Smoked Trout Croquette

This recipe is my homage to a classic African-American dish served in black households across the country…the salmon croquette. I’m aware that folks of all backgrounds eat salmon croquettes, but I’ve always associated it as a black dish. It’s the kind of thing I associate with my Aunt Gloria or Great Aunt Thelma’s kitchen like spaghetti and fried buffalo fish or fried chicken skin sandwiches. They are simple and comforting and just greasy enough. Delicious plain or dressed up in a sandwich or even as an addition to breakfast, they hold a special place in my heart. They were one of the first things I learned to competently, cook on my own as a child and they still deliver.

I haven’t made croquettes with canned salmon in many years. Now when I make them, I do so with trout I’ve caught, usually form the Little Red River in Arkansas. The fish used in this recipe were caught by my wife, mother and myself while on vacation in Branson, MO. I dry brined the fish and smoked them with cherry wood a few weeks ago. We ate some whole and the rest of the fish had their meat flaked, vacuumed sealed and frozen. I wanted to wait for my mom to come visit again with the plan to make this meal as a way to remember our fun morning fishing together. Smoked trout handles being frozen with this method extremely well and I recommend you try to preserve some of your next catch the same way.

Once the croquette is cooked you can serve it any number of ways. Enjoy the croquette on it’s own as an entree, pair with a poached egg and hollandaise for an unbelievable Eggs Benedict or plate them the way I chose to this time, as burger. I think you’ll be blown away by how tasty and versatile this preparation can be.

Ingredients

1.5 lbs of smoked, flaked trout

1/2 a red onion (minced)

1/2 bell pepper (minced)

1 garlic cloves (finely minced)

1/2 cup celery leaves and stalk (minced)

1/4 cup fresh dill (finely chopped)

1 tsp dried dill

juice of half a lemon

1/2 cup cracker crumbs

3 eggs (beaten)

2 tsp yellow mustard

salt and pepper to taste

several dashes Louisiana hot sauce

1. Put your fish in a mixing bowl big enough to accommodate all the ingredients plus your hands.

2. Add the veggies and dill first. Make sure you have a consistent chop size on your aromatics so they cook at the same speed. You’ll end up with veggies on the inside of the croquette that are just barely cooked through and still have a slight bit of integrity to them. Give it a quick mix.

3. Now add the lemon, eggs, hot sauce and the s&p. Mix the concoction so that everything is incorporated, but still recognizable.

4. It’s time to add our crackers. Only add enough to get the mix to bind into patties. Once you hit that point stop. This will allow our croquettes to remain moist and not turn out dry and disappointing.

5. Form the mixture into “patties.” The size is up to you, just make sure they are consistent in thickness throughout.

6. Cook the croquettes in a little bit of neutral oil, med high heat, preferably in a cast iron pan. Allow each side to develop a nice, deep golden crust (around 3-4 minutes per side).

That’s it. Serve plain, with sour cream, as a sandwich or however you most like. For this meal I served the croquette burger style, with oven roasted okra and tempura fried bite sized onions.