This week’s recipe for Cook the Book Fridays comes from Dorie Greenspan’s latest cookbook, Everyday Dorie and it wasn’t exactly one I was excited about (for those new to this site, I’m not a huge salmon fan…) but I knew Neil would be happy to be my taste tester! These burgers “get a supersized helping of zip from lemons, capers, two kinds of mustard, scallions, lots of dill and Greek yogurt, which adds tang and, most important, moisture.”
Ah yes, moisture…. This mix (salmon chunks that you put in the food processor briefly – I left mine quite chunky – Greek yoghurt, dill, mustard, scallions, capers, salt and pepper) is *quite* a wet mixture and I hoped it might come together after a rest in the fridge. I was VERY gentle with the mix as I cooked the first patty (yes, yes, I used two spatulas – on the Comments and Concerns post for the recipe a lot of people placed a lot of importance on using two spatulas to gently flip the patties. When you see the mix, you’ll see there’s no possible other way to flip them…) but it completely fell apart 🙁
At this point, I went back to the recipe to see if I had missed something and noticed this:
“The blend for the burgers is so packed with flavor that you could even skip the pan-grilling and serve it raw, as tartare.”
Ah. Right. This made sense as this is what the mixture looked like. But that’s not what I had planned for Neil’s lunch so I added around 1 tablespoon of Panko breadcrumbs to each of the other patties to hold it together. Was perfect! (and, I imagine, added a little texture to what must have been quite a soft “burger”).
Not sure what I did wrong here but happy I managed to salvage it!
Get the recipe for Dorie Greenspan’s Salmon Burgers on page 174 of Everyday Dorie or here on The Splendid Table.
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Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of “Everyday Dorie” for review purposes. I was not asked to write about the book, nor am I being compensated for doing so. All opinions 100% my own.
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i went ahead and just added a bit of crumb to my mix based on your advice. they came out perfectly, and no breadcrumb could be detected, i didn’t think. so thanks!!
Loved, loved,. loved these.
And this comes from someone who’s spoiled by a fishmonger that makes great salmon burgers in-house, often grilling them out front on Summer Sundays. (They see me walking up the street and put one on!)
Of course I do like salmon, but all the extra ingredients here really work well and make it sing.
I paired this with a simple Italian Pinot Grigio to herald Spring – and it was lovely.
mm..interesting. I wonder what was different in terms of what you did versus how we did ours. We left ours super chunky too. Was it because i cut my ingredients in half as I only had half the amount of salmon?
Either way, it was quite delish and even Dan commented how it was interesting that there was no binder. But cooking it for 3 minutes each side was important for us to have it cooked mostly through.
Nope, I only had half the ingredients too and I cooked it for 3 minutes on the dot for the first side then the second too but it never held together. 🙁
Your burger looks terrific. I didn’t look at the Cs&Cs, but mine actually worked out – no 2nd spatula! Must have been sheer luck. I assumed they’d be tricky to flip. I’m with you, not a salmon lover, but did hit the spot with my salmon-loving tester here, so all good!!
So delicious, loved all the ingredients. I did add time to the cooking because I just don’t like raw or undercooked food. Your burger does look good, and if adding to it worked, that’s great.
Next time I make this, I’d add some breadcrumbs. That’s good for texture too.
I didn’t leave my salmon very chunky, but stopped before it became a paste. I think that helped keep it together. I didn’t have any problems with them falling apart.
I loved these flavours and it sounds like Neil did, too. I’ll make this again.
Well it certainly looked fabulous in that picture, and no complaints with it by your SO!
Your burger looks delicious! I am not a fan of salmon too ! 🙂
Mine totally fell apart as well and I didn’t leave it very chunky either. If I do make these again–and I likely will–I’ll add panko as you did!
Because I was aware of the issues you encountered, I was especially “gentle” with the mixture. I was able to keep my burgers intact. I think we all agree that the burgers were flavorful and worth making easier to make. Panko might be the answer.
Not sure why some people’s burgers fell apart and other’s didn’t. Amount of moisture int he fish? Chunkiness? Either way, these were good. I hope Mr. Neil enjoyed his.
Mine were quite wet as well which I wasn’t expecting after the chill in the fridge but I was able to get them turned. I did cook mine slightly longer than the recipe said to so maybe that helped. These were delicious but I love salmon 🙂
The texture issues are interesting. As usual I did mine without reading comments, questions and of course at the last minute lol and did not run into any major issues. I know that I dried the salmon in paper towel pretty well, not sure if that aiding consistency. I’m not a seafood fan but my guys loved these and my younger son was thrilled at how many I made lol !