One of the most enjoyable things about writing a food blog is making friends online with like-minded people and swapping ideas. My eye was caught recently by a recipe for pickled mustard seeds posted by Nicole at The James Kitchen.
As I have an enormous jar of yellow mustard seeds reproaching me for neglect, I set to work that same night.
I loved the result: the seeds swell up, as Nicole says, like tiny tapioca pearls and they pop in your mouth in the most intriguing way. They’re sweet and sour and somehow both pungent and mellow at the same time.
They’re versatile enough to use in lots of different ways – they’d be fabulous with smoked eel – but they made a very good relish for these juicy salmon burgers.
Click on the link above for the mustard seed recipe and do check out Nicole’s blog if you haven’t already bookmarked her site, she’s a very creative cook.
Salmon Burgers with Pickled Mustard Seeds
Ingredients:
2 skinless, boneless salmon fillets, about 200g
1 small onion or shallot, peeled and chopped
Approx 2 tbsp breadcrumbs (fresh or panko)
Handful of roughly chopped parsley (dill would be a good alternative)
1 tspn Dijon mustard
A little egg white or beaten egg, to bind (I used about 1/2 an egg white)
2 tspn capers, rinsed and roughly chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Oil, for frying
To garnish: pickled mustard seeds and quick-pickled onions
Method:
While you can make this by hand (in which case chop the ingredients quite small) it helps to have a food processor. Put the onion in the bowl of the processor and chop finely, but don’t puree it. Add the salmon, cut into small chunks, the parsley, breadcrumbs, mustard and egg. Pulse briefly until the salmon is chopped small but not mushed.
Scrape into a bowl, add the roughly chopped capers, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Check the consistency and add more breadcrumbs if necessary. It has to hold together but the fish should predominate. Form into four round patties and place in the fridge to firm up for a couple of hours.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan on a medium heat and fry the patties until golden on both sides, turning carefully. You can of course serve the burgers in a bun as I did for my carb-loving husband, but I prefer them with a simple green salad.
Plate them up and serve with the pickled mustard seeds. I topped ours with some quick-pickled red onions for the added piquancy and colour contrast.
Darn it! How DARE you give me another blog to follow!
Haha, I think you’ll like it, Margaret. And she’s bilingual so you can also brush up your German!
Not me. I leave Teutonic studies to ‘Im ‘Indoors
Sounds delicious. Plus, the photos are amazing. Were you suspended from the ceiling, Bond-style, to take the main one?!
Yes, how did you guess? And I did it without tripping any of the invisible cat-burglar tripwires.
Thanks, Linda and those salmon burgers – mouth watering! I’ve got salmon for tonight and, since there are capers in those burgers, am seriously tempted to change it all around. Can’t though, I’ve eaten all my mustard seeds, damn. Good plan to make some more.
Thanks, Nicole, and thanks for sharing the mustard seed recipe, it’s excellent. Something to always have in the cupboard! Lx
Absolutely, imagine how bad I feel now that I have none left. Just had a few capers to quench the desire 😉
The burgers sound absolutely perfect – and I can imagine the capers in them match up really nicely with the mustard seeds. Very generous of you to showcase another’s recipe but I am intrigued with picked mustard seeds so I’ll probably be taking a look! I pickled nasturtium seeds last year but never mustard. So a big thanks for this post all round!! X
Hi Scarlet, I enjoy Nicole’s posts, well worth a look at her blog. I’d like to have a go at nasturtium seeds too, great home-grown alternative to capers, thanks for the nudge. I planted mine too late last year. Have a fab evening. Lx
A great salmon burger recipe and one that I’ll be attempting. Glad that you added the caution about over-doing it with the breadcrumbs. Nothing more disappointing when the fish seems to take a backseat to the breading. Thanks, too, for the pickled mustard seed accompaniment. I always have mustard seeds around and use them to make mustard. This pickle would be a nice change — and so easy to make, too!
Cheers, John, many thanks. Hope you like the burgers if you make them and I do recommend the pickle. Lx
I love Nicole’s blog and your salmon burger looks delicious .
Thank you, Gerlinde, much appreciated. Lx