Frou-Frou Family Meals: Salmon Cakes With Herb Brown Jasmine Rice & Garlic Butter Broccoli

A beautiful, simple meal that is sure to bring lots of exquisite yums and full bellies- this meal will be a treat!

I was debating between making this a Bottom of the Barrel Fridge Meals (a meal series on my blog created to give you inspiration with seeing those mouse crumbs as God's blessings to use up what you have) due to it containing canned salmon, but after a talk with my very wise momma, she assured me this is no Bottom of the Barrel Fridge Meal, especially during these times. The canned salmon is wild and the cakes feature a delicious black garlic mayonnaise and Einkorn flour, the rice is organic, as well as the broccoli. I was convinced...

This is NO Bottom of the Barrel Fridge Meal! #thanksMomma

My family LOVES seafood. When I was younger and visited the shore, my mom and I would go to this seafood spot to get amazing shrimp platters! It was something we looked forward to and made our shore experience. Seafood is a treat in our home and although, we don't have it a lot, when we do, I can't help but think, 'I want more' and 'We should have it more often'. One of my favorite kinds of seafood is salmon. Yes, that good ol' salmon.

Salmon steaks I LOVE! Salmon burgers and salmon cakes I enjoy.

The salmon cake recipe I'll be sharing with you today is super easy to put together, but has a nice flavor. The Einkorn flour makes them unique and the black garlic mayonnaise adds a fanciness that can't be denied.

The herb brown jasmine rice is a beautiful addition and the salted butter and chicken broth takes it up a notch.

Lastly, but not the least, is the garlic butter broccoli. The combination of butter and garlic is a classic, but oh so delicious and flavorful; truly, there is nothing like it.

Pair this meal with sparkling white grape juice, lemon slices, maybe even some cocktail sauce, and seashore sounds!

You will love this Frou-Frou Family meal!

INGREDIENTS FOR SALMON CAKES

-2 cans of wild caught pink salmon, with bones

-1 egg

-Several spoonfuls of Einkorn flour

-Black garlic mayonnaise

-Juice of fresh lemon

-Garlic and herb seasoning

-Italian seasoning

-Garlic powder

-Onion powder

- Dried parsley

RECIPE FOR SALMON CAKES

The Deboning Process for Canned Salmon

The first thing I did was drain my cans of salmon to get rid of the excess liquid. You can leave a little, so it won't be too dry, but make sure it's just a little. Once drained, get two separate bowls and leave one can opened, tossing the other one. I'm going to try to explain this to my best ability, because it's easier seen than explained (I know, I know, I just made my own motto!) One bowl is for you to place the freshly dumped salmon (from the can and straight to the bowl), the other is for the smushed salmon, and the can is for the bones and skin. Although the explanation isn't frou-frou, I hope you understand what I mean. When deboning the salmon, you'll see that the salmon comes in chunks, so if you're careful enough and keep the form of how it was in the can, you can gently pull or slide the spine/skeletal form of bones down the salmon or from it. Please know you won't get rid of all the bones. The small ones can be easily broken down by your fingers. This is where the smushing comes in. Use your fingers and smush the salmon between your fingers to feel for bones. I do this step over the empty bowl that will be used to bring together our cakes. If you feel any noticeable bones e.g. the ones that are sharp or coarse, that can't be broken down with your fingers, place them in the open can. Continue this process until all the salmon is "bone-free" and smushed to perfection. You can leave some chunks of salmon in the cakes, that's what I like to do.

Next, to your canned, smushed salmon, add your mayonnaise (I added a lot- lots of healthy fats), egg and several spoonfuls of Einkorn flour (both of these ingredients help to bind the cakes together), juice of fresh lemon (amount depends on preference), and all the seasonings and herbs! Mix well with your hands making sure everything is incorporated, but don't overdo. I like for my cakes to have some chunks of salmon. Form your cakes like you would burgers.

Heat a cast-iron pan on high heat until the pan is thoroughly heated. Once the pan is heated, turn heat down to just below medium and place your favorite high heat cooking oil in pan (check out my post on My Top 2 Cooking Oils + Why). Cover your pan with enough oil to ensure your cakes don't burn during the cooking process. I cooked mine on one side until they were a nice golden brown and did the same on the other side. I usually stick a very sharp knife (the sharper the knife, the less likely they'll break apart when I remove the knife) through the patties while they are cooking so the heat can cook the inside of them. I know the picture at the bottom of the post doesn't display a golden brown salmon cake, but that's because, my mom likes hers well done!

INGREDIENTS FOR BROWN JASMINE RICE

-1 cup rice

-1 cup distilled water (whatever pure water you have- yes, even the water has to be frou frou!)

-1 cup chicken broth (find one with great ingredients, no added colors, MSGs, etc.)

-2 tablespoons butter (or more, if you'd like a more buttery rice)

-Garlic and herb seasoning

RECIPE FOR BROWN JASMINE RICE

Bring the water, chicken broth, butter, and garlic and herb seasoning to boil. Add rice to the boiling contents in pot. When water and broth reboil, stir, and cover pot with lid, and bring to a simmer. Cook for 25-30 minutes. Brown rice is a tougher rice, so it takes a bit to cook. Once done, let sit for 5-10 minutes and fluff rice with fork. (These are the Texas Bests' Organic Brown Jasmine rice instructions that I modified a wee bit and my rice turned out great! I did have to add chicken broth, so the liquid wouldn't boil out, but that wasn't a problem for me.)

INGREDIENTS FOR GARLIC BUTTER BROCCOLI

-Frou-frou water

-Organic broccoli

-Garlic powder

-Butter

RECIPE FOR GARLIC BUTTER BROCCOLI

Cover broccoli a little over halfway with water. Bring broccoli to a boil; you'll know it's done when you can stick a fork through it without difficulty. If you don't want your broccoli well done, then don't cook for as long.

Here's a suggestion on what to cook first, next, and last, so all the components are nice and warm by the end of the cooking process:

Prepare salmon patties first and put them aside. Don't cook yet.

After salmon patties are prepared, make rice.

Once rice is cooking, fry patties. While they are cooking on their first side, prepare broccoli.

I hope you all enjoy this meal and please leave a comment below if you did!

God bless

Hannah