Dill Salmon Patties

When I was a little girl, I thought my mom bought these prepared from the store? Like in little round patties that you just popped into the skilet to cook. I had no idea that they came in a can! I might have even thought that they were 'grown' like that. You know, like scallops.

Crazy talk!

Her patties were so uniformly, er formed.

And I loved them, even as a kid.

They don't taste strong like salmon steaks. I like grilled salmon, or in the oven, like I did here.

This is my favorite recipe for patties, and it's extremely simple.

The fireman and I are big meat eaters, we like our protein, so we open 2 cans of salmon for the two of us. The girl will often eat one patty, and if we make it when the boys are home, we open 3 cans.

I won't post any pictures of the cleaning of the fish.

Sorry, but it's not a pretty picture. Maybe that's why I never saw my mom make the salmon patties. She was hiding the truth behind the patties. *play X-Files music here*

There are small bones, large vertebrae bones and some skin. The skin is grayish and silvery. It looks weird and scary, but have faith! Be tough! Or have your hubby clean it for you! Everything in the can is cooked and it doesn't really stink.

If you haven't opened a can of salmon before, just know that they can it whole. You can eat the skin/fat/bones. They have been heated and cooked in the can and the bones are small and brittle, but I don't do that.

The fireman would be fine eating them, all of them, but not me.

Do what you're comfortable with.

There are 3 sections to the meat inside the can. If you drain the can and turn it out in a bowl, you can pull those sections easily apart. I keep a second bowl handy for the bones/skin. Use a fork and just run it up the section to pull out the bones and vertebrae. It really isn't that difficult. There'll all right here.

Then, if you're like me, you will run the form across the back of the section to get the skin off it and any fatty sections. It comes off easily with the fork. There is a darker part of the meat, kind of like dark meat on a chicken. You don't have to clean this off. The meat's not bad, it's just a different part of the salmon.

Don't freak out about those teeny tiny bone pieces that are still visible. Those are just little pin bones and are small and brittle. They will not hurt you and are difficult to get all out.

Once it's as clean as you like, then drain any additional liquid and fork together to break the pieces up a bit.

Now I'll show you what it looks like! To this, I have added dill, salt and pepper.

That's it.

Oh, and 1 egg. But I didn't take a picture of that. Use your imagination.

Use a fork or your hands to mix it in.

Then, form into 7 or 8 patties. Depending on the size you like. Our kids tend to like them smaller, but I like large heartier patties now.

Cook in a hot skillet.

You are only cooking long enough to brown the outside and cook the egg inside. The fish is already cooked.

They really don't make your kitchen smell very fishy. And the meat is very mild. I don't consider it fishy at all this way. I don't eat much fish because it's so 'fishy'. So, I'm a good one to ask.

Does that make sense?

Anyway, I like melted butter with these. When I was little, I used to spread it on with a knife, just like a biscuit. Weird.

The fireman likes hot sauce or cocktail sauce on his. Sometimes he mixes cocktail sauce and horseradish. It looks disgusting.

I really love the dill in it. It's not strong, but it works well with the salmon.

And try it even if you don't normally like fish!

The Recipe:
Dill Salmon Patties
2 cans salmon (cleaned and deboned as desired)
1 egg
1/4 tsp dill (or more)
1/4 tsp salt
dash pepper

Mix and form into patties. Cook in a hot skillet for 4-5 minutes on each side.

Quick and easy!