I Fried A Cake!

some years-old bike finally resurrected to life after a juncture of coerced hiatus

I am almost always surrounded by people fortified with adventurous spirits.  Ironic. The boyf for one is hardcore at cycling among other sea of sport ventures he's with.  The man is in tip-top shape whoever say we look good together is LYING flatly. Ha! 

Truth be told, I'm all weighty and stout for my height (and age) while he is utterly the opposite.  Add to that, my level of fitness is way lower than basic.  Want more?  I got zero experience in climbing trees, or fences-  as my two brothers would, for coming home late from those silly feats when we were small.  It could have been an instant exercise for me too, at least.  So all in all, my childhood years is dull and lifeless. You will only find my then little self memorize song lyrics and sing the whole stinking time.  I am foolhardy over Engelbert Humperdinck at 6.  You bet I know all his songs by heart.  Go blame my father for hoarding all Engelbert cassette tapes every chance he gets. Ha!

Memories.  

Before I swamp you people with too much tales- sappy and old, here's a peek at what we had at dinner.

Fish Cakes

-done in 40 minutes-

1lb/450g potatoes, peeled

1lb mixed fish fillets (cod, haddock, tilapia or salmon), skinned

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley or tarragon

grated zest of 1 lemon

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

egg, beaten

2 cups bread crumbs

4 tbsp vegetable oil for frying

salt and pepper to taste

• Cut the potatoes into chunks.  Cook in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water for 15 minutes.  Drain well and mash until smooth
• Place the fish fillets in skillet just cover with water.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, then cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes, until just cooked.  Remove from the heat and transfer fish to a plate, draining it well.  When cool enough to handle, flake the fish and make sure there are no bones.
• Mix the potatoes with the fish, parsley/tarragon, and lemon zest in a bowl.  Season well and shape into four round, flat cakes.
• Dust the cake with flour, dip them into the beaten egg, then coat thoroughly into the breadcrumbs.  Place on baking sheet and chill for some time. 
•  Heat the oil in skillet and cook the cakes over medium heat for 5 minutes on each side.  Use a metal spatula to turn them carefully.  

milky Cod fish

  

The recipe only requires water to boil the fish fillets, but I didn't mind drowning these guys with milk. Seriously, milk does improve the flavor. So there.

 boiled potato chunks, mashed, mixed in bowl with parsley, lemon zest and flaked fish

zesting a lemon

I encountered a number of recipes that call for lemon, lime or even orange zest all because the peels of citrus fruits contain flavorful oils.  Its tartness adds great pungency to some dishes, a little amount goes a long way.  To zest a lemon, start off by washing it with warm water, then dry well.  For a fully-equipped kitchen, a zester does the job in a flash.  But a fine grater comes in handy too.  Grate only the yellow part of the  peel, do it ever so gently— not to include even a soul of pith (the white part) in the zest.

chopped parsley and lemon zest

 

 shaping the mixture, round and flat.  What fun!

 a pound of potatoes and a pound of fish makes 4 large cakes 

the trio

Doing this recipe a few times, I thought of giving these three an acronym-  F.E.B (flour, egg, breadcrumbs) so I won't get confused with the commanded sequence of ingredients: dust with F-lour, dip in the beaten E-gg, and coat with B-readcrumbs.  Did I wind it up in a snap or what?

F . E . B

Fish Cake is yet another segment of  Potato Extravaganza gushed in an earlier post.  As for any other potato dish, preparation and cooking time is lengthy.  What with peeling, boiling and mashing of potatoes alone.  Nonetheless, trying out recipes that avert from what we're used to is fascinating.  I couldn't think of a Pinoy dish equivalent for fish cakes.  Personally, I wouldn't have thought of fusing potato and fish for a stand-alone meal.  

And oh, I love how this recipe is termed 'fish cake'.  A non-dessert cake and fried at that.

As for my sudden appetite for biking,  it left me dumbfounded the same.  Let's see where this craving takes me.  I'll keep you posted.  

Happy Sunday!