Salmon Croquettes      


 

Canned salmon was one of the cheaper fish that we
could get while growing up in Kansas and Louisiana
unless you caught your own fish. Mom would buy
canned pink salmon, if she found it on sale or canned mackerel. Sometimes mom would add some cooked onions and some canned stewed
tomatoes and some seasoning to the mackerel and simmer the mixture, and we ate it over cooked rice.

However, most of the time the Mackerel  would be formed into patties, fried
and we called them salmon croquettes even though Mackerel would be used.
 

1 12 oz can pink salmon or mackerel
2 Whole eggs
2 tablespoons yellow corn meal
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped bell pepper

Drain the can of mackerel or salmon a little.  Leave some liquid so the patties aren't dry. No need to pick out the bones. You basically pour all of the ingredients into a large bowl and mix them. A large spoon or your hands worked fine. Mom would wait before she added the flour because she didn't want the patties to taste doughy.
Mold the dough-like mixture that you
end up with into patties (like thick homemade
hamburgers).

Coat a frying pan with a little cooking oil. Crisco
works just fine. Preheat the oiled pan over medium
heat. Slip the patties into the pan, fitting as
many as you can but leaving room to turn them. Cook
until medium brown on one side, then turn over and
do the same to the other side.

I enjoyed eating these hot fresh out of the pan
along with some black-eyed peas, or some potato salad.