This is one of my favourite dishes to cook for lunch during the summer. I love the combination of chorizo and mussels, so to me, it’s the perfect type of fishcake to have and very simple to prepare. You can use cod instead of salmon if you prefer, or crab, if you want a touch of luxury.
Dan Hannigan is head chef at Mister S in Dublin 2
Chorizo fishcakes with fennel, cucumber and carrot salad
Makes eight
Ingredients
100g chorizo
1kg mussels, in the shell
150g salmon
100mls white wine
5 Maris Piper potatoes
1 bunch of dill
1 egg
100g flour
2 lemons, zest and juice
1 head of fennel
1 carrot
1 cucumber
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
Method
1 Place the potatoes on a tray and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes or until you can pierce through easily with a knife.
2 Chop up the chorizo and salmon into small pieces and leave to one side.
3 Place the chorizo in a medium hot pan and cook until the chorizo has a lovely golden colour and the oils have released from the meat.
4 Place the mussels into the pan and pour in the white wine, cover with a lid/plate and cook at a high heat for one minute. After one minute, take the plate off and stir in the chopped up salmon, cover again with the lid and cook for four minutes.
5 After four minutes, pour the contents of the pan into a sieve sitting over a bowl.
6 Pour the juices back into the pan and boil to reduce for two minutes and then leave to one side.
7 Pick the meat from the mussels and discard the shells. Place the chorizo, mussel meat and salmon into a bowl and leave to one side.
8 Once the potatoes are cooked, scoop out the flesh into a bowl and mash with a fork.
9 In a large bowl, mix the potatoes, mussels, salmon, chorizo and reduced mussel cooking juices. Add the egg and flour and mix well to combine and season with salt and lemon juice and zest to taste.
10 Shape the mix with your hands into small patties and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.
11 While the patties are in the fridge, finely slice the carrot, cucumber and fennel and season with a good pinch of salt, the rest of your lemon juice and more zest to taste. Add a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard and some torn dill.
12 In a medium hot pan, fry the fishcakes/patties for four minutes each side until golden brown and hot in the middle. You can use a knife or skewer to pierce the middle and once it is hot to touch off your lip, it is ready.
13 Place the fishcakes on a plate with a big handful of your salad.
Kitchen Cabinet is a series of recipes from chefs who are members of Euro-Toques Ireland, who have come together during the coronavirus outbreak to share some of the easy, tasty things that they like to cook and eat at home #ChefsAtHome
