Salmon Patty Creole Style

Shrimp Boat Photo Taken in 2004 In South Louisiana

Growing up in New Orleans in the 50’s and 60’s we cooked frugally. Canned salmon was one very economic dish. I never actually ate fresh salmon steaks until I was an adult and moved away from Louisiana. Fresh salmon was not a fish you bought at the corner market. There were seafood stores in every small community and you bought what the local fisherman caught locally such as red snapper, catfish, crab, and crawfish along with other local catches. Below is a version of what my Mom would have served on Friday night.

INGREDIENTS

In Food processor chop finely:
1/3 cup onion (1 small onion)
1/3 cup celery
3-4 tlb. parsley

Beat In medium bowl:
1 egg

Mix in well:
¼ tsp. salt or to your taste
¼ tsp. fresh ground black pepper or to your taste
½ cup Progresso flavored dry bread crumbs

Fold in very gently:
1 can pink salmon, drained and drained

Coating in Three Different Bowls:
1 egg
½ cup flour
1-cup bread crumbs

Fry in large pan in about:
¼ inch veg. oil
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DIRECTIONS

In the blender chop the onions, celery, and parsley till fine. In a medium bowl, beat eggs enough to blend yolks and whites. Fold in the breadcrumbs, onion, celery, and parsley mixture then season with salt and pepper. Stir all together until well mixed.

Dump the can of drained salmon on top of the onion mixture. With spatula carefully flake the salmon. Fold the chunks with the onion mixture. The secret is to mix as little as possible while incorporating the savory ingredients.

Shape into 5 patties, just about 1 cup each. For a really great crust put in three separate glass pie pans:
first pan, about 1/2 cup flour,
second pan, 1 beaten egg, and
third pan, about 1 cup breadcrumbs.

Form a patty and gently place in flour, flip to other side. Gently place in shallow plate with beaten egg. Then gently place in breadcrumbs. Make an even coating of each ingredient.

Place the coated patties in a large plate lined with wax paper placed well apart. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Use a large skillet to fry slowly over medium heat for at least 6 to 8 minutes on each side. Try to flip only once: use two turners. Cook till golden brown, and be sure they are heated through and through. Drain on paper towels. Serve very hot.

We like these patties served with asparagus spears covered & baked in a little olive oil. Serve along with some buttered rice.

Southern Beans Competition: Two Winners are Kidney Beans And Pinto Beans

Growing up in New Orleans we usually had red beans and rice on Monday night. This kidney bean dish is my idea of the ultimate comfort food. A steaming bowl was served in restaurants for Monday lunch, inexpensive and always good. A fast dish ladled up from a big pot brewing on the back burner in the restaurant kitchens. New Orleans, then and now, is a place to buy many verities of sausage. You could put so many different kinds of meat in the kettle from savory to mild taste… Cajun to country, with or without ham bones, and all delicious. Ham bones or ham hocks are my pork of choice. There is something that happens to pork when it stews in the spiced bean broth giving it a special flavor, color, and texture.

Type into Google the phrase, “New Orleans red beans and rice Monday night tradition” and you will get hundreds of hits. A lot of transplants like me reminiscing about their youth. A blog called Brood was one I really liked--A lovely story about ways to enjoy traditional New Orleans Red Beans and Rice. http://seaswell.wordpress.com/2007/10/28/red-beans-and-rice-sunday-dinner-6/

After living in Tennessee for 35 years I more often cook pinto beans than the red kidney beans of my childhood. My husband grew up with pinto beans so that sways my choice for cooking. Pinto beans are grown on farms all over this area. In the summer you can buy them fresh-shelled at the Farmers market and in some local grocery stores. During harvest months the Nashville Farmer’s Market have people in booths hand-shelling beans and one booth has a cool motorized mechanical bean-sheller. Pilled up in mounds right next to this noisy apparatus are stacks of smoked pork packages. Pretty good marketing strategy.

I am trying to get used to pinto beans. I have been working on this problem for three decades. Sometime I just have to use kidney beans when the nostalgia over takes my mental condition. New Orleans is to kidney beans like snow is to Alaskan native people. In south Louisiana you can buy beans of different sizes, colors, and shapes. Provides a difficult decision making a good dilemma for your grocery-shopping experience in the bean isle. We do not have this grocery-shopping problem in Nashville; there are not so many choices.

Note: A web link to one of many of the articles about native Alaskans words for snow: Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska, and Fairbanks.
http://www.princeton.edu/~browning/snow.html

Neighborhood Kitchen Fun Taken to New Orleans

Photo take in the late 1970's

Our neighbors for over 15 years were two couples we cooked and celebrated with, Lullabell & Clay Austin plus Sissy & Charlie Vantrese. As I am typing in our favorite recipes I realize a lot of them came from Lullabell and Sissy. The picture here was taken in New Orleans at my Mom's house when both couples came for a visit. Glowing up in New Orleans every Friday night was seafood night. A favorite seafood was boiled crayfish. As with most of the other "boils" it included corn on the cob and potatoes all in the same pot with the seafood including onions and a spicy flavoring mixture.

Lullabell recently passed away with just 3 months shy of her 100th birthday.

Sharing Recipes From Our Kitchen and Family

Cooking and fun have been part of our married and family live for over 37 years. We have cooked for just the two of us, for our daughter and her friends, and for thousands of people as part of the Louisiana State University local alumni fund raising events. We came from good culinary stock. Lewis's mom was a traditional southern cook with deep roots in Tennessee and Judy's mom was a terrific farm-heritage cook transplanted to New Orleans.