Scandinavian Salmon Burgers
Have you seen the PBS series New Scandinavian Cooking? Besides some of the most breathtaking scenery ever, there’s a lot of fine cooking going on! When I saw them make burgers out of chopped salmon I was intrigued. I even meant to give it a try. But life got busy and I never followed up.
A year or so later, fate stepped in… a couple packages of chopped salmon arrived on my doorstep! You see, I had joined something called a Community Supported Fishery—it’s a concept similar to Community Supported Agriculture except they bring wild harvested fish to you.
After a couple months of munching on salmon fillets (delicious and loaded with healthy Omega-3), my CSF delivered a box that contained chopped salmon. Instead of wasting the small bits of salmon left after cutting fillets, they package it as chopped salmon. An especially great idea if you’ve been dreaming of Scandinavian Salmon Burgers!
Of course now I couldn’t locate the recipe (despite a nice online search engine on the show’s website). But in the end, I found an alternative in the cookbook called The Scandinavian Cookbook by Trina Hahnemann. The recipe came together easily (mix the ingredients and sautee in olive oil) and was a a healthy and delicious dinner. So delicious, I thought someone might get stabbed with a fork going for the last one…
The cookbook includes a recipe for homemade rye focaccia and I may try that at some point. With the perpetual motion of the holidays, however, I decided that a nice bakery rye would be just fine. I also decided to serve the sandwich open-faced—gotta save room in case a cookie tray catches me by surprise! I did make a homemade aioli (mayonnaise) as recommended but you could add herbs to commercial mayo for another time saver.
This was dinner for us (along with some carrot slaw) but it would also be wonderful as an appetizer, think smaller salmon burgers on cocktail rye! Mmmm!
- 1 1/2 lbs of raw salmon, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped onion or chopped green onion
- 1 tablespoon capers, chopped
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tablespoons grated fresh bread ("fresh bread crumbs")
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil for frying
- 4 tablespoons mayonnaise (or more to taste)
- 1/2 - 1 T finely minced onion
- 1 teaspoon dill
- 4 cups mixed salad greens
- 4-8 slices rye bread (depending on size)
- fresh dill for garnish (optional)
- Put the salmon in a mixing bowl with the onion, capers, dill, egg, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Fold together until well blended.
- Shape the mixture into 4 or 8 patties (depending on the size of bread you are using). Fry in olive oil, about 4 minutes per side, until cooked through. Turn carefully since the burgers are a bit delicate.
- Combine herbed mayonnaise ingredients. Spread on one side of rye bread slices, then top with salad greens. Slide warm burger onto lettuce and top with a sprig of dill.
- Serve immediately.
- Holiday Spiced Orange Curd
- Christmas Drinking Custard
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This is such a great idea Inger…I love salmon, but somehow my husband does not care for it…maybe I will entice him with this salmon burger…
Good luck Juliana!
Well, Inger, you might just given me my recipe for tonight’s dinner! The salmon burgers sound fantastic.
It’s hard to go wrong with salmons, David!
these look delicious…. so sad my husband is not a fan of fish 🙁 I will have to make these for myself and the kids and just make him a turkey burger on the side.
Sometimes you have to do what it takes, don’t you! I have made eggplant parmesan right next to chicken parmesan 😉
These look great! I made salmon burgers once but I made the mistake of cooking them on the grill – it was a disaster.
Oops! Even fish fillets are tough on the grill! Well I believe that if you don’t have a few cooking disasters, you aren’t challenging yourself enough (unless you have twins, then you get credit for anything 😉 )
Inger we love saumon and this look gorgeous !! Love it!!
Merry Christmas dear
Isn’t salmon amazing Gloria!
New Scandinavian Cooking is one of my favorite cooking shows! I have a bit of a crush on Andreas Viestad.
Yes, all the scenery is good!