Slopalong with Madonna_Claws presents: Tinned Potato Fishcakes
Ingredients (parsley in fridge)
Had to buy the sardines, parsley and flour. I needed the flour anyway so wasn't bought especially.
Drained and rinsed tinned spuds were cooked for 10 minutes, as per Jack's carefully, forensically tested/one and done (take your pick) method.
As I wanted to try both suggestions - with paprika and with tomato puree - I separated the potatoes equally into separate bowls. The sardine oil was mixed into the potatoes first, giving them a slimy, oily hue, then the rest. There was no way in hell I was just chucking the sardines in bones and all so I flaked them with my fingers and discarded the main bone thing in them.
Left: paprika Right: tomato puree. Photo taken before gently beating the flour in. The mixture was stiff ish - it would hold together well enough, but was tacky and slimy, probably due to the sardine oil. However, I didn't feel it warranted any more flour as it held on a spoon when upside down.
Now the cooking! As I don't have a cooker or oven I fried them. Unless you were doing an absolute
tit ton of them, who puts the oven on for sodding fishcakes anyway?
Paprika fishcakes first
Finished!
Frauen, they were... distinctly average, but edible. Kudos to Jack, the paprika gave the fishcakes a nice kick and much-needed flavour. Comparing my photo with the one in the recipe I suspect I also mashed my spuds more than Jack, but who wants lumpy fishcakes (unless the lumps are fish?) Texture wise they were sloppy in the middle rather than fluffy and light. This may be due to them not being oven cooked but I doubt it - the mixture is too heavy for fluffiness.
Now for the tomato puree fishcakes.
(One for the HMHB frauen und herren there
)
The tomato puree fishcakes were pretty tasteless. No hint of tomato whatever, not even a tanginess or sharpness. Texture etc was exactly the same as the paprika ones, to be expected.
Now for one of each using the George Foreman grill. This is how I would cook normal, sane, shop-bought fishcakes.
As you can see, because the mixture isn't completely solid, but just right to shape and doesn't fall off an upside down spoon as per Jack's instructions, the mixture as spread a bit. Not really an issue to be fair. There was a fair bit of fat that came out of them which I presume was the sardine oil mainly.
Reader, they were...
... a bit
tit. Nicely grilled on the outside, hot but sloppy on the inside. Again, edible but meh.
Verdict: they pretty much turned out how I expected they would, and not dissimilar to my own homemade fishcakes (though I tend to tip the lot into one big frying pan and call it 'fried sardine mash'). Jack's fishcakes were edible but ultimately tasteless and slimy. A definite unsatisfying 'meh'. Adequate if I'm being generous.
Pros: Generally edible. As mentioned above, the paprika came as a nice surprise. Gave the fishcakes a very pleasant and welcome kick, and something I may incorporate into my own in the future.
Cons: couldn't taste the lemon juice or the parsley so why are they there? The consistency was sloppy (maybe add more flour?). Not sure tinned potatoes are good for such a recipe as they are heavy, waxy and filmy - instant mash would be better as long as you don't use too much water in the mixture.
My main beef however is... why sardines in oil and *then* add tomato puree? Just buy the tinned sardines in tomato in the first place! They are *far* tastier and all that tomato juice is yum and would add delicious flavour. The tomato puree fishcakes had no hint of tomato whatsoever so what.is.point? Also, I think adding the sardine oil into the mixture made it more slimy than it needed to be, plus it didn't add anything to the flavour.
Scores: 2 (I'd give it 2 1/2 if halves are allowed).
I'm off for proper food now
