Of Salmon Croquettes and Other Fishy Things

So last night I had salmon patties on the menu for dinner. I've made salmon croquettes and salmon patties before, and while they've tasted decent, I've never felt like they lived up to how I thought they should taste. I've followed a recipe for salmon patties in my Better Homes and Garden cookbook for the newlywed and have thought it was lacking. I've followed a recipe in Grandma's Kitchen recipe box for salmon croquettes and have still been unsatisfied. The croquettes were definitely better, having more flavor and all, but they are fried in crushed potato chips, so of course they're gonna be tastier! I have been wanting a tastier, yet healthier option. So I searched the internet for a few moments to get some ideas of some "normal" ingredients people put in these things, and found that most people are uninspired when it comes to canned fish (sorry, but it's the truth). Pooh! Well, I figured I could try my own thing, with perhaps a few ideas from other recipes here and there. Here's what I came up with:

1 can of salmon, flaked and de-boned (this is such a pain in the butt!)
two green onions
1/3 cup of quick oats
1/4 mayonnaise (preferably made with olive oil)
3/4 tsp parsley (dried)
1 1/2 TBSP Parmesan cheese
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 TBSP lemon juice
1/8 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

All of these lent the salmon an almost horseradish-like taste. If you don't like horseradish, I'm sorry. :/ I happen to love it, so this made me happy, and also made me wonder what it would've tasted like if I had had horseradish on hand. Hmmm... I might try that next time. :D

I loved the slight kick these had to them, due to the addition of mustard and lemon juice. They had a good flavor with the mix of the garlic powder and Parmesan cheese (I still think I should've used more, but I'm a cheese lover and tend to over do it...) You could put another herb in here like dill, but I don't like dill and was rather afraid to ruin a good thing with another herb. Parsley is rather inoffensive and tends to pair well with almost anything you cook, so I went with that for safety. You really can't go wrong with sprinkling a little bit of it here and there on your cooking!

Overall I was very pleased with the way these patties turned out. I fried them in a little bit of high quality organic olive oil (heavenly stuff!) and served them with oven baked potatoes and mixed frozen veggies (yes, I skimped on one of the side dishes--bite me). Everytime I've made salmon patties/croquettes before, I've needed to dip them into some kind of sauce, since they usually don't have enough flavor to stand on their own. These babies, though, were good enough alone!

Until my next adventure...

Well, Here Goes!

That's right, I'm starting a new blog. I've created one before (and it's still up and running...last  I checked...), but it was primarily for the purpose of journalling and keeping family and friends up to date with what was going on in our new life in TN. This is different. This is meant to be a blog where I can share my thoughts and experiences about a huge passion of mine--food. I've known for a while that I've loved making food (and eating it), but it has only recently come to my attention how much enjoyment and excitement I get out of reading and talking about it as well. While I certainly don't have any formal credentials in the way of food, I do have several years of experience under my belt with regular food prep, my mom making sure all of her eight children knew how to cook a meal before going out into the world (good woman!). And I keep reading all these awesome foodie blogs and getting so inspired by these incredibly talented women who have renowned, healthful cooking/baking blogs. Several of these women didn't pursue the culinary arts in college, but rather surprisingly discovered/tapped into a hidden resource of creating wonderful, healthful foods to eat! Can it be? Can you really not know how talented you may be in a certain area of life? I remember long ago (while taking piano lessons and dreaming of taking cello lessons as well) wondering if there were some instrument I had yet to find that I would be instantly a master at. So far, I have not found that instrument... :p However, I wonder if there is some area of my life where I have some hidden talent/knack for something that I have not yet tapped into. I'm not a dreamer, so I don't typically dwell on these things, yet I seem to keep obsessing over this one idea: creating new recipes. I'd love to discover how to create new, healthful, delicious recipes, so I'm gonna try. Creating something new doesn't mean coming up with a recipe no one has ever heard of; it can simply be altering a well known recipe and putting your own spin on it. Sometimes I think my own spins are a bust, but many times I think I rather improve dishes (according to my taste buds--my husband doesn't share the same ones. Pooh.) Even if I don't always succeed with my own creations, I certainly will enjoy sharing my culinary experiences, be they new creations or samplings of someone else's. That in itself is quite enjoyable for me. Just talking about food makes me happy! :)

Occasionally, I half seriously wonder why I didn't go to culinary school rather than music school. :p However, I didn't love baking/cooking as much back then as I do now. I also believe I would've only learned to recreate and follow the rules, and that is not, ultimately, what I want to do when I cook/bake. Besides, I put years and years of hard work into my music and I loved it. I still do. I am so happy with what I learned and accomplished in school and hope to continue to better myself musically. I'm just now hoping to secondarily pursue another interest in my life that has newly awakened in me. And the great thing is that I can pursue this interest at my own pace, in my own home, doing my own research/experimenting whenever I want. :p

And while I'm still rambling on and on about what I hope to accomplish, allow me to share some of the things I'd like to create sometime:

French Toast Pancakes
Peppermint Bark Pancakes (throw in some chocolate peppermint bark ones, too!)
Chocolate Macaroon Pancakes (I promise I want to create more than just pancakes! :) )
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip (See?? But I want to create a healthy version that does NOT taste like beans or potatoes)

I bet you noticed how all of those things sounded rather, well, sugary, right? The challenge will be to make a healthful version of these yummy sounding foods! I definitely believe that good, healthful food can taste delicious (even decadent)--you just have to know how to prepare it.


So there you have it! Let the experimenting/food tasting/kitchen adventures begin! :)