Fish Cakes Ala Martha Stewart, Supper & Breakfast

I generally watch Good Morning America and when Bev gets up we watch the Today Show.  I pay attention to the first hour as they show the news but my attention goes elsewhere when then do make-up, celebrities, clothes, etc.  I usually watch the food segments and happened to look up this day to see Martha Stewart making fish burgers. 

I had been wanting to make some fish cakes (similar to salmon cakes) but hadn’t found a recipe that really inspired me but hers looked good so I went on line and found Martha’s recipe.  I show the complete sandwich recipe below but I made them as fish cakes and still sided them with a half recipe of the pickled onions, in addition to tartar & remoulade sauces.  I had just a little over 2lb. of fish so I cut back on the bread crumbs.

Fish Burgers – Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

QUICK-PICKLED RED ONIONS (MAKES 1 CUP)

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

½ cup rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

½ tablespoon kosher salt

FISH BURGERS

2½ pounds skinless hake or cod, coarsely chopped (I used crappie)

2 large eggs, beaten

1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup mayonnaise, divided

1½ cups fresh breadcrumbs (I used 1¼ cup of dried)

1/4 cup capers, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup minced fresh chives (I used 3 T. green onion tops)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing

2 T. butter (add by Larry)

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

8 brioche buns, split

watercress sprigs, for serving

Cutting the fish by hand keeps the texture of the patties light and fluffy. Fast and easy pickled red onions instantly upgrade just about any dish but they're truly outstanding on this burger.

Directions:

1. Place onions in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring vinegar, sugar, and salt to a boil in a saucepan; pour over onions.

2. Let cool completely. Refrigerate, covered, at least 2 hours and up to 1 month.

3. In a large bowl, combine fish, eggs, 1/3 cup mayonnaise, breadcrumbs, capers, chives, salt and cayenne pepper.

4. Form into 8 patties, each about 3½-inches in diameter. Refrigerate, covered, at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours.  I used my 3¼” egg ring to make nine 4½ -5 oz. cakes.

After cooling in the fridge.

5. Heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 T. butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high. Cook 4 burgers, flipping once, until golden brown and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Repeat with remaining oil and burgers.

6.Combine remaining 1/2 cup mayonnaise and mustard. Brush split sides of buns with oil; lightly toast in skillet. Sandwich burgers in buns with mayonnaise mixture, red onions and watercress.

We sided the fish with a quarter head of romaine hearts for a simple and delicious meal - I added more pickled onions later.

The Verdict:

They were very good and had the right amount of fish and binder to hold together very well but the delicate crappie flavor was a little overshadowed, so perfect for my non-fishy tasting fish wife.  Martha’s keeper recipe worked perfectly and I’ll try it again with a little more flavorful fish.

Breakfast

This was a simple no-brainer for breakfast with a nuked fish cake and an egg cooked in a ring mold.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

03/28/23 meal date