Pigeon Caye and Jewel Caye, Bay Islands, Honduras

Water Caye is an uninhabited small island just off southwestern shore of Utila… about 2 k., not far from Pigeon Caye.  Our friend, Capt. Tom, took us and friends there today, then to eat fish or burgers or veggie plates at Herman’s on  nearby Pidgen Caye  (actually Suc Suc or Pidgen Caye are connected to Jewel Caye by a bridge, most people just refer to the two as Pidgen Caye) that has decendents of the first people to settle this area — Pirates!  or at least people from the Cayman Islands!  These Cayes are beautiful and the people who live there, so close to Utila, are quite different folks.  These fishing people in their interesting community that literally lives its entire life on a 200 x 30 meter strip of coral in the ocean are warm and friendly and we enjoyed our trip there today.

Tom is a great Captain and Sue a great hostess and the 4 Sisters great company!   

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The last photo of the slide show is of the sailboat Luna di Mel.  The name is a mish-mash of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese (languages we speak or spoke!) for “Honeymoon” (Luna — Spainish “Moon”; di — Italian “of”;  Mel –Portuguese for “Honey”) that we bought for our wedding present to ourselves and for our “Honeymoon”!    She lives in the lagoon behind us and I think she is very pretty and sometimes almost miss her — but you know the saying boat people have “the two happiest days of my life:  the day I bought the boat and the day I sold the boat”!    Still, I’m glad she is a neighbor.

You may call them salmon cakes, salmon croquettes, salmon burgers, but honey all these little things are just another name for salmon patties. Salmon patties are an old southern favorite usually made in your trusty cast iron skillet served for a quick tasty supper. To make a salmon patties a canned salmon is combined with saltine crackers crumbs plus a few seasonings and an egg helps to bind everything together.  My momma would always serve them with fried potatoes and to this day it is still one of my favorite meals. My twist on todays recipe is to serve salmon patties on burger buns and just like that abracadabra they are transformed into salmon burgers. I believe the bun helps to absorb excess grease and it also allows for a few fresh ingredients , like lettuce and avocado, to hop on board to give an overall cleaner taste. So if you’ve got your momma’s secret salmon pattie recipes tucked away in your cookbook somewhere, brush the dust off of it and give it another try.. and if you’re lacking a southern momma here is my recipe and let’s begin our magic show of turning something old into something a bit new…

from me two you,

Sarah

salmon burgers

1 (14.75oz) can of pink or red salmon – drained and bones picked out

1 T. olive oil

1/3 C. finely minced onion

1/3 C. finely minced green pepper

1 tsp. old bay seasoning

1 T. fresh chopped parsley

15 saltine crackers crushed fine

1 egg

vegetable oil for frying about a 1/2 cup pending on size of your pan.

burger buns

lettuce and avocado for garnish

- begin by opening and draining you can of salmon. place salmon into large bowl and remove any bones you may see.

- now heat 1 T. olive oil in a saute pan and cook onion and green pepper until vegetables are tender. add cooked vegetables to bowl that is holding the can salmon.

- add old bay seasoning, fresh parsley and cracker crumbs (to crush the crackers i just place them inside a plastic zip bag and hit with a rolling-pin a few times and this achieves a nice fine crumb) to salmon bowl. crack egg into bowl and use your hands to combine mixture.

- once mixture is well combined, form into burger size patties (to ensure all my patties turn out the same size i use an ice cream scoop during this process) place patties onto a plate and let patties refrigerate while the oil is heating.

- to heat oil place into large skillet (you only want a thin layer of oil, no higher than 1/2 the height of the patties) and turn heat to medium high. when the oil begins to ripple you are ready for frying. place 4 patties into pan and begin cooking until browned on both sides. place on paper towels to drain any excess grease.

- now begin to assemble your burgers. place the bun down first (i toasted my bun) place salmon pattie next then top with lettuce and a few slices of fresh avocado. serve and enjoy

I’d make these just so I could have the yogurt sauce that I serve with them.
Makes about 6 patties
Ingredients

For the patties:

• 1/3 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 2/3 c. water
• 3/4 lb fresh (cooked) or canned salmon (2- 200 g cans)
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions
• 1 finely chopped red pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill or chives
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• panko crumbs for coating

Directions

In a saucepan, bring 2/3 cup of water to the boil over high heat. Stir in the quinoa; reduce heat to simmer, and cover the pan. Cook for 10 minutes, then let the pan sit, covered, for another 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork, leave the pan uncovered and allow to cool.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper (or coat with cooking spray).
In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the patties and mix well.

Form into patties 2 1/2 inches in diameter, coat with panko crumbs and place on baking sheet.

Bake at 400°F for 7 minutes.
Flip and bake for another 5-6 minutes and remove from oven.

Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Drizzle over the warm patties. Serve with fresh dill or chopped chives.

Lime Yogurt Sauce (this makes enough for 2-4 servings)

• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (I use 0% fat, but full-fat would be fine . . .actually it would probably be better!)
• 1 tsp. lime zest
• 1 tbsp. fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1 tbsp. capers, drained, rinsed, and chopped
• 1 tbsp. snipped chives
• fresh ground sea salt and pepper, to taste

These freeze beautifully. Get smart, double the recipe, freeze on a baking sheet, then package in air-tight containers. Makes a fast dinner on busy nights. I have sometimes barbecued a whole fish just to make these patties for the freezer. We like these with a fresh slaw and a glass of crisp white wine. Hope you like them too.

Hurricane Sandy is supposed to reach New York tomorrow evening. We have been warned about possible flooding, power outages and very high winds. There is a possibility that we will lose power for about a week. Eww.

My area of the Berkshires is just outside of the affected region and hopefully shouldn’t be hit too hard. My mum has informed me that our water is connected to the electricity, so if the power goes out, we’ll have no running water. Eww squared. Being in a wooded area, trees fall often. The biggest threat to us that Sandy will throw our way is falling trees. We’ll see how that goes.

My transformation recipe this week was inspired by the extra baked tilapia (with a gorgeous tamari, Dijon, garlic and ginger sauce) that I had hanging out in my fridge. Tilapia is a flakey white fish – delicate in flavour and not too fishy. It easily gets overcooked and disappointingly dry, which no one is fond of. I needed to find a way to make the texture more appealing.

Quinoa provided some answers to my query. The chenopod quinoa is often confused as a grain due to its grain-like appearance. Actually, it is closely related to beets, spinach and tumbleweeds. Light and unique in flavour, quinoa provides many nutrients like phosphorus, iron and calcium.

I wasn’t concerned about the quinoa overpowering the fish, so I made them into burgers.

Spicy Tilapia Quinoa Burgers Crusted With Almond

Ingredients

• 2-3 leftover filets of tilapia
• 2 cups of cooked quinoa
• ½ cup oil cured black olives (kalamata will also work)
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• 1 or 2 jalapeños
• 2 small green bell peppers
• ¼ cup fresh basil
• 2 small carrots (about 1 cup)
• 1 cup pickles (2 large spears)
• 1 cup spinach or arugula
• 1 cup onion
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp tamari
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp fresh ginger
• ½ to 1 tsp salt
• crushed almonds (about a cup)

Directions

Preheat oven at 400ºF/200ºC/Gas mark 6

In a bowl, flake the filets into small pieces and add the quinoa.

In a food processor, blend all of the ingredients except the fish, quinoa and crushed almonds. Blend until there are no big chunks.

Mix blended contents with the fish and quinoa.

Form the mix into burgers and coat them with the crushed almonds. Lay your burgers on a lightly oiled pan.

Place in the oven and allow them to bake for about 30 minutes. They should be brown on the outside and not threaten to fall apart if moved.

Immediately place a burger on toast with avocado and alfalfa sprouts and devour.

Makes 8-10 burgers.

INGRDIENTS:

3-cans (6 ounces white meat) tuna packed in water (salmon or other canned fish of choice may also be used)
6 egg whites
1 organic apple (your choice, I like Fuji’s)
1 medium onion (I like Red Onions)
1.5 cups oatmeal (organic, old fashioned)
1 Tbsp. “Jerk” seasoning (or spices of choice)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
2. Rinse Tuna to remove some of the salt. To do this first remove the lids from the cans and drain the water out completely. Next poke a fork into the tuna several times to create some small holes. Fill the cans with warm water and let sit for a few minutes. Then just squeeze out the water again and you are ready to go
3. Blend oatmeal until it becomes powdered
4. Chop apple and onion into small (1/4 inch pieces)
5. Mix all ingredients in a bowl (add small amount of water if needed)
6. Divide mix evenly into 6 patties
7. Place patties evenly spaced on a cookie sheet (pre-sprayed with non-stick cooking spray)
8. Sprinkle patties with additional seasoning if desired
9. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown

PAU for NOW

TAKU

Lots of burgers to choose from... lots of cool stuff on the wall to look at.

Beep beep, burger time.

Moo Art Gallery

Someone kindly illustrated how the burgers taste... AWESOME.

Ceci n'est pas une Missy Moos Beef Burger.

I really want one of their light fittings.

The Moo Loo. I've never been told to watch before.

South Terrace gourmet burgers… Missy Moos Burger Bar

Open Wednesday to Sunday till 9pm.
PH: (08) 9433 3322

400 South Terrace,
South Fremantle,
WA 6162.