And now back to summer cooking

Many warm thanks to those who celebrated my triathlon goings-on with me. Your positive comments, both here and in person or by email, mean so much.

And now back to the ongoing topic of summer cooking!

I'm not sure what makes salmon cakes summery, but they feel summery to me. They were last night's dinner along with salad and a new chilled soup. Although I know fine salmon cakes are usually made from fresh salmon, I tend to use it as a quick, pantry-friendly meal. So, I like to use canned salmon. I have found buying canned salmon has been a bit challenging. It's not all that quick and easy if you have to pick the bones and skins out. And taste! - if it's overly fishy tasting, I'm not interested! Eventually I found that Costco had a good quality version in their store brand that we really enjoyed. But then, after learning about the downsides of farmed salmon (didya' know it isn't healthy like wild is? and the color comes from dye they feed it? and that it escapes and endangers wild salmon populations?), I read the cans more carefully and couldn't find any that weren't farmed. I quit buying it for a while but recently I've found canned wild Alaskan salmon - again in the Costco brand. So, we're back in business!

This is a recipe that I modified to be more seasoned and avoid purchased stuffing mix, but you could substitute stuffing mix if you wanted:

Salmon Cakes
Makes 6 servings, 2 patties each

*4 slices bread, oven dried & chopped
*1/2 t onion powder
*1/2 t garlic powder
*1/2 t season salt
*1/2 t pepper
*3/4 c chicken stock
1/3 c mayo
2 cans salmon, drained
1 T lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t dill (or 1 T fresh dill) (optional)
1 c shredded mozzarella

Mix all & refrigerate 10 min. Shape into patties 1/3 c each (can refrigerate up to 24 hours). Cook in hot non-stick skillet 3 min on each side.
*Substitute Stove-top stuffing mix and 3/4 c water for starred items if desired.

Ready to hear about that pretty pink soup? I'm ready to write about it, but I'm out of time for writing. More tomorrow!!