Savory Salmon Cakes with Dill-Sour Cream

Good morning! If you're like me, on days when your free time is limited, time consuming kitchen activity is the last thing that you want to do. Salmon cakes are an easy, savory, and protein packed dish for evenings when you don't want to pay for take out or eat a frozen meal. 

When mixed with bread crumbs, salmon takes well to lots of herbs and spices. You can make salmon cakes from fresh or canned salmon. It just depends on your budget and palate. But, be cautious when adding salt or seasonings with salt to canned salmon. Additional salt is often not necessary as the sodium in canned salmon can be high. 

There are a number of ways to season salmon cakes. Here is my combination of seasonings that produce a batch of delicious cakes!

WHAT YOU NEED (Yields 6 salmon cakes)

1/4 cup olive oil
1 14.75 oz can of salmon (traditional style) OR 1lb of fresh salmon (cooked)
3 teaspoons old bay blackened seasoning

2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper 

1 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs

1/3 cup diced onion
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon sriracha

2 eggs

Dill Sour Cream

1 1/2 teaspoons dried dill

1/2 cup sour cream

pinch of salt

Place a pan on medium heat and coat evenly with olive oil. Flake your salmon in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl, mix old bay, parsley, garlic powder, paprika, black pepper, and panko crumbs together. Beat onion, Worcestershire sauce, sriracha, and eggs into the seasoning bowl until mixed well. Pour the mixture into the large bowl with the salmon and mix well with a large spoon. Mold the salmon into medium sized cakes. 

Fry the cakes until golden brown on each side (about 2-3 minutes on each side). Allow salmon cakes to rest on layered paper towels until excess oil has been absorbed by the paper towels. Meanwhile,  mix your dill with the sour cream. Serve the dill sour cream on top of the salmon cake along with a little bit of sriracha for dipping. Enjoy!

Rosemary Lemon Pepper Fried Chicken

Now that the summer is upon us, I have reclaimed my weekends for cooking and excessive nap time! Hooray! I am full of new recipes and kitchen ideas, so let's get started! 

Having been raised and fed in Georgia, I enjoyed my share of crispy, fried deliciousness that makes the mouth sing praises unto the bubbling oil. Yes, frying (especially frying meat) is definitely an art that until recently, I had not mastered. 

Watching my mother drop a piece of breaded tilapia or chicken into a hot pan and jump four feet away from the scalding, airborne oil was not a treasured sight for me as a child. Humorous, but certainly not treasured. I am ashamed to say that my role in helping my mother fry food ended shortly after breading the meat. 

Fortunately, those dark days are over! Motivated by some good-natured teasing from friends and family, I have finally dared to fry my first piece of meat! Though I will never be able to add this particular skill to a resume (if I can, then my career plans have taken an awkward turn Oo), I am delighted to share my simple, but flavorful, panko fried chicken recipe with you all. 

WHAT YOU NEED
2 teaspoons lemon pepper
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
2 cups panko bread crumbs (I prefer honey infused panko)
Crushed red pepper to taste
Salt to taste
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts 
Olive oil

Heat oil in frying pan on medium heat. In a large bowl, combine, panko, lemon pepper, rosemary, and crushed red pepper. Taste your seasoned panko before adding salt as some prepared lemon pepper mixtures tend to be on the salty side. In a small bowl, crack and lightly beat your eggs with milk. 

Dredge your chicken breasts with the egg and coat them in the seasoned panko. For a crispier (and therefore, more delicious) crust, coat the chicken in the egg mixture and seasoned panko one more time before frying.

Now the fun part! Gently place your chicken breasts in the pan and step far away from the popping oil. Cook your chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side (or until golden brown and no longer pink on the inside). 

Remove crispy chicken to a plate coated in paper towels and allow the paper towels to soak up the excess oil. You'll be left with bright, aromatic, crispy, juicy chicken! Delicious over pasta or salad. Serve and thoroughly enjoy! 

What else is on the plate, you ask? A bed of lemon-mushroom pasta with basil and romano cheese served with a salad of chopped tricolor peppers dressed in a little olive oil and red wine vinegar. Garnished with a big, beautiful, basil leaf.