Toddler friendly Salmon Cakes

I had read about the health benefits of salmon and had ever since been looking for ways to introduce it to my son's diet. While I enjoyed most of the salmon dishes that I tried, my son wasn't very keen on them until I made these salmon cakes the other day.

Salmon Rillettes # French Fridays with Dorie (Catch-up)

This month I have been sitting off of the French Fridays with Dorie. The reason ? Well, so far June has been all about Fishy Fridays with Dorie. So I was staying away until I read some of the reviews and decided to try them out this week. First one I tried was the Salmon Rillettes.

The other Friday, while reviewing Dorie's Tuna Rillettes I had described what rillettes are and their place in French cuisine. I will not go into that, however I must mention that rillettes are fast becoming my favorite recipes for preparing fish. They are quick, easy and tasty !

Unlike the Tuna Rillettes, this one requires a bit of cooking.  Only a bit. You cut a salmon fillet into small cubes,  poach them for a minute in a simmering bath of half and half mixture of water and white wine speckled with tops of spring onion, some spices, namely red bay leaf, white peppercorns, coriander seeds and salt.  You then strain everything into a strainer, drain and discard the spices and vegetables, transfer the salmon cubes to a bowl and mash them with the back of a fork. Next you toss in some smoked salmon, lemon zest, a red chile pepper, finely chopped shallots into the bowl, mixture everything well, then add a dollop of butter, some lemon juice and bit of crushed pink peppercorns to it. Finally you adjust the salt in the rillettes and chill the mixture for two hours before serving. 

I being me of course upped the spices and simplified the steps further. I added an extra helping of peppercorns into the simmering mixture, discarded nothing, blended the poached fish cubes with spices and all into a not-so-smooth mixture, then stirred in the remaining ingredients plus a chopped green chile to it and chilled the rillettes until it was set. I LOVED the way it turned out and for once I was glad that I had the full bowl of fish spread to myself :D 

Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about this spread. You can find the  recipe for the salmon rillettes here . For more such delicious recipes order your copies of Around my French Table and join the Doristas in this tasty adventure.

I shall be sharing this spread at these parties...

y
Sweet & Savory Sunday Link Party @ Baking in Pyjamas

Monday 
 Mix it up Monday, 
Made with love Monday, 
Marvelous Mondays @ This Gal Cooks, 
Recipe Sharing @ Jam Hands
Melt in your Mouth Monday, 
Inspiration Monday Party 
Recipe Sharing Monday,
Inspire Me Monday, 
Clever Chicks Blog Hop,
Maniac Monday Linky Party

Meatless Monday :  Meatless Monday My Sweet and Savory

Tuesday 
Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box,
 Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home ,  
Hand Made Tuesday @ Ladybug Blessings
Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles,  
Tasty Tuesday @ Anyonita Nibbles,  
Hearth and Soul blog Hop @ Zesty South Indian Kitchen,
In & Out of the Kitchen @ Feeding Big & More, 
Tuesday's Table @ Love in the Kitchen, 
Tickle My Tastebuds@Mini Van Dreams
The Southern Special @Spatulas on Parade
 Time to Sparkle Tuesday, 
Create Link Inspire, Tuesday Talent Show, 
Two Cup Tuesday, The Scoop, Simple Supper Tuesday, 
Brag About it Tuesday, Social Media 2-for-Tuesday, Take a Look Tuesday, 
Treasure Box Tuesday, Take a Bow. 

Wednesday 
What's Cooking Wednesday @ Buns in my Oven, 
Cast Party Wednesday @ Lady Behind the Curtain, 
Show and Share @ Semi Homemade Mom, 
Wine'd Down Wednesday, 
Wonderful Food Wednesdays at @ All She Cooks
Wonderful Food Wednesdays at @ Mom's Test Kitchen 
Wednesday, Whatsit@White Lights on Wednesday,
Wednesday Extravaganza @ Hunger Little Girl, 
Create & Share @ The Trendy Tree House,
What I Whipped Up Wednesday @ Sugar & Dots Look, 
Hump Day Happenings @A Savory Feast

Thursday
Link it Up Thursday @ Seven Alive,
Fantastic Thursday @ Three Little Chiefs, 
Thriving on Thursdays @ Domesblissity,  
Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage , 
 Freedom Friday @ My Turn,  
Thursday's Treasures @ Food Done Light,
Pin it Thursday @ Sweet Bella Roos

Friday 
Foodie Friday @ Simple Living and Eating,  
Friday Linky Party @ The Pin Junkie, 
Get Him Feed @ Anyonita Nibbles
 Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home,  
Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes,
 Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm, 
Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss, 
Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts, 
Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club, 
The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog Recipes

Saturday
Saturday Show Stopper @Will Cook for smilles
  Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Fresh Foods Wednesdays, Allergy-Free Wednesdays, 
Let’s Get Real, Gluten-Free Fridays,Fight Back Friday

Smoked Salmon Waffles # French Fridays with Dorie

Fish recipes in FFwD schedule always put me in a dilemma ... To cook or not to cook ? The thing is, my husband does not eat fish and cooking two separate meals feels like a lot of work.  Hence I mostly skip the fishy Fridays unless an easy alternative is obvious. Today's recipe, that is the one for Smoked Salmon Waffles, presented itself with such an option. So I tried the original recipe and their non-fishy counterparts for lunch today. And husband, toddler and I felt utterly satiated afterwards. That is after our unusual lunch of savory waffles.

