Well the thing is that Mr Ari (8) has a mild suspicion of things he has never encountered before. This means that eating out can be a trial… not just because of the never-encountered-before-ness, but because he’s also quite indecisive. Not in a negative way, but more in a ‘so many options, how great, what to choose, perhaps that, but this is nice too, what do you think, no I don’t agree, oh this looks good’ kind of way. But I digress. The point is… he’s a wee bit finicky. In fact we have a list of ‘Things Ari Likes To Eat’ that we are carefully adding to : just to remind (encourage) him (and us) that he really does like to eat lots of things… He’s a bit hard on himself and thinks he doesn’t like ANYTHING. But he does. The list says so. This is the list. If you give Ari any of these he won’t do a bunk. He’ll sit there happily and chow down and be sweet and funny and go to bed without any angst.
- curried sausages (must be made with Jonathan’s breafast sausages)
- weet bix times SIX with raw sugar and milk
- meatballs in a sandwich with sauce
- chicken in a sandwich with sauce
- sausage in a piece of bread with sauce
- butter chicken (home-made)
- mum’s cream of cauliflower soup with white bread for dipping
- penne napoli
- dad’s chicken and vegetable soup with white bread for dipping
- mum’s bread with butter
- chili con carne (mild) with rice
- dippy eggs with promite toast
- pancakes
- lasagna – from the supermarket
- chicken curry (mild) with roti to dip
Quite a list, I think – when I read it, it doesn’t seem finiquey at all. I think we are all just a bit fancy. Anway, the reason I am telling you this is to share with you the next thing we are adding to the list. Salmon Patties. Two nights in a row worth of thumbs up. Ari really likes them too.
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SALMON PATTIES for The Finiquey
1 440g (or thereabouts) tin of pink salmon
1kg of potatoes, mashed
3 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1 tablespoon of dijon mustard
2 eggs
salt and pepper
breadcrumbs
vegetable oil for frying
Mix the salmon, mashed potato, mayonnaise, mustard, egg and salt & pepper together. If it seems super moist, throw in some breadcrumbs until it’s a dry enough to shape into patties. Next, tip some breadcrumbs onto a plate. Now form a heaped tablespoon into a pattie shape, using your hands, then roll in the plate o crumbs until well covered. Set aside and continue until you’ve pattied and crumbed all the mixture. You can store these in the fridge until you are ready to eat, if you like! To cook, heat about half an inch of oil in a big frypan over a medium-high heat and cook each side of the patties until golden. Keep warm in a lidded dish until you’ve fried all the patties. (Don’t stop – you need to fry them all – they are super good cold too!)
You can serve them with more mash, or a salad, or in a sandwich with sauce if you’re finiquey. You can also add other things to the patty mix – like fresh herbs, peas, chilli and garlic.. whatever takes your… fancy.