Archive for » April, 2009 «

Salmon Burgers/Patties With a Herb Sauce
I made these the other night as I had some salmon to use up and served them over salad it made for a delicious meal. I also made a sour cream herb sauce to accompany them using up some fresh herbs on my fridge. I cooked these on the stove top in a pan but they would also work on the BBQ just as well. You could also serve them in burger buns with some lettuce tomato and avocado.

Ingredients

800g Fresh salmon
1/2 Cup celery, chopped finely
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped finely
1 Tablespoon fresh dill, chopped finely
1 Teaspoon paprika
1 Teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon liquid garlic seasoning
Good pinch cayenne pepper
3 Green onions, chopped finely
3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1/2 Cup corn kernels
1 Large egg
1/2-3/4 Cup breadcrumbs

Herb Sauce

100ml Sour Cream
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon fresh dill, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 Teaspoon dried tarragon
1/2 Teaspoon garlic powder
1 Teaspoon mint sauce
Pepper to taste

Method

1. Boil some salted water in a large pan, add salmon add cook until salmon flakes easily, drain water.

2. Remove skin from salmon and break up into chunks into a large mixing bowl.

3. Add all other ingredients except sauce ingredients, mix well shape into patties, 8 large and about 15-20 if you want to serve these as finger foods, refrigerate until needed.

4. Mix all sauce ingredients and again place in the fridge until ready to use.

5. Heat some oil in a large fry pan, cook patties either side until nicely browned.

To Serve: Either serve over salad as I did or serve in burger buns.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Chicken Avocado and Mushroom Stuffed Vol-au-Vents
This is so simple to make and very yummy, I usually serve this in the really large vol-au-vent shells, but I could not get any, so I had to serve in medium ones. These are not ideal as you can not get much filling into them, I ended up pouring some of the filling over after taking a photo, so we were not eating just pastry cases with no filling, which is ok but does not look the most appealing. I usually buy the 12.5cm cases just so you can get an idea of the size compared to the ones in the photo.

Ingredients

4 x 12.5 cm Vol-auVent cases (read note above with regards to the ones used in the photo.)
Olive oil
700g Chicken breasts, cut into chunks
3 Cloves garlic, crushed
300g Mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 leek, sliced thinly
1 Packets cream of chicken soup (The one I buy makes up 1 liter)
2 Cups milk
1 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 Teaspoon dried tarragon
1 Avocado, chopped

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

2. Heat oil in a pan cook chicken in batches until browned, remove and set to one side.

3. Heat a little more oil in the same pan, add leeks, garlic and mushrooms, cook until leeks and mushrooms have softened, return chicken to pan and removed from heat.

4. In a saucepan whisk soup powder with milk and stock, bring to the boil to thicken, stir in tarragon. (my packet mix requires one more cup of liquid than I use, so that I end up with a thicker version than a soup, to use as the sauce, so bear this in mind.)

5. Pour soup mix into pan with chicken and mushroom mix, stir to combine, gently stir in avocado.

6. Place spoonfuls of chicken mix into pastry cases, bake in oven for about 5-8 Min’s until hot.

I served our with honeyed carrots and buttered spinach.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.