As I mentioned, making these is rather easy. And provided you have made waffles before, you'll probably wind up the whole process from start to finish in half an hour. It took me a little longer for it was my first time at waffle-making. In fact I got my waffle iron only on Wednesday and it took me a day to work up the courage and get to work....

Anyway.. About the recipe... The batter for these waffles is made by mixing together flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, milk, eggs, melted butter, thinly sliced scallions, snipped chives and slivers of thinly sliced smoked salmon. If desired, one can rest the prepared batter for up to an hour, or work up batches of fishy waffles right away. In my case, I made a batter by mixing all the ingredients except smoked salmon, then scooped out half a cup of the batter, stirred 3/4th oz of slivered smoked salmon into it and kept it aside while I baked a batch of scallion-chive waffles. Once the non-fishy ones were done, I spread the remaining batter on the well-greased waffle iron and baked my smoked salmon waffles. I served both the fishy and non-fishy savory waffles with crème fraîche and snipped chives.

In spite of "loving" the waffles, my husband could not help pouring some syrup over them. Toddler and I did not do any such thing. We enjoyed them with a topping of crème fraîche and declared them "Dee-li-cious !" 

Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about this dish. You can find the recipe here. For more such recipes get your copy of Dorie Greenspan's book  Around my French Table and starting relishing.

I shall be sharing this at some of these weekly parties.

Toddler friendly Tuna Cakes

Bringing your child up in a country where you have not grown up yourself can sometimes be confusing. Specially when planning their meals. Had I been raising my son in Kolkata, West Bengal, I would probably not twice about which fish to buy and feed my toddler... Catfish it would be for most of his meals.. and sometimes Rohu perhaps. They would always be fresh, bought from the local fishmongers selling their early morning catch...

I am pretty sure, families who have been living here for a while and are keen on fresh catches and farm fresh products know which sources to tap and make an effort to tap  them for their everyday needs .. But not us... not yet. We are still finding our way into the system... so largely depend on canned products and frozen food  for all our fish. And all of all the preparations I have tried with canned Tuna, these Tuna cakes happen to be our favorite. Both toddler and I love them... 

The other day the toddler even thanked me for making them :))..

He can sometimes be surprisingly sweet !

He also thought these Easter Eggs were pretty...

and wanted to eat all three...  :)))

Happy Easter everybody !
~ the Khandais

Two Tartines from la Croix Rouge #French Fridays with Dorie

Sorry. I am a little late for French Fridays this week. Know what I was lost in the aisles of the grocery store trying to figure out where to get the smoked salmon and roast beef from.... And had it not been for Nana, I would still be looking. The thing is, in India we do not have a deli counter. You buy your fruits and vegetables from the local farmers, fresh river water fish at the fish market and lamb and chicken from the butchers. Frozen and tinned foods are  relatively recent introductions into the Indian market but the common man still does not indulge much into them. At least not in the small towns. So it did not strike us for once that the fish and meat might be there in the deli counter.. Thanks to Nana for mentioning the deli, we finally got the ingredients for the tartines yesterday and I fixed them for our Sunday brunch.

Both the tartines were easy to fix. All I had to do was to toast two slices of bread, slather one with butter, another with mayonnaise, place paper thin slices of smoked salmon and rarest roast beef on them, season them appropriately, then top the fish tartine with capers, mayo-beef tartine with gherkin, cut both into 1 inch strips and serve. Oh, in La Croix Rouge, the cafe where these tartines are served, the fish tartine is accompanied by wedges of lemon. However, I substituted those with thin slices of tomato just because there were no lemons and plenty of tomatoes in the house. 

I think my husband was more impressed with his tartine saint germain than I was with my tartine norvégienne.. but then he enjoys his beef more than I enjoy smoked salmon... so that was expected. Anyway, I am glad that I did not skip this French Friday's assignment, for it is good to have easy and healthy fix up like these in ones repertoire. It just makes lunch simpler on busy days.

Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about the tartines. 

Though these were non-recipes, you if like you can find their details in Dorie Greenspan's book Around my French Table. 

I shall be sharing this at the following parties...

