Salmon patties with spicy mashed potatoes and spinach

I have wanted to try out fish patties for a long time, and I still had two pieces of salmon left in the freezer from Christmas so I thought why not cook an Easter Monday celebratory lunch? I think it was a wise decision, surely I will make fish patties in the future too because it was absolutely delicious. To be honest the potatoes started out as the recipe from this month's Good Food magazine's recipe, where you have to make a spicy mixture and then fry the pieces of potato in this mixture but I overcooked them and in the end it became a mashed potato dish, but at least now I can call this recipe my own :)) I won't write down a recipe for the spinach, it's very easy, you just need some fresh of frozen spinach leaves, cook them in a pan until the water disappears and then season it with salt, some ground nutmeg and garlic.

 Ingredients for the fish patties:

• approx. 20-30 dkgs of fresh salmon
• a handful of chives
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 smaller cooked potato
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of fish seasoning
• a little bit of grates parmesan cheese 
• salt, pepper
• 3 tablespoons of flour

In a saucer pan start steaming the fish in a bit of water and oil, don't forget to cover the pan. You only have to cook it until it cooks on the inside too, don't dry it out. Then get a fork and cut the fish in a couple of bigger parts, so that it can cool down and take the bones out, if there are any. Then let it cool down completely. Meanwhile chop the chives fine and put it into a bowl together with the fish, which you have to mince with a fork until it completely falls apart. Add the potatoes too, smash the pieces with a fork, then add the lemon juice, the cheese,  the seasoning, some salt and pepper and mix it until it becomes a completely solid mixture. Taste it, add more salt or anything that it needs and then add the egg too and give it a good stir again. Then form little patties from the mixture, roll them into the flour and on a bit of oil fry them (not deep frying, just on a bit of oil), until both sides are golden. 

Ingredients for the mashed potatoes:

• 4-5 bigger potatoes
• 1 bigger onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of caraway seeds
• half a tablespoon of chilli powder
• half a tablespoon of smoked paprika
• salt and pepper

Cut the potatoes in pieces and cook them in salted water. Meanwhile chop the onions and the garlic fine and start frying them in a pan. When the potato is cooked, pour off the water and add the potatoes to the onion mixture. Start giving it a stir, the potatoes will fall apart but that's good. Let it fry on the bottom for a while, then give it a good stir and again let it fry for a little while, so that there will be soft and crunchy parts in the end. At some point add the chili and the paprika powder too, and salt, if neccessary. 

Pangasius and potatoes roasted in beer

We have this old recipe for pangasius fish cooked in beer with bacon, so now I upgraded it a little into a one course dish. In this new version the fish fillet is cut into little pieces and the bacon is also minced. I have to admit the result was quite delicious :)

Ingredients for 4

• 1 kg of potatoes
• 2 big pieces of pangasius fillet
• 10 leaves of rosemary
• 2 onions 
• 10 dkgs of sliced bacon
• 2,5 dl of lager
• salt and pepper

Cut the potatoes in quarters and put them into a pan. Add some salt and pepper. Get the onions and the bacon into a frood processor and grind them. Stir the mixture in the pan with the potatoes. Chop the rosemary fine and sprinkle it onto the potatoes. Cover the pan with tin foil and cook it in the oven at 200 deg Celsius until the potato is done. Then put the cut up fish fillet on top and pour the beer too. Cover it again and put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes. After that remove the cover and let the fluids disappear and the top of the potatoes become golden. 

Rosemary - potato souffle with rosted vegetables and apples

It is very easy to make, perfect when you are in the middle of a big research for your university thesis for example, and you don't have too much time to cook. Potatoe might not be the lightest of food but if you have it with roasted vegetables, it's not too heavy.

Ingredients, serves 2

For the souffle

• 2 big potatoes
• 1 clove of garlic
• fresh rosemary leaves according to taste
• 5 dkg of cheese
• 3 tbl spoons of cream
• 1 dkg of butter
• 1 egg, yolk and white separated
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Peel and dice the potatoes. Cook them in salted water. When it's done, pour the water out and smash the potatoes with a fork. Add the butter and cream. Chop the garlic and the rosemary fine and add them to the potatoes. Grate the cheese and ad dhalf of it to the mixture. Let it cool for a bit and  then add the egg yolk. Beat the white and then mix it with the potatoes. Pour the mixture into the previously buttered souffle dishes and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Put the dishes into a pan, pour some water into the pan and put it in the oven at 190 deg Celsius, until the cheese gets golden.

For the roasted vegetables

• carrots
• mushrooms
• apples
• dark wine vinegar

Peel the carrots, cut them in halves. Put them into a heatproof dish onto a bit of oil, add some water and cover it with tin foil. Start cooking them in the oven at 200 deg Celsius. Meanwhile wash the apples, cut them in halves, cut the core out and cut them in wedges. The mushroom also needs to be cut in wedges. When the carrots are half done, add the apples and mushroom, pour some wine vinegar onto them and cover it again with the foil. Cook them unti the apple becomes soft, then remove the cover and cook it another 10 minutes. 

Asparagus and potato tart

This recipe is from Jamie Oliver's show, "Jamie at home", more specifically from the second season, the episode about asparagus. Its quite easy and quick but really filling, we liked it a lot :)

Ingredients

• a packet of filo pastry
• 2 bunches of green asparagus
• 8-10 potatoes
• 2 dl of cream
• 10-15 dkg of grated cheese
• 3 eggs
•  2.5 dkg of butter, melted

Blanch the asparagus in boiling salt water in about 5-10 minutes. Peel the potatoes and cook them in salt water as well. While doing that, get the filo pastry, do a little bit of wallpapering with the melted butter on each of the layers, and lay them in the tart pan. Drain the asparagus and let it cool. Drain the potatoes as well and start mashing them in a dish. Add the cheese, the cream, salt and pepper and basically make mashed potatoes. Add the 3 eggs and mix the whole thing. Pour the mashed potatoes into the pan and lay the asparagus on top of it. Cover them with the rest of the melted butter so that it doesnt dry out in the oven. My tart spent 30 minutes in the oven at 180 C, but Jamie said 20 minutes, anyways you can always check it with a needle or knife. Allow it cool for 20 minutes, and serve it.

Carrots with balsamic vinegar and new potatoes with caraway seeds seeds

Ingredients for 2:

The carrots:

• 3 carrots
• thyme
• dark balm vinegar
• salt, pepper, olive oil
• garlic
• 1 onion

The potatos:

1. 5 new potatos
2. caraway seeds

Chop the peeled carrots, put it into a heatproof dish, add a little olive oil, salt, freshly grounded pepper, and the leaves of the thyme. Mix it, and add the cloves of garlic and pieces of onion. Cover it with aluminium foil and steam it until almost ready at 200 degrees in the oven. Remove the foil and pour the vinegar into it, but not too much. Put it back to the oven for 5-10 minutes until the acidity of the vinegar disappears, and the top of the carrots get a nice colour.

Wash the potatoes, and leaving their skins on them cut them in half. Pour a little olive oil onto them and add salt, the caraway seeds and freshly grounded pepper.Cover them with aluminium foil and keep them in the oven at 200 deg until they become soft. Remove the foil then and leave them in the oven until they get a nice golden colour on the top. It can be eaten with the skins on, its really crispy and delicious.