Recipe #14 - Salmon Cakes with Lemon-Caper Yogurt Sauce

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Seattle is known for their fresh salmon. When I visited Seattle in October for a website design class (and to visit Forks), I went to Pike's Place Market, which is known for their fresh fish. I bought an entire Alaskan King Salmon, had it cut up into half pound filets, and had it FedExed here.  So, every month or so, we take some outa the freezer and throw it on the grill. Fortunately, we still had some left for this recipe. 

There are three parts to this recipe: the salmon, the patties, and the sauce. 

Salmon: I had to cut the skin off this salmon, as the recipe recommends. Put a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Drizzle the salmon with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Grill until the flesh is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork, about 6 to 8 minutes on each side. Set aside to cool for 20 minutes.

Patties: Using a fork, flake the salmon into 1/2-inch pieces and put into a medium bowl. Add the egg, chives, 1/2 of the crushed crackers, the corn, mustard, mayonnaise, capers, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix gently until just combined. Form the mixture into 2 1/2-inch diameter patties, about 3/4 inches thick. (If the mixture is too dry to form into patties, add extra mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon at a time,) Carefully coat the patties in the remaining crushed crackers and refrigerate for 1 hour. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil and butter over medium heat. Add the patties and cook until golden and crispy, about 7 to 8 minutes each side. Drain on paper towels.

Sauce: In a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, capers, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Arrange the salmon cakes on a platter and serve alongside the sauce.

I served Recipe #13 - Mediterranean Salad and Pita as the side. They complimented each other well, with the citrusy base. The yogurt sauce was de-licious. I could have eaten it by itself. Actually, I did. I even dipped the pita bread in it after everything else was gone. It had a very bold, piquant flavor that took me by surprise. The lemon zest def made it's presence known.

It's weird putting together these recipes not knowing what to expect at the end. It's like a gamble every time. I could use the same ingredients in different proportions and have a completely different taste. I like it.

Time: Accumatively - 1 hour 30 mins.
Rating: 9
Ingredients:
Salmon:
1 pound skinless salmon fillet 
Olive oil, for drizzling
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Patties:
1 large egg, beaten
1/3 cup (1/2 counce) chopped fresh chives
26 saltine crackers, crushed, divided
1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed 
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 
3 tablespoons mayonnaise, plus more, as needed
1 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Sauce:
1/2 cup full-fat plain Greek yogurt
1 1/2 tablespoons capers, rinsed, drained and chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper