Salmon Croquettes

Canned salmon was one of the cheaper fish that we
could get while growing up in interior North Carolina,
unless you caught your own fish. My grandmother often
bought canned pink salmon or canned mackeral. With
the mackeral she often stirred them into some
fried onion, simmer the mixture, and we ate it over
rice. With the salmon, she formed patties, fried
them and we called them salmon croquettes. Here is the recipe
I use for that:

Ingredients:
1 12 oz can pink salmon
2 Whole eggs
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons yellow corn meal
1/2 teaspoon salt (depending upon the
brand and how much salt is in it you
can leave this out if you want.
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

You basically pour all of the ingredients into
a large bowl and mix them. A large spoon or a
potato masher worked fine. I add the flour last
because I sometimes adust the amount to control the
consistency. Mold the dough-like mix that you
end up with into patties (like thick homemade
hamburgers).


Coat a frying pan with a little cooking oil. Crisco
works just fine. Preheat the oiled pan over medium
heat. Slip the patties into the pan, fitting as
many as you can but leaving room to turn them. Cook
until medium brown on one side, then turn over and
do the same to the other side.

I enjoyed eating these hot fresh out of the pan
along with rice, maybe some corn or butterbeans,
and sweetened iced tea.

After leaving home, the Air Force sent me to Alaska
where I learned to catch my own salmon. There I
discovered that there are many species of salmon (red,
pink, king, silver, chum, etc). Each has a different
taste based mainly upon how firm the meat is and
how much fat is in the meat. I learned to prepare
salmon a lot of other ways but croquettes is still
one of my favorite. My very favorite way to prepare
it now is smoked. I haven't smoked any salmon in
a while now so I need to look through my computer
files and find my brine recipe. I'll post my smoked
salmon recipe when I find it as you can do this with
salmon purchased from your local supermarket. Done
right - it will disappear very quickly and you will
be invited to about every party around (always with a
request that you bring some smoked salmon).