Salmon fish cakes with lemon herb mayo

Children love these simple-to-make fish cakes starring tinned salmon and potato

Salmon fish cakes with lemon herb mayo Photo: YUKI SUGIURA

Serves six

For the fish cakes
750g (1lb 10oz) floury potatoes
2 large tins salmon, about 215g (7½oz) each
optional extras: anchovies, capers, chervil, parsley or chives
plain flour, for dusting
2 large eggs, beaten
150g (5½oz) dry breadcrumbs
sunflower oil, for frying
lemon wedges, to serve

For the mayonnaise 
200g (7oz) mayonnaise
5 tbsp crème fraîche
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp lemon juice
1-2 tbsp chopped parsley or chervil

Boil the potatoes in their skins until tender. Drain, put a clean tea towel on top of the potatoes in the pan, put on the lid and set over a very low heat for four minutes; this dries out the potatoes a bit. Peel each one and discard the peel.

Open the tins of salmon and drain, reserving the juices. Flake the fish and remove any bones or skin. Mash the potato and add the salmon, salt and pepper, plus just enough salmon juice to make it bind. If you are going to add any extras – chopped anchovies, capers or herbs – add them now. Taste the mixture for seasoning.

Flour your hands and put more flour on to a plate. Take handfuls of the fish and potato mixture and form them into 12 cakes about 8cm (3in) across. Dip each one in flour and set on a non-stick baking-sheet. Flour your hands again if necessary – they’ll get a bit sticky.

Put the eggs in a shallow bowl and the breadcrumbs in another. Dip each fish cake into the egg and then the crumbs. Put back on the baking-sheet. If you have time, put the cakes in the fridge to firm up. I hardly ever have time and these behave pretty well without it.

To make the mayo just mix everything together.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large non-stick frying-pan (use two pans if you have them) and cook the cakes on both sides until golden and hot right through – about four to five minutes per side. As you cook the cakes transfer them to a serving platter (or baking-sheet) and put in a low oven to keep warm. Use more oil as you need it.

Serve the fish cakes with wedges of lemon and the mayo, plus some peas or a green salad on the side.

Baked Sweet Potato Falafel

These falafel are Leon's most popular veggie dish to date. They knew they wanted falafel on the menu, but chose not to have deep fryers. After some experimenting, this sweet potato and chickpea flour version was developed.

2 medium sweet potatoes (orange inside), around 700g or 1 1/2 pounds in total
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 small cloves of garlic, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 big handfuls of fresh cilantro/coriander, chopped
Juice of half a lemon
a scant cup (120g) gram /chickpea flour
a splash of olive oil
a sprinkling of sesame seeds
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425F degrees (220C) and roast the sweet potatoes whole until just tender - 45 minutes to 1 hour. Turn off the oven, leave the potatoes to cool, then peel.

Put the sweet potatoes, cumin, garlic, ground and fresh coriander, lemon juice and gram/chickpea flour into a large bowl. Season well, and mash until smooth with no large chunks. Stick in the fridge to firm up for an hour, or the freezer for 20-30 minutes. When you take it out, your mix should be sticky rather than really wet. You can add a tablespoon or so more of chickpea flour if necessary (the water content of sweet potatoes varies enormously).

Reheat the oven to 400F/200C. Using a couple of soup spoons (put a well-heaped spoonful of mix in one spoon and use the concave side of the other to shape the sides) or a falafel scoop if you have one, make the mixture into falafelly looking things and put them on an oiled tray. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and bake in the oven for around 15 minutes, until the bases are golden brown.

Makes about 18 falafel, enough for 4 - 6.

Hummus en Fuego Recipe

A couple tips before you get started - rub the skins of the walnuts off a bit after you toast them, it's nothing I really pay too much attention to for a recipe like this, but the skins can be a bit bitter and tannic. And again, make the crushed red pepper oil a day or two ahead if possible.

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

3/4 cup walnuts, toasted
2 cups cooked (or canned) garbanzo beans, drained
1 medium clove garlic
juice of 1/2 a lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
1/2 cup hot water

1/4 cup oil-cured olives, chopped
a bit of chopped cilantro

Make the hot pepper oil a day or so ahead of time by heating the olive oil in a small saucepan for a couple minutes - until it is about as hot as you would need it to saute some onions, but not so hot that it smokes or smells acrid or burned. Turn off the heat and stir in the crushed red pepper flakes. Set aside and let cool, ideally for a day or two - to let the flavor really develop.

