6.03.2009

Salmon Cakes



I love salmon cakes! Last week Vaughn and I made salt baked salmon and had some left over. Leftovers are wonderful. I served these with a crispy potato flower and lemon caper mayonnaise on a bed of baby kale from my garden.

Salmon Cakes

Yeild: 10 small cakes

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked salmon, flaked
2 eggs, whisked
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. capers, chopped
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt to taste
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. olive oil

-Combine all ingredients, except butter and oil, in a mixing bowl.
-Shape patties into 2 in rounds, about a 1/2 to 1 inch high.
-Heat oil and butter in a saute pan over medium heat.
-Saute the salmon cakes for 5 minutes on each side until golden brown

Lemon Caper Mayonnaise

Ingredients:
6 tbsp. mayonnaise
2 tsp. capers, chopped
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. paprika
salt to taste

-Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

Crispy Potato "Flower"

Yeild: 6-8 flowers

Preheat oven to 400F

Ingredients:
2 small Yukon Gold potatoes
2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

-Slice potatoes into thin, uniform rounds *
-Toss the rounds with olive oil
-Fan out six rounds in a circle
-Sprinkle with salt and pepper
-Arrange rounds on a sheet pan
-Bake until crispy and golden brown

*A mandolin slicer would make slicing the potatoes super easy. I don't have one, so I used a cheese plane! Just flip it over and use the backside so you can rest it on the cutting board (watch your fingers!)

6.02.2009

Grab a napkin...you're going to drool

The garden where the ceremony will be


25 days until the wedding!

Vaughn and I are getting married June 27th...and we're so excited! Early on in the planning we decided to share our passion for great food and delicious drinks with our family and friends.

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Karen Gorman and her husband Joe own the farm that we live on. Karen owns a catering company with Heidi Robb and generously offered to cater our cocktail hour in the gardens after our ceremony. Here's what she has planned for us:

Crostini
grilled with roasted asparagus tips, walnut crema and shaved Pecorino Tartufo
(Pecorino with black truffle)

Bruschetta
with sweet corn, ricotta and basil

Fresh Springrolls
with julienne vegetables, lobster and cilantro and mint sauce

Curried Chicken and Coconut Truffle
(she didn't want to call them chicken balls)

Baby Vegetables with Goat Cheese
(she has 3 pygmy goats on the farm. mini milkers!)

Apple Chip with Lentil and Hazelnut Pate
(thin apple slices soaked in simple syrup and baked until glassy)

Sugared Strawberries with Zabaione

Cuban Pork Quesadillas
(fully enclosed so there won't be any messes)

Herb and Lemon Infused White Wine

Strawberry Infused Vodka
may be served with soda on the rocks or as a chilled shot (homemade)

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We scoured the area for a caterer that shared our views and found Marigold Catering. Phil, our event manager, is wonderful and helped us figure out the best foods for the reception. We nixed the plated dinner service (too formal) an opted for a buffet dinner spread. For the dinner reception we've chosen:

Plated Salad

Marigold Salad
Fresh Field Greens, Seasonal Berries, Mandarin Oranges, Almonds, Feta Cheese
Champagne Vinaigrette

Dinner Buffet

Beer Braised Boneless Beef Short Ribs
Chipolte au jus, Onion Wisps

Chicken Florentine
Light Garlic, Lemon Butter, and White Wine with Spinach

Vegetarian Penne
Marinara Sauce, Julienned Vegetables
Side of Shredded Mozzarella

Roasted Vegetable Platter
Balsamic Drizzle

Chilled Orzo Salad
Fresh Basil, Feta Cheese, Olives, Red Onions, Sun Dried Tomatoes

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For drinks during the reception we will have an open bar with liquor and mixers, a selection of wines, beer from Great Lakes Brewery and Goose Island Brewery (my family is from Cleveland and Vaughn's is from Chicago...clever), and we will be highlighting several beers that Vaughn and I brewed including a hard apple cider, an IPA, and my mild brown ale.

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Lastly...dessert!

Vaughn and I aren't very traditional, so we opted out of having a cake. We're having cupcakes instead! We found a great little cupcakery in Hudson, Ohio called Main Street Cupcakes. Their cupcakes are delicious! It took a long time to choose flavors since they have 170+ to choose from! We liked the cupcake approach better because we could choose four to six different flavors to serve to our guests. Our final flavors are:

Wedding Day White
Traditional white cake with a hint of almond covered in vanilla buttercream frosting

Lemon Drop
Traditional white cake made with zests of lemon and smothered in lemon zest buttercream frosting

Day & Night
Dark chocolate cake mixed with white chocolate chips covered in white buttercream frosting and topped with chocolate chips

You Must Be Chipping Me
Classic yellow cake filled with chocolate chips and topped with chocolate buttercream frosting

My mom is making a tower for the cupcakes. At the top will be a little 6 inch cake for Vaughn and me to either cut or save for our anniversary. I'm sure it will be devoured either after the reception or the next day!


I promise to post photos of all the food sometime after the wedding!