Fish Market: Fresh Salmon Cakes!

Posted on 3 May 2008 under Fish, Michigan Cuisine, Shopping | No Comments


Click on any of these three photos for a larger version.

Oh yeah, these were tasty!

While shopping with my son this morning we almost drove past The Fish Market on Telegraph just south of the state line … again. I say “again” because I drive by the darn place all the time without stopping in. And “almost” because this time, I didn’t get that far.

And really, I should be stopping in more. Our friends Steve and Denise own the place, and Steve was in there today. The Fish Market has by far the best, the freshest seafood and seafood creations in all of SE Michigan and NW Ohio combined. And since Steve and Denise live right here in Luna Pier, we should certainly support their business much more than we do.

I decided to browse for something for lunch for Aaron and I. There were all kinds of crab cakes, lobster-stuffed salmon pinwheels, oysters on the half shell, Alaskan king crab (yeah, that Deadliest Catch stuff from the Bering Sea) … Lots of good choices in Steve’s shop today.

What caught my eye were these salmon cakes. At 99 cents each for about a 1/4 lb patty, getting ten of them was easy. They just needed to be sautéed in a pan with a little olive oil and with a bit of rice, they’d be a good lunch for Aaron and I.

And man, were they ever good! They have a rich salmon flavor that only comes out when they’re sautéed like this for a bit until the surface is a golden-brown. They hold together amazingly well, and are perfect by themselves … no bun, definitely no tarter sauce … not even a touch of lemon. These are just damn good.

There’s six more in the freezer. I know what I’m having for lunch this week.

I know I posted this recipe recently, but because of these nice salmon cakes I just have to post it again. Enjoy!

Barb’s Salmon Patties
Makes 4 salmon patties

Ingredients
1 lb fresh salmon, baked or grilled, cooled
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup low-salt saltine crackers, crushed
1/3 cup green onions, thinly-sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground pepper
olive oil (for cooking)

Flake the salmon. With the exception of the olive oil, combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, mixing well. Divide into four portions and make patties 3/4″ thick.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add a couple tablespoons olive oil and allow to get hot without the oil smoking. Add the patties; cook for three minutes on each side. Serve as desired.

Michigan Product Review: Baffo’s ‘Meals in Bread Rolls’

Posted on 2 May 2008 under Michigan Cuisine, Reviews: Products | No Comments

Michigan-made products. For some reason I tend to gravitate toward Michigan-made products more than others. It could simply be so I can get blog posts written that are relevant, but really, having lived on the east coast for a while I missed some of the products here. So that could be part of it as well.

I found these Baffo’s sandwich rolls at the market here in Luna Pier. John told me the high school used to sell the pizza version of these sandwiches for 50 cents each, which really isn’t a bad deal for the kids. At the market they average $2 each, which is doable for a lot of folks.

The package says, “For best results, open one end of package. Heat for approx. 15 seconds.” I did this, cut the end off, felt inside … put it back in the package and heated it another 30 seconds. I’m wondering if the “15 seconds” is a typo, as 45 seconds worked fine.

I gotta tell ya, after I heated this breakfast roll and pulled it out of its package and put it on this plate for photographing, I was a little bit leary of it. You can see the outside of the roll toward the middle is still a bit doughy. (You can even see this in the upper photo through the packaging.) This is definitely a manufacturing and quality issue that should be looked into.

Inside was interesting. The egg is shaped like a miniature omelet, with chunks of bacon. I’m guessing the brownish material is the cheddar, which doesn’t appear to have faired well.

Still, the flavor was fairly good. Dissolved cheddar aside, I could taste both the egg and the bacon. The bread roll itself was like a well-made sub roll, soft and flavorful.

Mary’s told me the ham & cheese version was alright, but there were only two small pieces of ham inside the bread roll. She said the cheese was ok, but that the best part was the bread.

We both agreed, however, that we like Baffo’s better than Hot Pockets, especially for the price, and are planning to try the pizza version when we get the chance.

Now all they need is a good liverwurst and meunster version …

‘Monroe’s Biggest Idol’ IS The Frog Leg Inn’s Chef Tad Cousino!

Posted on 28 April 2008 under Chefs, Special Events | No Comments

Executive Chef Tad Cousino of the Frog Leg Inn in Erie, Michigan won the Big Brothers/Big Sisters “Monroe’s Biggest Idol” competition Saturday evening at the Meyer Theater in the La-Z-Boy Conference Center at Monroe County Community College.

Yesterday afternoon, I found the winner on a John Deere lawnmower, happily mowing someone else’s lawn.

He described for me his performance of Billy Joel’s Piano Man: “I’ve sang in front of crowds many times, but I’ve never played piano while singing. But it was like my fingers were on auto-pilot … they knew what they were doing. I was just watching them doing the runs! All I had to do was focus on the singing.”

As to how he introduced his performance of Michael Boublet’s Home: “They could see most of a tuxedo, but I also had on my Chef’s coat. [It’s a thick white double-breasted linen with black piping.] I told the crowd how my wife had made me work during intermission! I removed the Chef’s coat, and the tuxedo jacket was underneath. They really liked that. I then asked if there were any Boublet fans in the audience, and after the cheering died down I said ‘I’m not’. That got a good laugh!”

Chef Tad has sang for years at Crossroads Community Church at both their older Temperance location and the church’s current location in Ottawa Lake southeast of exit #1 and US-23 in Michigan. With a Michigan Wine Dinner at his own restaurant last Thursday, a rehearsal on Friday and the “Monroe’s Biggest Idol” competition on Saturday, he’s been doing more than just burning the candle at both ends. Still, today he leaves town for a few days to attend a food show somewhere up north.

I hope at some point soon to be able to post video of Chef Tad’s winning performances at the 2008 Big Brothers/Big Sisters “Monroe’s Biggest Idol” competition.

Photos: Clay, Minus the -mation

Posted on 26 April 2008 under Fairs, Photos, Special Events | No Comments

Yesterday evening I attended the Tecumseh High School Spring Art Show. Some of the clay sculpture entries were of food, some of which included commercial wrappers from what they were based on. These are a few of my favorites.

Eat This Blog: Zingerman’s Sourdough and Farmhouse Breads

Posted on 24 April 2008 under Baking, Eat This Blog, Michigan Cuisine | 3 Comments

World-famous Zingerman’s, mentioned by Chef Mario Batali on multiple shows over the years and written-up on Serious Eats out of NYC as well, isn’t all that far away. The bakery and store are about an hour’s drive to the north in Ann Arbor. But there’s no need to go that far if you live in NE Ohio or SE Michigan. The Zingerman’s delivery truck makes the drive to The Anderson’s Market in Toledo each morning, delivering all kinds of tasty goodies to go into the display cases next to The Andersons’ own handmade baked goods.

The top image is of Zingerman’s Sourdough Bread. Soft on the inside with a mildly-hard crust, this is a great bread for sandwiches, from coldcuts to BBQ pulled pork.

The image below is of their Farmhouse Bread. This loaf has quite a hard crust, with the softness of the sourdough inside combined with the flavor and extra density of a wheat bread. I like to just slather this with real butter, but it’s also amazing toasted for a fried egg sandwich.

Nope, neither of these loaves are going to last long around here.

Click on either of these images for a larger version.

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