Fantastic fishcakes!

Yes, I know it was Shrove Tuesday yesterday - and therefore, in the UK, Pancake Day! - but I like a pancake as a dessert, following a light meal, not as the main event in itself.  Therefore, I decided to use up some salmon "trimmings" from the freezer and make some fishcakes with a green salad as our first course.

Fishcakes are a doddle to make, but I would think twice before buying the salmon "trimmings" again for this sort of dish; it was impossible to tell from the way they were packaged but, although there was a lot of good flesh available, it was riddled with bones, fins, skin and the unappealing white, flabby stuff you sometimes get with salmon.  It was a time-consuming and fiddly job, but I did manage to get all bar a couple of bones removed and the fish did actually taste delicious ... however, I would definitely buy filleted fish in the future!

Boil some potatoes and make into a fairly dry mash; at the same time, poach your fish - either on the hob or in the oven, covered with foil - in some milk with seasoning and herbs (I like tarragon with salmon, but parsley, chives or dill all also go well with fish).  Add the fish in chunks to the mashed potato, stirring it in as lightly as possible, so as not to break the flakes down too much; you can also add any other flavouring you choose at this point (mustard, finely-sliced spring onions, ginger, grated cheese, curry, chilli or Thai spices, etc).

Form into cakes with well-floured hands, then roll in beaten egg and breadcrumbs, before frying in a little oil over a medium heat.  Cook in small batches to retain their shape (the drier your mash, the better they will hold their shape) and keep hot in the oven while you finish cooking the rest.  They are really quite filling (the above platter was more than enough for three people with large appetites!!) and only require a lovely fresh, dressed salad to accompany them.  (We certainly didn't need pancakes afterwards ... so that plan didn't work!!)

NB  I used salmon on this occasion, but mackerel, prawn or any smoked fish would also be delicious.

V  Well, obviously you can't make vegetarian fishcakes, but a "vegecake" would be very simple to create: cook any vegetables you like in whatever way you choose (steam, fry, bake, boil, microwave, sauté, etc) and add them to the mashed potato along with your chosen flavourings.  Coat and cook as above and serve with salad - job done!