Doubly frugal, I made my lunch today out of leftovers from a meal I had last night which, in its turn, was also made of leftovers. I had a selection of fishy odds and ends (many of them made of fish!) cluttering up the freezer so yesterday I had some spicy fish cakes for dinner.
Spicy Fishcakes Recipe
250g cooked fish and/or shellfish flaked or diced
2 heaped tablespoons of mayonnaise
2 finely chopped spring onion
1 teaspoon of finely grated lime zest
2 teaspoons Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce – or to taste
salt and pepper
2-3 tablespoons soft fresh breadcrumbs - maybe more!
~ Mix together the first 5 ingredients, taste and season.
~ Add the breadcrumbs and work together lightly by hand till the mixture holds together. You might need more breadcrumbs or more mayonnaise but it's not the end of the world!
~ Cover chill for an hour or more to firm up a little.
~ Form into lots of little cakes for appetisers or a 4 big ones as a main course for 2.
~ Shallow fry till crisp and golden on both sides and hot in the middle.
There was too much for me to eat and my guy likes Proper English Food so I put the last fishcake in the fridge where I was pleased to find it again this morning.
I didn’t want to have an exact repeat of last night’s dinner, lovely though it was, so I broke the leftover fish cake up into a bowl and mixed in various chopped saladings (spring onion, cherry tomatoes and sweet pepper), mayonnaise and a healthy squeeze of lime juice. All the same ingredients over again, really, but it worked, especially when served on toasted sourdough with a small white wine on the side.
I didn’t want to have an exact repeat of last night’s dinner, lovely though it was, so I broke the leftover fish cake up into a bowl and mixed in various chopped saladings (spring onion, cherry tomatoes and sweet pepper), mayonnaise and a healthy squeeze of lime juice. All the same ingredients over again, really, but it worked, especially when served on toasted sourdough with a small white wine on the side.
This reminds me of one of the more bizarre dishes I have made ...
Leftover Soup Cakes!
When working in the Caribbean in a very busy restaurant we had a group of customers who over a period of days seemed unsure whether they were having a celebration or not.
One Sunday afternoon at the tail end of a very busy brunch with lots to prep ahead for the evening they decided to go for it there and then. They suddenly needed Champagne and lots of delicious and interesting nibbles to make the party go with a swing.
Much to my own surprise I managed to make some very popular fish cakes out of the dregs of the seafood chowder. I bunged it in a bowl and added enough breadcrumbs to make a heavy goo, stuck it in the freezer for a short while and then deep fried it by the spoonful. Weeks later people were still talking about them – in a good way – but I refused to give them the recipe!
I fancy myself as quite good with leftovers which I why I wrote my book Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers.
