Cooking with Dr. Monkey

Today's episode: Irish Style Fish Cakes.

This recipe is a modified version of one I got out of an Irish cookbook I found recently at my local library. 

 I started out by peeling, chopping, and boiling four medium sized potatoes. 

While the potatoes boiled I sauteed one coarsely chopped onion and four cloves of garlic in canola oil.  When the potatoes got done I mashed them and added one tablespoon of butter and a splash of milk to them.  Then I sauteed two small tilapia fillets and when they turned white all the way through, I shredded them in to small chunks.

Then I beat an egg in a mixing bowl and I added the potatoes, the shredded fish, a half cup of fresh chopped parsley, three table spoons of flour, the onions and garlic, some salt, and some pepper.  I mixed it all up and then I started making my cakes. 

 I took a golf ball sized hunk of my mixture and rolled it into a ball, then I rolled it in some bread crumbs, smooshed it down a bit, and I put the finished product on a plate ready to fry it up.  I got 12 cakes out of my mixture.  Some of you may like a bigger cake, and if you do, then feel free to make yours bigger than mine, it's up to you.

I put canola oil in my pan and let it get good and hot.  Then I cooked up may cakes.  It only takes a few minutes on each side because most of the ingredients are already cooked.  Once they get brown I flip them over.

This is what my finished product looked like:

I served them up with some Brussels sprouts and cucumber slices.  It was all quite good.

The first time I made this dish I used cod like the recipe called for.  It was good but I found the fish got lost amongst all the other ingredients.  The tilapia stood out this time, it more than held it's own with all the other flavors.  Also, you can add things like sliced green onions, peas, or sauteed mushrooms to yours if you make this dish.  And feel free to experiment with other types of flaky white fish and spices.