SALMON LOAF / PATTIES

SALMON LOAF / PATTIES

Great for making salmon burgers.

Ingredients

• 3/4 to 1 pound of salmon or steelhead meat, skinned  with the pin bones pulled or  “filleted-out.” 
• 5 slices of white bread cut into ½” cubes

(easiest if you freeze them first.)

• 1 medium onion, diced to ¼-inch or so.
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tablespoons of Lowry’s Seasoned Salt
• 1 Tablespoon of dried dill (weed—not seed)

(If you are making patties—add ½ cup of flour)

White Sauce

• 1/4 stick of butter
• 1 tablespoon of flour or corn starch
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce

MAKING THE LOAF:

1. Cook the salmon meat in a microwave 2.5 minutes, take the meat out—about half of it will be cooked (turning light pink. Chunk it up, mixing the cooked and uncooked meat, back in the microwave for another 2 minutes. If there’s a little uncooked meat, don’t worry about it. Let it cool for about 5 minutes so the hot meat doesn’t cook the eggs when added.
2. Cook the onions in the microwave one minute to soften them. Let them cool a minute or so. Reserve one Tablespoon of onion for the white sauce. Add the bread cubes, meat, onions, Lowry’s, Dill and eggs to a mixing bowl, then squish it all together like making meatloaf.
3. Transfer the mixture into a 9 X 9-inch baking dish (greased or Pammed).  Flatten it out evenly then pop into a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes—don’t cover the dish.

White Sauce:

Melt the butter, slowly add the flour or starch to make a roux.  Add the onions, stir in the milk, add the Worchester sauce and cook over low-medium heat until it thickens. 

Cut the salmon loaf into serving sizes and top with the sauce. 

MAKING THE SALMON PATTIES

Same as making the loaf but add the flour when mixing it up so the patties are “stickier.”  Wouldn’t hurt to add some Worchester Sauce, Old Bay, or even some red pepper if you like a bit of heat.

Make the patties and put them on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Pop them the fridge and they will “toughen” up and be easier to handle.

They could be deep fried, but I pan fry them in about 1/4” of vegetable oil. Turn them once and they are done. Add a slice of American cheese if you wish. I do. My wife just puts tartar sauce on them.

—Larry Channing

Port Washington, WI

Editor’s Note: I’ve used similar recipes for lake trout. Some anglers consider lake trout meat to be inferior to salmon/steelhead. I like to think it’s similar, but different—like walleye and perch—or crappies and bluegills. Regardless, try loaf or patties the next time you have some lake trout in your catch.  The results will be similar, but different—and delicious.