Fish Cakes on Friday!!

It's Lent here in my household and we are not fond of fishsticks from the grocery freezer, SO, I have to get creative and sometimes we do meatless/fishless meals, sometimes we do a soup and salad meal, or a breakfast dinner with eggs and toast, and sometimes I do a seafood of one sort or antoher.  There is one recipe that I found from Ina, Barefoot Contessa, that my husband especially enjoys:  Salmon cakes!  We never have all the ingredients, so here is what I do.


Salmon Cakes, courtesy of Ina Garten...with a few substitutions

Canned Salmon, or Canned Tuna, which ever you have on hand.
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
4 tbsp unsalted butter, (Always cook with UNsalted butter, that way you can season better!)
3/4 c red onion, I usually have yellow onion mostly, until summer with hamburgers!
4 small stalks of celery, I didn't have any celery....you can skip this ingredient.
1/2 c small-diced EACH of red pepper and yellow pepper...I had half of a green pepper on hand.
1/4 c minced fresh flat-leaf parsley,  I had dried, so to half or less....I put in 2 Tbsp
1 Tbsp drained capers
1/4 tsp tabasco.....I don't like it, so we don't add this, my husband keeps it at the table for his use.
1-1/2 tsp crab boil seasoning
3 slices of stale bread, crumbed
1/2 c Mayonaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 extra large eggs...... I get farm eggs, so 3 small/medium eggs will do.

Add all the ingredients into a bowl, mix thoroughly.  Mixture will be loose almost like pancake batter.  We used a 12" castiron skillet with Olive oil heated.  Pour the mixture into the pan with a 1/4 cup measure and cook 3 minutes on each side and are golden brown

Serve hot and enjoy!

Everything You Need to Know About MICROFIBER CLOTHS!

January Bakealong Challenge

King Arthur Flour's January bakealong challenge was a fun one, Pizza Party Buns!   I am always a rule or direction changer, so instead of making them pizza themed, I made them for a Sunday Family dinner with refried beans, tomato paste, and cheddar cheese and for excitement, chopped up bacon on the tops.

They were sensational and my son-in-law told me that they would be a great breakfast meal.  We tried it the next morning and sure enough, they were!

The directions were very easy, anybody can make these!  Here's the recipe:

For the Buns
Combine the following:
1 1/4 cups lukewarm milk
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups (14 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

For the Filling:
1 can of Refried Beans, your choice
1 sm can of tomato paste, or salsa
1.5 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, or mexican blend
Bacon bits, for the top

After adding all the bun ingredients in a mixer with a hook, knead the dough until it's smooth. (2 minutes)  Place dough in a lightly greased bowl and let rise for about 90 minutes.  Punch down and roll out in a rectangle about 11" x 18"     Spread the refried beans on first followed by the tomato paste and/or salsa.  Spread the cheese on top and then roll the dough up lengthwise pinching the end into the dough lengthwise.  Slice the log into 12 rolls and place on a cookie sheet and let rise again for about 90 minutes.  ( I didn't really do that second rise and they were great!)  Then bake them for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.   Serve warm with sour cream and more salsa!