Salmon-Tuna Patties

     Aside from the bicycle trip for Saturday brunch, I slept most of the weekend and apparently needed it.   Still, one does need a little energy even to sleep and I found myself peckish Sunday evening. Tam said she was probably going to make herself some salmon salad; she had three packets of salmon and would I like one?

     I thought perhaps so.  However, I am not a huge fan of mayo.  I love salmon patties (croquettes, loaf, whatever) and so I went looking.

     The little packets aren't all that much -- 2.5 ounces, very little of which is water.  Had some cans of tuna, three ounces, and drained, that would add up near enough to five ounces of canned fish.  Could salmon and tuna co-exist?  Never know unless you try!  (This is Depression-era cooking, comfort food for my parents generation; it is what I learned growing up.)

     A third of a cup of crushed crackers (saltines and Italian Herb Ritz), sufficient milk to make a kind of paste, and one beaten egg later, I was ready to add fish, seasoning and spices.  Traditionally one uses dill but we were out.  Onion and celery are nice, too.  Didn't have any of those, either.  Sooooo...  A couple dashes of curry powder, a bit of celery seed and more than a bit of chives, a little parsley, rosemary and cilantro* and a grind of pepper later, three medium-sized salmon-tuna patties were sizzling in the skillet, sending the cats into ecstatic transports of delight (I bribed them with treats).

     (When you combine the ingredients, the result should be neither dry nor drippy; cohesiveness and homogeneity are the desired properties.  Adjust with milk or cracker crumbs if needed.)

     Tam decided she'd have a canned-fish patty instead of salmon salad and pronounced it "very tasty."  I had to agree.  The curry powder adds a subdued hint of flavor, not like dill but remarkably harmonious.  As for salmon and tuna, they get along -- dare I say it?  -- swimmingly.

     Tamara, seeing my Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook open, told me I had better mark that page.  I had to explain it was only open for rough reference proportions of grain, milk, egg and fish; their salmon loaf recipe, made with soft breadcrumbs, is delicious but significantly different to what I cooked.
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* The thing about cilantro is, people who don't enjoy the taste of it are not likely to when it shows up unexpectedly.  If you dislike the vaguely "soapy" herbal flavor encountered in some salsa, you should leave it out of this.