Sunday Lunch from the Garden and Pantry

June 6th, 2010


We are celebrating the first tastes from the garden today. Yesterday morning we spent some time weeding and harvesting what we could. The lettuce was ready and waiting to be picked.


To our surprise, hidden amongst the cucumber vines were three lovely plump cucumbers. I was anticipating picking squash, but there was only one squash large enough to be taken. Normally I like my squash smaller, but the rest of the squash were just too small. I am giving them another few days. The spring onions and some beets came from a local farm stand.


I decided to make a salad from the lettuce, cucumbers, onions and beets. I made a mustard tarragon viniagrette to go with it. I marinated the onions in a little tarragon vinegar to temper the raw taste. I learned this trick from Laurie Calder on the new Food Channel.
With the salad I made salmon cakes with fresh tarragon from my herb garden. I always have canned salmon on hand for simple meals. This was a very satisfying meal, made more so by the humble fresh ingredients. I hope to post a great squash casserole recipe next, but in the meantime this is what I did with the salmon.
SALMON TARRAGON CAKES
Makes 2 salmon patties
1 7 1/2 ounce can wild Alaska sockeye red salmon
1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon
1 minced spring onion
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 egg beaten
flour for dusting
1 tablespoon olive oil
Drain and pick over canned salmon removing skin and large bones. In a bowl mix salmon with minced tarragon, onion and bread crumbs. Add as much of the beaten egg as necessary to moisten the bread crumbs. I used most of the egg. Form salmon into two patties. When ready to saute. dust both sides lightly with flour and place in a preheated oiled pan. Cook on medium heat until both sides of the salmon are nicely browned and the ingredients are cooked through.

12 responses to “Sunday Lunch from the Garden and Pantry”

  1. Ooooo! The salmon tarragon patties look incredible. I’ve enjoyed the delicate licorice flavors of tarragon. Lucky you to have fresh homegrown cucumbers, they are so much more superior to the ones at the market.

  2. racheld says:

    What a lovely Spring lunch!! Tarragon and canned salmon—I make “SAL-mon Paddehs” all the time, but never thought to raid the garden for extras. Love tarragon, and I know the vinaigrette was marvelous.

  3. Yummy! I can’t believe you have cukes already! I have lettuce that is another week before picking and my squash and cukes haven’t even started showing signs of veggies!
    Hugs,
    Penny

  4. I am always so excited to bring something in from the garden to the table. We have a very small space for gardening so my lettuces are in a large pot and very easy to harvest. I’ve never used tarragon in salmon. Why not? It sounds delicious. And, I have cans of wild salmon in the pantry and tarragon in a pot.

    Thanks for the recipes!

    Best,
    Bonnie

  5. I love these kind of meals Penny. Salmon is a favourite around here.

  6. Rosabela says:

    What a lovely looking dish! The salmon cakes sound scrumptious!

  7. Kristen says:

    I love salmon! And how nice that your garden is already producing so many veggies.

  8. Salmon cakes are wonderful, and yours look great. How satisfying it must feel to be eating with ingredients you grew yourself. A triumph!! 🙂
    -Gary

  9. Kat says:

    That looks so good and fresh.

  10. Robin Sue says:

    YOu already got cukes! Wow! The salmon cakes are a favorite here- well any kind of fish cake actually. I usually add dill but will have to try the tarragon.

  11. Karen says:

    What a beautiful meal. I love salmon patties, but I must make them a lot thinner than yours, because I can get 6 out of a can LOL. I have lettuce in the garden, too and can’t wait till it’s pickin’ time!

  12. Janet says:

    This sounds delicious, tarragon is my favorite herb. I am thinking you could make them out of leftover ( if there was such a thing!!) cooked salmon. If the salmon were grilled it would impart a slightly smoky flavor to the cakes.

    Off to buy salmon;)

© Penny Klett, Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen. All rights reserved.