Salmon cakes

Ah, fish. The source of so many good fats, and the source of such a strong taste that it can be a bit of a battle with young kids to eat it, no matter how good for them it is. Fortunately, I've made two variants of salmon cakes that have gone over quite well with M.

The first variant is somewhere around 1.3:1, and the second is 2:1. The second one is obviously easier for us as an all-in-one meal. I think the first one is better from a taste and texture standpoint, and if M were old enough to reliably eat, say, some creme fraiche or avocado on top of his salmon cake, it'd be easy to get him on ratio with the meal. As it is, the all-in-one has to do.

Also, I used some keto breadcrumbs. I roughly followed this recipe. (I used coconut butter in lieu of the creamed coconut in the recipe) This breadcrumb recipe by itself is about 3:1 and I've used it as a binder in both meatballs and these cakes and been quite happy with the results. They're worth making a batch and keeping them in the freezer.

As a note, I did a bunch of research on farmed vs wild caught salmon. They have different balances of fatty acids with a slight advantage to wild salmon, but farmed salmon has lower amounts of mercury than wild salmon, and I figure M needs all the cognitive help he can get so I went for lower mercury. (Both types of salmon are generally lower in mercury than most other fish, for what it's worth)

2:1 version

Ingredients

175g farmed Atlantic salmon, raw, roughly chopped

45g egg, raw, mixed well (this is approximately 1 large egg. Some of my eggs are 45g, some are 50g, the ratio doesn't change much either way)

40g 40% milkfat heavy whipping cream

30g avocado oil

20g Ketocuisine powder

50g keto breadcrumbs (using the recipe linked above)

5g psyllium husk powder

5g Dijon mustard

Salt, pepper, and dried dill weed, to taste

1.3:1 version

Ingredients

220g farmed Atlantic salmon, raw, roughly chopped

50g egg, raw, mixed well (this is approximately 1 large egg)

30g 40% milkfat heavy whipping cream

15g Ketocuisine powder

50g keto breadcrumbs (using the recipe linked above)

5g Dijon mustard

Salt, pepper, and dried dill weed, to taste

Directions, both versions

Mix all ingredients well in a bowl. Heat a few tablespoons of avocado oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. If you're going for an all-in-one 2:1, roughly divide the mixture into six or seven cakes (around or a little over 200 calories per cake, give or take a bit) and drop into frying pan. If you're going for 2:1 using the 1.3:1 recipe and plan to make up the difference with other fats, then weigh the total mixture, divide by 8, and weigh out precise amounts of the mixture to drop into the frying pan. You need to add an additional 6g of fat in some form - such as creme fraiche - to each one to make the 1.3:1 recipe work out to 2:1 at around 200 calories total. (I am not being precise here. Standard do-your-own-calculations-if-your-requirements-are-stricter-than-ours disclaimer applies)

Allow the cakes to fry for a few minutes on one side, then flip with a spatula to allow the other side to fry. Sides should be a nice crispy brown when they're done. Once cooked, transfer to a paper towel on a plate to drain excess oil. Serve warm immediately or freeze, separated by wax paper, and reheat as needed.

Variations

If you don't like using Ketocuisine as much as I do to boost fats, and your kid will eat toppings, you could probably get away with the 1.3:1 and making up the difference with sour cream or creme fraiche on top, or on the 2:1 knocking out both the psyllium husk powder and the Ketocuisine and making up the fat on top.