Fish Cakes, Free Classes and Funny Jokes
And look out for an email from me tomorrow!
Oh yeah baby. Don’t these look like something you want to put in your body?
I find it so hard to eat enough when the heat and humidity hit. Unfortunately this behavior can lead to lightheadedness and fatigue. For me the summer is marked by snacking on a lot of raw fruits and vegetables, punctuated by protein rich foods that still feel light and refreshing like these Herby Fish Cakes with Chipotle Mayo or fish tacos (coming soon!). These fish cakes require a quick blitz in the food processor, a little time shaping them with your hands and then a pan fry and you are good to go. You can make a double recipe and freeze them uncooked and wrapped in plastic so you can cook them fresh later.
I’ll be demonstrating the fish cakes for our Blissful Cooking Club class this week. Just become a paying subscriber for just $5/ month to join.
Fish cakes is what I have. Oh, and a free online class series put on by the Sacramento Public Library! I hope you’ll join. More details below. Our first class is coming up this Wednesday evening and we’ll be making tuna and tomato spaghetti and talking mindfulness. It is guaranteed to be a good time.
****Speaking of good times, I have an exciting announcement that I will be sending out tomorrow so please look out for an email from me and respond if you can. I would so appreciate your attention.
Also, does anyone else have just a shocking fruit fly problem at the moment? I mean I refuse to stop having fruit around and I can’t abide destroying the texture by putting it in the fridge so I may be my own worst enemy here. But I will not change!
Lastly, scroll all the way to the bottom for a very silly comic about how codependent we can sometimes be when we make food for others.
Building Confidence in the Kitchen - Free Class Series with me hosted by the Sacramento Public Library
For 3 weeks in July, the 12th, 19th and 26th I will be doing a free online cooking series hosted by the Sacramento Public Library at 5:30 PT 8:30 ET. It is going to be all about building confidence in the kitchen and beyond and will feature recipes from my book Good and Cheap and tons of useful information. The first week we are making Tuna and Tomato Spaghetti!
The Sacramento Public Library is running an amazing program over the summer to provide lunches to kids who might miss out on school lunch during the summer. Additionally they are providing boxes of produce, some cooking lessons, and copies of my book, Good and Cheap to families visiting the library during the summer! These classes supplement and further send the message out into the wider community that cooking is accessible, pleasurable and supportive. Please join us!
Herby Fish Cakes with Chipotle Mayo
Makes 8 fish cakes
TL;DR: Pulse fish cake ingredients in food processor, form 8 patties, and fry them. Serve with chipotle mayo.
2 shallot, roughly chopped or 1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
2 garlic scapes (optional)
1 pound cod or other white fish, thawed if frozen, roughly chopped
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
Chipotle Mayo
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from a can of chipotles in adobo)
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Lemon wedges, for garnish
Place the shallot, scallions, cilantro, mint, and garlic scapes, if using, in a food processor and blitz until you have a fairly fine paste. Add the cod, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, and salt and pulse a few times until the fish is broken up and smooth, but not a complete paste. You want the patties to have some texture.
Scoop the mixture into a large bowl and mix everything together with your hands to evenly distribute the components. Divide the mixture into 8 equal clumps and form each clump into a small patty.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil and the butter in a large nonstick or cast-iron pan over medium heat. Add half of the fish cakes, or as many as comfortably fit, to the pan and cook until golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Remove the fish cakes from the pan and set aside. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and repeat until all of the cakes have been cooked.
Make the chipotle mayo: Place the mayonnaise, adobo sauce and lemon juice in a small bowl and mix well. Serve the fish cakes with a squeeze of lemon over the top, alongside the bowl of chipotle mayo.
Please enjoy this comic by my old friend Chris Boutet. You can follow him for more on instagram at @fiveminutefeelings if you want more. Anyone else been some version of this silly person?
