My mother had this thing for salmon croquettes (Ma, I love you so much, but I was scared of the bones…I used to ball up parts of the croquettes and stick them in the paper napkins with the pink flowers on them)….I am assuming she did not buy fresh salmon because no one bought very much that was frozen (except for waffles and ice cream). I remember thousands of cans (tuna fish until there was a mercury scare… Campbell ’s soup, Cream of Mushroom and Tomato; and ugh, sardines.) Tomato soup –with the little rounded crackers — is still on my top ten list of comfort foods….so is spaghetti)…in case of emergency, she was decades ahead of her time. I believe however, her emergency preparedness kit was not a terrorist, alien invasion or 9/11/tornado/earthquake kind of anti-woe shield and at-the-ready box, it was targeted more in case of a major…snowstorm. You just have to love those sixties and seventies, she loved Elvis. I heard she saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and told my older sister: “They are going to change everything.”

My mother, serious “can” cook and music visionary…She’s so “Raven”….Actually she’s a rather remarkable woman, and I adore her. And her 39th birthday’s coming up on the 24th, I’ll think I shall write her a sonnet, she’s so fabulous and a beautiful, strong, extroverted Sagittarius.

THE SALMON CROQUETTES aka The Guppy Coquettes (I needed a new name for them, a la The Pussycat Dolls.)

Ingredients:

1 twelve oz can pink salmon (this is retro) – or talk to your fish guy…for more of a 21 st century feel and possibly a much, much better outcome. We are retro, but we live in another era.
2 eggs (use all of each of the egg, except the shell)
1-8 or 1/4 or 1/2 cup onion, depends on whether you Cuisinart or dice them. Use more if you use a food processor
A dash garlic (really finely ground)
Flour – pour in for thickness, stir to taste to make the little Frisbee-looking croquette
2 tablespoons of her favorite thing, bread crumbs. Some recipes call for yellow corn meal. This is your call!
¼ teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon of the uncanned, totally (Good evening, my name is Mommy, I’ll be your server tonight. May-I-grind-this-for-you?)black pepper

EVOO (Rachael Ray’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil; I keep saying that because I am afraid she has a Trademark on that saying like the “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble” guy.

THE MOVES

•  Fill the frying pan with olive oil on low; watch for sparks as you gradually turn up the heat.

•  Beat the eggs thoroughly – we’re talking total yellow.

•  Cuisinart or dice onion. My mom did not have a Cuisinart, but I think the flavor is more palatable to kids and grown-up alike if the onion is finely, finely ground.

•  Throw in the salt and pepper

•  Flour should be mixed in, and you even could use 1 tbsp of yellow corn meal and 1 tbsp of bread crumbs. The bread crumbs will make the end result less retro and more kid-and-husband/significant other friendly.

•  Flour or corn meal should have been blended with all other ingredients so you can create disc-like or more foodie, “patties”.

•  Drop these babies in the heated oil, which should be making that crackle and pop noise.

•  Cook thoroughly so the pink salmon is NOT all that pink anymore, but cooked.

•  Remove from pan after you stick a fork in to see if it seems moist but not falling apart

•  Don’t overcook and burn. Burnt salmon croquettes are definitely sad.

And the SPAGHETTI? Until we do the in-depth perfect spaghetti recipe (Bessie’s) READ THE BOX.