Daily Food: Mackerel Cakes (aka using leftovers)
I love to cook a meal from scratch at every meal, but that’s not really feasible in the middle of a busy week. So I’ve been trying to get better about preparing things in advance and about making better use of leftovers. This post is about how I used the leftover mackerel that I had made in my previous post. I looked up mackerel recipes and one that I stumbled across was for mackerel and potato cakes. White fish and potatoes is a classic combination that reminded me of brandade, which is a classic dish made with salt cod and whipped potatoes. I don’t eat many white potatoes anymore, but I’ve become a big fan of rutabaga this winter, and I’ve found that it’s marvelously similar. It makes just as satisfying of a mash as mashed potatoes, but without all the gluey starch that can be activated if you over-agitate potatoes (say, by putting them in a blender to make soup as I once tried to do). I had steamed rutabaga cubes and cooked mackerel, so I decided I would make mackerel and rutabaga cakes by mashing the rutabaga with a fork and flaking in the cooked mackerel. I used one egg and a bit of almond flower as binding, and I seasoned the cakes with salt, pepper, chili, ginger, and cayenne. Then I simply fried in a pan until they were golden brown and firm.
Here’s how I plated the dish the leftover cauliflower mash (also leftovers from the night before as well):