Monday 
 Mix it up Monday,  The Scoop, Marvelous Mondays @ This Gal Cooks, Recipe Sharing @ Jam Hands
Melt in your Mouth Monday, Inspiration Monday Party 
Inspire Me Monday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop

Tuesday 
Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box,
 Tasteful Tuesday Party @ Nap Time Creations, Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home ,  Hand Made Tuesday @ Ladybug Blessings
Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles,  Tasty Tuesday @ Anyonita Nibbles,  
Hearth and Soul blog Hop @ Zesty South Indian Kitchen,
In & Out of the Kitchen @ Feeding Big & More, Tuesday's Table @ Love in the Kitchen, 

Wednesday 
What's Cooking Wednesday @ Buns in my Oven, Cast Party Wednesday @ Lady Behind the Curtain, Show and Share @ Semi Homemade Mom, 
Wine'd Down Wednesday, Wonderful Food Wednesdays at @ All She Cooks
Wonderful Food Wednesdays at @ Mom's Test Kitchen 
Wednesday, Whatsit@White Lights on Wednesday, Create & Share @ The Trendy Tree House,
What I Whipped Up Wednesday @ Sugar & Dots Look, 
What I Made @ Creations by Kara

Thursday
Link it Up Thursday @ Seven Alive,
Fantastic Thursday @ Three Little Chiefs,  Thriving on Thursdays @ Domesblissity,  
Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage , 
 Freedom Friday @ My Turn,  Pin it Thursday @ Sweet Bella Roos

Friday 
Foodie Friday @ Simple Living and Eating,  
Friday Linky Party @ The Pin Junkie, Get Him Feed @ Anyonita Nibbles
 Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home, Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes,
 Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm, Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss, 
Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts, Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club, 
The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog Recipes

Dilled Gravlax with Mustard Sauce # French Fridays with Dorie

This week the Doristas were assigned to cook Boeuf a la Ficelle or Beef on a string. We do not eat beef so initially I had decided to adapt the recipe to make Poulet a la Ficelle. In the past I have adapted beef recipes from the book to cook chicken, but this one was different. Other than beef,  this dish required veal and oxtail. Now how was I suppose to substitute those. Add more chicken ? No. That did not feel quite right. So I decided to skip the assigned recipe altogether and review one which the Doristas have already tried.....namely Dilled Gravlax with Mustard Sauce.

Most Doristas prepared Dilled Garvlax in the last week of December and I in the subsequent week. The recipe was fairly easy but required time. I hadn't read the instructions until Thursday and did not have enough time to prepare it by the next day. I am however glad that I tried it for it was delicious !

For those who haven't heard of it before, gravlax is nothing but cured salmon. To prepare it one simply has to make the curing mixture, coat a slice of salmon with it, wrap the fish in a  plastic wrap, weight it evenly with something heavy and refrigerate for 48-72 hours. Once cured, the fish needs to be rinsed off the curing mixture, patted dry and thinly sliced. The slices are then served with mustard sauce and bread or toasts with a garnish of dill. 

No one around me, family or friends, eat raw fish, weather cured or not.. so I had to eat the whole slab myself. I enjoyed it very much. However I wish I could share my joy with someone. Everything about it was so perfect. The sauce, the seasoning... everything. I had it over the next two days and every time I took a bite I said to myself... God ! they do not know what they are missing :) 

Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about the gravlax and this week's assigned recipe Boeuf a la Ficelle.

You can find the recipe of here . For Dorie's original recipe and more purchase your copy of Around My French Table and join the Doristas in their venture. 

Wheat Berry and Tuna Salad # French Fridays with Dorie

Yesterday I served this hearty Wheat Berry and Tuna Salad for lunch.... 

Unfortunately,  Mr MN  missed on both the star ingredients. the Tuna, because he does not have any, and wheat berries because i forgot to add the berries to his plate. it wasn't until it was time to take the pictures that i remembered the berries...but by then it was too late. so he merely had a regular bowl of greens, veggies and chicken salad with olive oil dressing and a helping of well-seasoned berries, and had nothing much to say about it. i, on the other hand had an extraordinary salad for lunch !

wheat berries were new to me. It was the first time i tasted it and i really liked it. it is chewy with a subtle nutty flavor and it added a nice crunch to the salad. from the internet i gathered that these  berries are packed with fiber, protein and iron and hence a nutritious alternative to breadcrumbs which i otherwise use in salads. I think i'll use these a lot more in my salads/meals from now on.

the vinaigrette of vinegar and mustard was also great. I actually got a new bottle of French Dijon Mustard the day before, just so that we would not miss on the tang. and it was totally worth it. though i am used to mincing the fruits and veggies in salad, being short on time, i  ended up dicing them as per the recipe, then added the tuna and wheat berry to the veggies, seasoned the salad and and ate. since the salad looked filling and colorful enough even without the eggs, i omitted them. i actually did not miss them at all. with the berries, avocado, tuna and the greens this bowl was quite a substantial  meal by itself. 

update 5/7/2014. Today, almost after an year I made the Wheat Berry and Tuna Salad. This time I arranged it just the way Dorie suggested...

I cooked the wheat berries well in advance, whisked the mustard vinaigrette into it and let the flavors blend in over the next couple of hours. Next I gently stirred in the diced apples, celery, onion, green bell pepper and drained tuna into the bowl of berries. Finally I seasoned the the greens (spinach in my case) with salt and pepper, tossed them in olive oil and put them in the serving bowl. I then spooned the wheat berry salad over the greens, topped it with halved cherry tomatoes, diced avocado and quartered hard boiled eggs and served.

With all the ingredients in place, the salad felt so healthy and wholesome that once again we decided to fix Monday as the Salad Day at our niche !

You can find the recipe for this salad here. For many more delicious recipes like this order your copies of Around the French Table from Amazon and join us as we cook our way through the book.