Anna Olson’s Chowder Cakes

Anna Olson was on our Catch Seafood Stage during the 2012 Taste of Nova Scotia Food Fare by the Sea. Try your hand at her recipe for  Chowder Cakes – and let us know how they turn out!

Photos from her demos and the autograph session can be found on our Taste of Nova Scotia page on Facebook.

Recipe provided by: Anna Olson
Makes about 3 dozen appetizer-sized cakes

Ingredients
4 slices           bacon, diced
1 cup               fresh or frozen corn
½ cup            finely diced onion
½ cup            finely diced red bell pepper
1/3 cup          finely diced celery
1 tsp                chopped fresh thyme
2 ½ cups       peeled and diced potato
¾ lb               cooked fish, such as salmon
3                      eggs
salt & pepper
2 Tbsp           olive oil
1 cup              dry breadcrumbs

Directions
1. In a sauté pan over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp.  Remove the bacon and drain off all but 2 Tbsp of the fat. Add the corn onion, pepper, celery and thyme to pan, cooking until the onions are translucent.

2. While cooking the vegetables, boil the potatoes in salted water until tender and drain.  Let potatoes cool for 10 minutes and mash roughly. Add the cooked vegetables to the cooled potatoes and flake in the salmon.  Stir in the reserved bacon and season to taste.  Break and egg into a small dish, whisk with a fork and stir into potato mixture.

3. Shape this mixture into little balls (an ice cream scoop makes this easier) and press to flatten. To cook, heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat.  Whisk the remaining 2 eggs in one bowl and place breadcrumbs in a separate bowl.  Dip each chowder cake in egg to coat completely, then dip into breadcrumbs.  Place the cakes in pan and cook about 4 minutes on each side, turning carefully.

The chowder cakes should be served warm, with a little lemon or a remoulade or other creamy sauce.  The cakes can be precooked, chilled and reheated for 12 minutes in a 325 °F oven.

Photo credit: Minh Tan