Reader’s Letter and <i>Salmon Fishcakes Allergy Friendly Recipe</i>

by Danielle Margulies

This week I wanted to feature one of the great letters we've received and say thanks to everyone who writes in and shares their ideas and tips – the more we can share our thoughts and information the more empowered we all become.

One of the first letters we received when we started Allergy Friendly was from Adrienne Miyadi of Irvine, California who wrote:

I LOVE that you will have a food allergy column, and one that will feature recipes.
My young 3-year-old daughter was diagnosed with peanut, tree nut, wheat, milk, soy, and egg allergies. These multiple food allergies don't leave us with a lot of options!
But here are some things that I have found help, especially with a young child who wants to eat like everyone else:
1. Cybele Pascal's "Whole Foods" Allergy Cookbook has delicious, versatile, easy, and tested recipes free of all top 8 allergens.

2. Cherrybrook Farms has fantastic allergy-free baked goods mixes (that even the rest of us will eat). The sugar cookies save us at birthday parties!
3. Ian's makes wonderful allergy-free frozen foods like nuggets and fries that look like the regular ones but also taste good. These remove the barrier of "being different from the other kids" at our play dates!

4. Cascadian Farms has the only nut-free granola that we have ever found. It is a delicious base for breakfast cereal, dessert bars, and snack mix!
5. You can moan about having limited options for your child (I did), or embrace the opportunity to be creative, experiment, cook fresh, and expose them to "adult" and, gasp, even gourmet creations (I'm getting there!)

Thanks for these suggestions Adrienne - a SupermarketGuru tote bag is on it's way to you!

This week's recipe is for Salmon Fishcakes using sweet potatoes (more sticky than regular potatoes and more nutritional – for this recipe the best choice is the driest fleshed sweet potato – different varieties are White Yam, or Nancy Hall, Centennial, Georgia Jet, "Bunch" Porto Rico or the Beauregard).
I like salmon for the recipe, as it actually lends itself better to canned salmon, rather than fresh, but you could substitute any flakey white fish – using leftovers, or poaching it in water.

Salmon Fishcakes Ingredients:
(Makes 6 fishcakes)
1 x 5.7 oz can salmon (best choices are wild salmon from Alaska, California, Oregon or Washington)
2 medium sized sweet potatoes
¼ cup ground rice
1 cup water
5 tablespoons butter (or olive oil if you want to avoid butter)
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon dried dill (fresh to taste)
1 stick celery
6 sprigs of flat leaf parsley
Salt to taste
1 lemon
Watercress or arugula salad dressed with lemon, olive oil and salt.

Salmon FishcakesInstructions:
--Peel the sweet potatoes and chop them into half inch rounds.
--Add the cup of water to a skillet on low to medium heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
--Add the sweet potatoes in 1 layer, salt to taste and add the cayenne pepper.
--Cook with the lid on for about 15 minutes (checking every now and then to make sure there is still a little water).
--While the sweet potatoes are cooking mash the salmon with fork after you have removed any skin, bones and dark oily areas of fish. Reserve the liquid from the can as you might need it later (or poaching liquid, or plain water if using leftovers).
--Add the dill and season to taste (it's usually salty enough already).
--Chop the stick of celery into the smallest dice possible along with the parsley and add to the salmon.
--Remove the sweet potatoes form the heat when they are soft enough to mash and adding 2 tablespoons of butter or olive oil, mash them with a fork for a more rustic consistency or put them through a ricer until smooth, depending on your preference.
--Add the salmon mixture, 1 tablespoon of ground rice and 1 or 2 tablespoons of liquid from the can to make a sticky, but still fluffy mixture.
--In a medium sized bowl season the rest of the ground rice with salt and a little more dill.
--Make 6 fishcakes from the mixture (messy, but fun) and coat each one in the ground rice on all sides and set aside until you have finished them all – once they are coated try and make them all the same thickness.
--In a non-stick frying pan over medium heat melt 1 tablespoon of butter along with 1 tablespoon of olive oil (or 2 tablespoons of olive oil) and when it's bubbling nicely add all the fishcakes.
--Let them form a crust, cooking for about 3 minutes on each side, remove to a serving plate and let them cool for 5 minutes before serving.
--Serve with lemon wedges on a bed of watercress or arugula salad.

CLICK HERE to email your letter and if it is featured we will send you a SupermarketGuru tote bag to say thanks!