YOU Seder. You brought her!

Howdy readers!

It's spring - trust me, no matter what the weather - it's spring.
And with spring comes some good things and some not so good things. Tax time? Blech! Rain? If I hear that old saw "April showers bring..." Feh! Rain brings wet streets, burgeoning winds and ruins the blossoms already on the trees. Blossoms on the trees? Woohoo! Milder temperatures? Jury's still out on that one but I have high hopes.
But there are two holidays on their way......Passover and Easter, both with their wonderful stories and traditions but the celebrations are a wonderful opportunity to indulge in some favorite foods and treats.

Now, being in a mixed marriage myself, I'm just as happy with either holidays traditional foods but I'm wedded to a man who says that he doesn't like lamb or fish (until I make a lamb stew and he takes multiple helpings and goes on and on about how extraordinarily good it is because I "accidentally" forgot to tell him it wasn't beef and who, now and then , shocks me by saying things like, "It's been a long time since you made those great salmon patties I like so much." As for ham, he's not all that enamored but will eat it on occasion so making a whole ham isn't really in the cards for us if we're not planning a gathering of sorts.

This being the case, I've decided to share a few recipes that can be used to round out either holiday's gustatory agenda. First, the aforementioned salmon patties, a really tasty luncheon entree or an appetizing appetizer with dinner. I have many variations of this recipe but I'll share the basic one with you today. If you want to know the variations, let me know.

SALMON PATTIES

Ingredients:

• 1 (14.75 ounce) can salmon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 or 4 scallions, chopped
• 2/3 cup matzo meal
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• powdered garlic to taste
• hot paprika
• 3 tablespoons  peanut oil for frying

Sauce:

• Reserved liquid from can
• 1 handful or 2 frozen peas, thawed
• cornstarch
• freshly ground pepper and kosher salt

Directions

1. Drain the salmon, reserving  the liquid. Flake the meat with a fork. 
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium- high heat. Add scallions, and cook until tender.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the scallions, 3/4 cup of reserved liquid, 1/3 of the matzo meal, eggs, parsley, mustard, garlic and salmon. Mix until well blended, then shape into six patties. Coat patties in remaining cracker crumbs and sprinkle with paprika.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook patties until browned, then carefully turn and brown on the other side. 
5. In a small saucepan, gently heat the remaining salmon liquid 
6. Make a slurry with cold water and cornstarch and mix into hot liquid stirring well to thicken, season to taste and throw in peas right before serving. 
7.  Enjoy!!

I'll come back VERY soon to share a little something for Easter!

- SSG