salmon fishcake recipe for Jo

This will make you four or five very large fishcakes. One fishcake per person is more than enough, even Mr Rock Cake, of the most extraordinary appetite, couldn't manage two. It was either the second fishcake or a pudding, and he opted for the pudding, and took the extra one home with him. Here we go:

600gm cooked potato [finely mashed, without butter or cream]
600gm salmon fillet [cooked and loosely flaked]
100gms smoked salmon [cut into small pieces]
4 spring/salad/scallions onions [finely chopped]
Handful of parsley [finely chopped]
Dollop of sweet chili sauce
Dollop of tomato ketchup [turns it a lovely shade of salmon pink]
Dollop of anchovy paste/essence/sauce
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Thoroughly mix together half of the cooked salmon with all of the other ingredients then loosely mix in the rest of the salmon trying not to break it up too much. The idea is that you will have some chunky bits of salmon in the mix. Using flour on your hands and a board, form the mixture into four or five fishcakes. I start off with a ball shape and then form it into a stumpy cylinder shape. These things are quite dramatic, and you are looking for a bit of height. They should roughly be about three inches across and two inches high, roughly. Put the fishcakes into the fridge to cool for two or three hours. You can even make them to this stage the night before. When you are ready, get yourself a solid base frying pan, and using a bit of oil, I wouldn't use olive oil because it smokes too readily, but it doesn't really matter what you use, brown off the top and bottom of each fishcake. I usually fry the cakes at a very high temperature for only a few minutes each end. The idea is to give the ends a bit of colour and a little bit of crust. It is probably easier to do just one or two cakes at a time or else you might have some trouble turning them. I have the splattered oil burns on my arms as evidence of this. Place the fishcakes onto a baking sheet as you finish frying them. Again, they can sit for a while until you are ready. I usually put them back in the fridge until I am ready to cook them through. Cook them in a moderately hot oven at about 400 fahrenheit/200 centigrade/6 Gas Mark for 25/30 minutes. They should be lovely and browned by then. I usually served them on lightly cooked spinach, but I always ensure that there is no water left in the spinach by putting the spinach in a sieve and pushing the water out using the back of a strong spoon. If it gets too cold you can always stick it back in the pot for a couple of minutes. Around this I spoon a lemon butter sauce which I make from a 100gms melted butter and the juice of two lemons. Beat this vigourously and at the last minute add some finely chopped dill. This is meant to be a thin sauce, used sparingly. I finish the whole thing off by topping the fishcake with some roasted baby tomatoes on the vine, just two or three depending on their size.

I hope that I have explained this well enough. I am writing this after having had just a little too much to drink. This is an impressive plate. It is hard to go wrong with it. Even 'uncooked' the fishcakes taste fantastic! All the measurements are approximate, and you can really add whatever you fancy, or have available, to the mixture. Just bear in mind that you don't want it to get too wet or else you will not be able to keep the shape. I wouldn't put tomatoes into the mixture because they can get very soggy. The smoked salmon is an essential ingredient. It completely transforms the taste of the finished fishcake. Let me know if there is anything that is not clear. Good luck. I'd like to know how it goes down for you.