Salmon Croquettes

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Like many others, my Honey and I are trying to put more fish into our diets. Seems that fish are one of the better sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which are apparently good for you in a lot of different ways. The best fish for getting these little wonders are the oily, marine, cold-water fishes, like tuna and salmon.

There is some overhead with tuna, though: high mercury levels in those fish make it inadvisable to eat even a moderate amount of tuna more than about once a week - not enough to get you the amount of omega-3's you should be getting. Even if that weren't a problem, tuna is expensive! For most people then, the best odds of getting what you need, without heavy-metal poisoning, and without breaking the bank, is canned salmon.

Anyway, what this is leading up to, is that I needed a good recipe for salmon croquettes, and I am happy to say, I found one. The credit for the recipe goes to someone named Sylvia Woods, and was excerpted by recipesource.com from something called "MasterCook II." Ms. Woods' original recipe can be found here.

Now of course, having found a good thing, I just couldn't leave well enough alone, so now I'll give you my version of the recipe.

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Suggested Equipment:

• Large mixing bowl
  
• Skillet, nonstick, 10" or bigger
  
• Common kitchen tools and measures
  

Ingredients:

1. Evergreen bunching onions are a common substitution in our kitchen.
2. Green Bell pepper is OK, but we prefer the ripe, red ones.
3. We like Pepperidge Farm®, but probably any brand will do. You can even use panko bread crumbs. The original recipe calls for ½ cup of all-purpose flour.

Item		Amount
Salmon	Cleaned and flaked, nominal 15 oz can	1	ea
Shallots1	Fresh, finely chopped	½	cup
Peppers2	Bell, fresh, finely diced,	½	cup
Egg	Large	2	ea
Stuffing mix3	Commercial, herb-seasoned	1	cup
Salt	Common	1	tsp
Dill weed	Dried, crushed	¼	tsp
Black pepper	Dry, ground	¼	tsp
Oil	Olive	6	Tbs
Butter		6	Tbs

Directions:

1. Drain, clean, and flake the salmon, then combine all ingredients, except the olive oil and butter, in the mixing bowl and mix thoroughly by hand.

2. Prepare the skillet, combining 2 tbs olive oil and 2 tbs butter over medium heat, When the butter has stopped sizzling the oil mixture is ready to use.

3. Make patties of the salmon mixture that are about 3" across and about 1/2" thick. I use a 2" ice cream scoop, filled level with the mixture, and drop a scoopful directly into the oil, then I flatten it with a spatula. Works perfectly every time.

4. Cook each side of the patties for 2 to 3 minutes, until they are browned to your idea of perfection. When they have reached this ideal, remove them from the pan and drain them of any excess oil.

You will need to add oil and butter, 2 tbs each, from time to time, in order to cook all of the croquettes. This version of the recipe makes 7 or 8 croquettes.

Serve hot!

I've made these twice now, with and without the dill, and they were good enough to make me happy. Happy eating.