It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day and I’m not a huge fan of corned beef and cabbage. I wanted to try something different this year, and traditional Irish Boxty sounded rather plain, so I thought adding salmon would make it a little more like a meal. This is more like Irish boxty and salmon croquettes got married and had little bundles of crisp, moist goodness. On first try, I added way too many mashed potatoes and they turned out like mush, so make sure you watch the salmon to mashed potato ratio!

I served it with dill cream sauce (recipe follows), but a good tartar sauce would be delicious also.

Dill sauce:

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 2 tsp dried dill
• 1/2 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until ready to serve.

Salmon Boxty:

• 1 pound fresh salmon fillet, skin and pin bones removed
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup mashed potatoes
• 2 cups uncooked, shredded hash browns
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I used Gillian’s Gluten Free)
• oil for frying

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place salmon on a baking sheet and top with a good drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes, depending on thickness of fillet. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes, then shred salmon with a fork in a large mixing bowl.

While salmon bakes, melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat. Stir in the chopped onion and 1 tsp salt. Cook and stir for 15 to 17 minutes, until onions are caramelized. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

To shredded salmon, add mashed potatoes, hash browns, and egg. Season with salt and pepper. Stir cooled onions into salmon mixture and stir well to combine. Form into about 12 patties. Dredge both sides in breadcrumbs.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry patties in batches for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until nicely browned. Place cooked patties on a paper towel lined plate. Serve with dill sauce or tartar sauce.