To make the hummus, give the walnuts a spin in the food processor, just until they are a sandy texture. Add most of the garbanzos, 1 or 2 tablespoons of the red chile oil (oil only, no flakes), garlic, and lemon juice. Now process until smooth. Drizzle in the water a bit at a time and puree more, until the hummus is creamy and billowy. I tend to let the food processor run for a minute or so at this point, it incorporates air into the puree and makes it a nice texture. Taste, adjust the seasoning - more salt, more lemon juice, etc.

Serve in a shallow bowl, drizzled with plenty of the remaining oil and red pepper flakes. I like to add any remaining garbanzo beans at this point as well as some olives and a bit of chopped cilantro for the final touch.

Makes roughly 2 1/2 cups..

Sausage and bean soup

Watch recipe17 mins

This punchy chorizo and bean stew from Nigel Slater makes a perfect storecupboard supper for a winter evening.

Ingredients

• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 large onions
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 large or 2 medium carrots
• a rib of celery
• a tablespoon of fresh oregano leaves, plus extra to serve
• 3 chorizo sausages (about 400g/14oz)
• a couple of pinches of crushed dried chillies
• a pinch of fennel seeds
• 3 or 4 strips of orange zest, plus extra grated zest, to serve
• a glass of dry sherry
• 5 or 6 decent-sized tomatoes
• 2 x 400g/14oz tins cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• salt and black pepper

Preparation method

1. Warm the olive oil in a deep, heavy-based pan. Peel the onions, roughly chop them and add them to the oil, stirring to coat them, then let them cook at a moderate heat until they start to soften.
2. Peel the garlic, slice it thinly and stir it into the onions. Scrub and finely chop the carrots, chop the celery and add to the pan together with the carrots. Leave to cook, partially covered by a lid, until the onions are soft and pale gold. Stir in the oregano leaves.
3. Cut each chorizo sausage into about four fat chunks. Mix these in with the softened onions then add the crushed, dried chillies, fennel seeds and strips of orange zest. Pour in a glass of dry sherry, vermouth or white wine and bring the mixture to an enthusiastic bubble.
4. Chop the tomatoes roughly, add them to the pan and bring them to the boil, then add the drained beans, and a canful of fresh water. Season with salt and black pepper. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and leave to cook, slowly, half-covered with a lid, for 45 minutes.
5. Just before serving add a little more oregano and some grated orange zest. Serve in shallow bowls, making certain everyone gets a fair bit of sausage.

Lamb Beetroot and Bulghar Wheat Patties

Ingredients

• 75g/3oz fine or medium cracked wheat
• 250g/9oz raw beetroot
• a small to medium onion
• 400g/14oz minced lamb
• 2 large garlic cloves, or even 3, crushed
• 2 heaped tbsp chopped dill
• a small handful parsley, chopped
• salt and black pepper
• a little groundnut oil

For the dressing

• about a third of a medium cucumber
• salt and black pepper
• the leaves from 4 or 5 mint sprigs, chopped
• 200g/7oz plain yoghurt

Preparation method

1. Put the cracked wheat in a bowl, pour over enough boiling water to cover, then set aside to swell.
2. Peel the beetroot and onion and grate them coarsely into a large bowl. Add the minced lamb, garlic, dill, parsley and a generous grinding of salt and black pepper.
3. Squeeze any water from the cracked wheat with your hands and add the wheat to the meat. Mix everything together thoroughly, then squish the mince into little patties about the size of a flattened golf ball. Cover with cling film (I do this tightly because the chopped garlic will taint everything in the fridge), then chill for at least an hour.
4. Set the oven at 180C/350F/Gas 4.
5. Make the dressing by grating the cucumber coarsely and leaving it in a colander, lightly sprinkled with salt, for half an hour. Squeeze it dry then mix it with the chopped mint, and yoghurt. Season with salt and black pepper.
6. Heat a non-stick pan, brush the patties with a little groundnut oil and fry until golden on both sides. Try not to move the meatballs very much when they are cooking; you risk them falling apart. Once they are lightly browned on both sides, carefully lift them into a baking dish and finish in the hot oven for 15-20 minutes (incidentally, you can only tell if they are done by tasting one, as the beetroot gives them a rich red colour, making it impossible to gauge by sight whether they are cooked).
7. Drizzle with the cucumber dressing and eat.