenne pepper ( I used 1/2 t.)
dash Old Bay seasoning, (I used 1/4 t.)
1 bottle brown beer, cold (I used 1 1/4 bottles)
1 1/2 lb. firm white fish, cut into 1 oz strips
salt
cornstarch, for dusting
Directions  

Heat oven to 200 degrees.
Heat the oil in a 5 qt. dutch oven (I used a large cast iron frying pan) until it reaches 320 degrees. Using a V-slicer on it’s thickest setting, slice the potatoes with skins on.  Put potatoes in a large bowl of cold water.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, kosher salt, cayenne pepper, and Old Bay.  Whisk in beer. Mix until smooth and free of lumps.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes.  Can be refrigerated for up to an hour.
Drain potatoes, removing all water.  Fry (at 320) in small batches for 2 – 3 minutes.  The potatoes should be light and floppy.  Drain allow to cool to room temperature.  Increase oil temperature to 375.  Refry potatoes (still in small batches) for an additional 2 – 3 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.  Place cooling rack over cookie sheet (to catch any drips).  Remove potatoes from oil, place on cooling rack.  Season with kosher salt while still hot.  Keep warm in oven.
Allow oil to cool to 350 degrees.  Lightly salt fish; dredge fish in corn starch.  Working in small batches, dip the fish in the batter, and then into the oil.  When the first side is set and brown, turn fish over.  Cooking for about 2 minutes.  Again, placking a cooling rack over a cookie sheet.  Place fish on cooling rack to drain.
Serve with malt vinegar.
Serves 4.

Halibut Tacos

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I wrote a cooking column for a weekly newspaper for awhile. I’ll never forget the time the editor called me to share feedback from one of my columns. I’d been invited behind the scenes to a charity dinner and been given a couple of recipes to share with our readers by the well known chef. That prospect was very exciting to me. The recipes were for Prosciutto wrapped halibut and a veggie dish.

The caller said, “tell that Louis (sic) that she’s crazy if she thinks people can afford halibut; that goes for $12 a pound. People can’t afford to cook that. She needs to get her head out of the clouds. We need recipes for things people can afford, like beans!” The editor was very kind, said I was doing a great job for them, and that in the newspaper game, the fact that they talked about you was more important than what they said. If I hadn’t had a 400 word limit, I might have mentioned that my supermarket didn’t even carry halibut, I made the recipe to blog about it with cod!

So after that chewing-out, I cautiously bring you another halibut recipe. When the kids brings you an ice chest full of fish, you do all kinds of things with it!

My daughter’s boyfriend was kind enough to not only bring us fish from Alaska but to cook for us too. The halibut was diced, seasoned with taco seasoning, seasoned salt and black pepper. Then sauteed in a little olive oil. The fish was served on a tortilla (flour or corn) on top of refried beans, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, red & yellow bell peppers.