Crispy Salmon Cakes

This recipe turned out better than I had hoped.  I'm normally a bit "meh" about salmon. It's ok, but I don't get excited about it. I wanted something different today though, instead of chicken. I've been eating a lot of chicken! I am thoroughly sick of it. So I had a look through my cupboard and found some tins of salmon in spring water that have been there since about 2003. Not really. I was thinking dill would have been nice with it, but all I had was fresh coriander or fresh basil. So I went with the coriander, and I must admit, my pretty standard flavourings of chilli, lime, and coconut. But it turned out a bit different with the salmon flavour! Hope you enjoy!

Crispy Salmon Cakes

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 Tblsp coconut flour

1 tsp mexican chilli powder*

juice of 1 small lime

1 Tblsp coconut cream

150g salmon (in spring water)**

1/2 medium to large zucchini, sliced

1-2 Tblsp fresh coriander (approx.)

seasoned coconut flour & almond meal mixture to crumb.

In a food processor, combine eggs, coconut four, chilli powder*, lime juice and coconut cream, blending until well mixed. Add salmon, zucchini slices, and coriander (I don't pre-chop the coriander, I just rip a bunch of leaves off the plant and throw them straight in, so the measurement above is approximate). Blend until you have a think mixture with small chunks of zucchini.  Be careful not to over-process to the goo stage (which is why you want to blend the other ingredients before adding the solid ones).

The mixture will be quite moist and soft but don't worry, this is why the next directions are not your normal crumbing directions... Take some of the crumb mixture in your hand (enough so that the mixture doesn't stick to your hand), then plop a spoonful of the salmon mixture on top.  Sprinkle some crumbs on top, enough to coat the blob so there are no wet sticky bits, and do a bit of patting from hand to hand bla bla bla I don't really know how to explain this bit but I'm sure you have a brain. (If you try and do this on a plate and have to flip the pattie or try and pick it up, basically you will end up with a giant mess).  Once you have a nice, dry (though soft), evenly coated pattie, gently plop it in a medium hot pan filled with a decent amount of animal fat or coconut oil.  Continue process with the rest of the mixture, flipping the patties when they are nice and crispy brown on the underside. Coconut four really sucks up oil, so don't be stingy with it in the pan or the crumbing will end up dry and burnt in places. You may need to add more oil as you go if your pan is looking a bit dry mid fry.

Service with some steamed veges or an avocado salad, whatever really, but these are tasty little morsels so you don't need a massively impressive side to go with them.

*I use Coles brand mexican chilli powder, which is quite mild and has a hint of garlic, as I like the flavour but not so much the heat.  If you are using normal chilli powder, adjust to your taste. 1 tsp of hot chilli powder might be a bit much!

** I use John West skinless and boneless salmon slices because I am a bit fussy with my salmon and don't like all the bones and skin you get in a normal tin.  They come in 125g little sardine shaped tins, but when drained the salmon weighs about 75g, and I used two for this recipe, hence the 150g measurement.  You can use any salmon you like though, red would be nice!  I also make sure my salmon is in spring water because most of the salmon in oil uses either soybean oil (evil!) or an unidentified vegetable oil which I don't trust.

Jas xox