Wedding Feast

2013 has definitely been the Year of The Wedding for us! At the weekend we attended wedding #4, and spent a beautiful couple of days in the Cotswolds. Our friends had an amazing wedding dinner including barbecued meats, with freshly made churros and hot chocolate pots for dessert. Such a great idea! They had a sweets table featuring the wedding cake as well as cupcakes, meringues and macaroons, and later in the evening served up bacon rolls and an enormous cheeseboard. But I was too busy dancing to the 'bandaoke' by that point, and left my bacon sandwich lying abandoned somewhere. What a weekend!

Salmon and Sweet Potato Fishcakes with a Pea and Mint Puree

These simple fishcakes are great for a light dinner, and the minty pea puree is a perfect light and fresh accompaniment.

I used a small (105g) tin of pink salmon, having just read an article about the benefits of cooking with tinned fish. What the article failed to mention, however, was that it would smell faintly of cat food when you're preparing it, and you would have to spend a good 5 minutes picking out the fine bones. 

Ain't nobody got time for that.

So I think I would perhaps use fresh salmon fillets next time. But on the plus side, these tasted great when they were cooked, and tinned salmon is much more cost effective than using fresh. So really it depends on how much you value your time, or your money.

Here's what you'll need to make four fishcakes:

For the fishcakes

1 x 105g tin of pink salmon

2 x medium sweet potatoes

1 egg, beaten

fresh parsley

salt and pepper

flour, for dusting

For the pea puree

frozen peas
fat-free natural yoghurt
handful fresh mint

To make the sweet potato mash, simply prick the potatoes all over with a fork and put them in the microwave. Cook on high for 4 minutes, turn over, and give them another 4 minutes. Remove and leave to cool. When cool enough to handle, cut each potato in half, scoop out the cooked flesh, and place in a bowl.

Add the (de-boned) salmon, egg, parsley and seasoning. Mix. 

Tip the flour onto a small plate.

Shape small handfuls of the fishcake mixture, making sure you have enough to make four.

Roll in the flour, re-shaping as you go if necessary.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan, and add the fishcakes.

Cook for 4-5 minutes each side, while you make the pea puree. You want the outside of the fishcakes to be golden and crisp.

Cook the frozen garden peas in boiling water for just 2 minutes. You want to keep as much of the fresh flavour as possible, so don't give them too long. Drain, then put in a bowl along with the other ingredients. Add 1tbsp of the yoghurt to begin with - you can always add more. Blitz with a handheld blender until you have a smooth, thick consistency, adding more yoghurt if need.

Serve the puree in the middle of the plate, and place the fishcakes on top.

The decorative mint is just a fancy blog touch, you don't need to do that. Unless you're just really fancy.

An evening in, as chosen by a six year old boy: pepperoni pizza, popcorn and Star Wars Episode IV. What more do you need?

Happy Campers

 

 

Sorry for my lack of posts recently...the Summer holidays are already proving to be as busy as I expected them to be! Last week was a first of us, as we decided to go camping - or "glamping" I guess, if you do as we did and hire a bell tent rather than battling with putting up our own. I'm glad we did though, as it gave us less stress and more time to hang out with the boys. We went for long beach walks; scrambled down cliffs to secret coves; went crabbing; ate fish and chips; explored rock pools; jumped waves; figured out how make a campfire, then cooked potatoes in it; jumped off hay bales; chased piglets; got a little bit sun-burnt; survived outside toilets and solar-powered showers; toasted a lot of marshmallows; and generally just had an awesome time.

Oh, and I really miss our pretty tent.