Learning to cook for two people has been a challenge for me. It’s the same effort to make food for eight as it is for two. But the Davinator and I are empty nesters 90% of the time. Rather than eat the same old stuff (steak, chops, chicken breast, swordfish) that is easily portion controlled, I’m trying to be creative with leftovers and also to cook things that are easily reheated or easily frozen.

Cooked fish, other than fish pie, doesn’t freeze well. But if you’re overwhelmed by fish greed (as we frequently are in our local fishmonger) then I’ve got a couple of recipes that will help you out with the leftovers.

My fab fishcake recipe below calls for 500 grams of cooked fish and 400 grams of potatoes. It makes 5 generous fishcakes (even the Davinator could only eat 2). But you can flex this recipe to the amount of fish you have. Essentially, it is 125 grams of fish to 100 grams of potato. I used the leftover wild sea trout from this recipe ‘here fishy fishy‘ but you could use salmon, cod, haddock: basically any cooked fish. Although I’ve never had a tuna fish cake……I’m sure it would be edible.

If you’ve never made fish cakes, don’t be nervous. We’re going to combine fish and cooked potatoes with a binding sauce, dip them in egg and bread crumbs then fry them. Sounds like a lot of steps but the end result is worth it.

I’m not going to explain here how to cook the fish – either poach in milk or oven bake in foil as per the link above. Most fish cakes call for rustic mashed potato (mashed but drier and with lumps as opposed to creamy mashed). I use smashed roasted potatoes. It adds a couple of steps but the added taste and texture are worth it.

I’m not a potato zealot. I accept the theory that different kinds of potatoes are good for different things but I must say I’ve never really noticed. If you care a lot, use the same type of potatoes you would use for roasties. I used some new potatoes I had in the kitchen and left the skins on. Because I did the smashed roasty approach, they added some nice texture.

Ingredients & Instructions

For the sauce

• 125ml (1/2 cup) mayonnaise(see this link to make your own)
• 1 tablespoon capers roughly chopped (drained)
• 1 heaping teaspoon of Dijon mustard
• 1 small shallot or 2 spring onions, very finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Adjust the proportions for the amount of fish you have. Combine the ingredients, cover with cling film and refrigerate until you’re ready to make the fish cakes.

For the smashed roasty potatoes

• 400 grams potatoes
• salt
• olive oil
• black pepper

1. Peel the potatoes or scrub well if using new potatoes and leaving the skins on. Cut the potatoes into chunks no bigger than 3 cms (bit larger than an inch across). Put in a pot of cold water, add a generous amount of salt. Bring to a boil and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. You’re not done cooking them and you don’t want them to disintegrate in the next step.
2. Preheat your oven to 220C (400F)
3. Drain the potatoes and return them to the empty pot and place it over a low heat. You want to dry off the moisture. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, black pepper to taste and remove the pot from the heat.
4. Cover a baking sheet with foil. Coat the foil with cooking spray – preferably an olive oil type or lightly coat with olive oil. Put the potatoes on the covered baking sheet and arrange in a single layer. Take out your potato masher and give them a bit of a crush. Drizzle with a bit more oil and place in the oven for about 15 minutes. They will have some nice browned bits on them.

The potatoes are yummy. You could stop now and just eat the potatoes with the fish and the sauce. But where’s the fun in that.

Assembling and cooking the fish cakes

• one large egg
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped chives
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
• 90 grams of bread crumbs
• flour for shaping
• neutral oil for frying

1. Combine the fish, the potatoes, the chives, the parsley. Mix together with your hands. You want to bring it together but not reduce it to mush. Add enough of the sauce to help hold it together. You should be able to form a ball with the mixture.
2. Beat the egg and put it in a shallow plate or bowl.
3. Lightly flour a board.
4. Gently form the fish cakes with your hands on the floured board. Think hamburger shape and size (or a flattened hockey puck if you’re from my home state of Michigan) and about an inch thick (2.5 cms). Dip in the egg, then the breadcrumbs and coat well in each. The easiest way to coat in breadcrumbs is to gently flip from one side to the other and then spoon crumbs over the edge. If you’re feeling good about the consistency then trying rolling on the edge in the breadcrumbs. Cover with cling film and chill for 30 minutes. The chill down is to help with the consistency but I often omit and go straight to the shallow frying.
5. Heat a large shallow non stick skillet over medium heat. Add oil so there is about half a centimetre in the bottom. Corn or canola oil has the least taste. A tip – add a tiny amount of butter to the oil, it will spatter less. The oil should be hot so that the fishcakes sizzle a bit when you put them in but not smoking.
6. Cook each fish cake for about 5 minutes per side. Remember all the ingredients except for the egg coating will have been cooked so you’re warming the fishcake.

Then enjoy with the remainder of your sauce, some slices of lemon and a green salad. Or asparagus from your garden.

Enjoy

It has been a busy 6 weeks for the Davinator and Mama Dolson. Travel, work and welcoming the first guests to our ‘informal’ bed and breakfast was all consuming for most of May and June. More on the ‘B&B’ in another blog post.

We are blessed with a great local fishmonger in our town – The Fish Shop . They have amazing fish – so we eat more fish. This is good. But they have amazing fish – so sometimes we buy fish that are too big for two people. Like the lovely wild sea trout in the photo above. When we succumb to our fish greed, I try to use all of the fish at least.

This sea trout gave the two of us several tremendous meals. I cooked it in a foil bag in the oven, then made fish cakes with some of the leftovers and finally made potted fish with the last of the leftover fish. All will be explained below.

Fish in foil

Less is more when confronted with a magnificent whole fish like this wild sea trout. Never frozen and less than 24 hours from ocean to my kitchen, I want to let the lovely delicate taste speak for itself. This method has you wrapping the whole fish in foil with herbs and lemon, sealing it and baking it. A couple of simple steps and you’ve got a great main course.

Ingredients & Equipment

• A whole fish, |2 kilos or less, cleaned and gutted. Leave the head on or remove it based on your preferences, not everyone likes to look dinner in the eye.
• A bunch of fresh parsley
• A lemon, cut into thick slices
• Olive oil or neutral cooking oil
• Large sheet of foil
• Baking sheet or a shallow roasting plan

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 200C (190C fan).
   
2. Rinse your fish gently with cold water and pat dry.
   
3. Brush one side of the foil with oil.
   
4. Lay the fish on the oil.
   
5. Rough chop the parsley, stuff the fish cavity with the parsley and lemon.
   
6. Seal up the foil packet; bring the long sides together and fold over several times. Then fold up both ends towards the middle.
   
7. Put the sealed foil packet on the baking tray and place in the oven. Bake for about 45 minutes for a larger fish (say 2 kilos) but a minimum of 30 minutes in a preheated oven for any whole fish big enough to serve 2 or more people.
   
8. Remove from oven, unwrap and serve promptly.

Enjoy with boiled and buttered new potatoes and fresh asparagus. Links below to recipes to use up your leftovers.

Here’s a link to Fabulous Fishcakes to use up your leftover fish. And likewise to Potted Fish.