Crispy Fish Cakes With Pine Nuts And Fresh Herbs

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with love, family and good food. Today, I’m sharing a great recipe very fitting for the holidays, crispy fish cakes. Why? Because they are packed with flavor, easy to eat which comes in handy when looking for something tasty to pass around and trust me, these will disappear from the plate faster that you can say “come and get it.”

I got this wonderful recipe from Janna Gur’s new cookbook “Jewish Soul Food.” I liked this particular recipe because as mentioned, it’s packed with flavor and it has a beautiful texture from the pine nuts. Also, it has a refreshing combination of herbs which brightens them up beautifully. Another thing I like about this recipe is the make-ahead-of-time factor, which we all know is quite helpful during the holidays. I now leave you with the recipe and keep enjoying the holidays! 

Crispy Fish Cakes With Pine Nuts And Fresh Herbs

Recipe courtesy of Janna Gur "Jewish Soul Food"

Ingredients:

Makes 25 to 30 patties

For the fish cakes:

1 3/4 pounds (750g) meaty white fish 

such as cod, tilapia or halibut, pulsed until 

coarsely chopped in a food processor or coarsely 

chopped with a sharp knife

2 tablespoons of pine nuts, ground in a mortar and pestle      

or a mini food processor, plus 2 tablespoons whole

2 fresh dill sprigs, finely chopped

5 fresh parsley sprigs, finely chopped 

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 eggs

2 tablespoons bread crumbs

zest of 1 lemon

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Dash of tabasco sauce

salt and pepper 

For coating and frying

1 cup bread crumbs (I used Japanese Panko)

vegetable oil for frying

Combine the fish, ground pine nuts, whole pine nuts, dill, parsley garlic, onions, eggs, bread crumbs, lemon zest, lemon juice, Tabasco, salt and pepper and knead thoroughly. Refrigerate for 1 or 2 hours to stabilize. With wet hands, form balls 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) in diameter and flatten them slightly. Coat with bread crumbs. Heat about 1 inch (2 1/2 cm) of vegetable oil in a frying pan. Fry the patties in batches, 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until golden. Transfer to a paper-lined plate. Serve hot or at room temperature. The patties can be made a few hours in advance and heated, covered with aluminum foil, in a 350 ˚F (180 ˚C) oven for 5 to 6 minutes.