The long awaited summer is here is here! With summer come long leisurely days spent outdoors - in the garden, at the park, at the beach..... That brings with it picnics and barbecues. What better way to celebrate summer than with light bites, finger food, cold soups, fresh salads and barbecues. This week we are preparing for July 4th, American Independence Day! I love this great country that I have the opportunity to call my home. On July 4th we are celebrating American style grilling burgers on the grill in the garden. One of the burgers I have planned are Salmon burgers with a blue cheese sauce, so I am sharing my recipe with you! I hope you have a wonderful 4th of July and thank you for joining me in June, July and August 2015 for an outdoor inspired culinary journey around the World!
Salmon Burgers with a Blue Cheese Sauce
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Ingredients (serves 4)
Salmon burgers
0.5 lb /8 oz/450 g salmon
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg, beaten
¼ small onion, diced
¼ teaspoon allspice, ground
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 vegetable stock cube or salt to taste
4 whole wheat or sourdough buns
4 slices onions
4 lettuce leaves
Caramelized onions
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion (1 cup), chopped finely
Pinch of salt
Blue Cheese Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour
1 cup warm milk
1 cup blue cheese, grated
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Method
Put the salmon, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, garlic, egg, onions, allspice, black pepper and salt or stock cube in a food processor and mix. (Salmon can be bought already minced from the grocery store; in this case, just mix the already minced salmon with the other ingredients.)
Form the salmon into patties with a diameter of about 4 in/10 cm.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and cook the salmon patties uncovered for about 3 minutes on each size (you can also cook the salmon over an open grill for 3 minutes on each side). You may want to cook the salmon for longer depending on preferred doneness.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil (for the caramelized onions) in a pan over low heat and add the onions and salt, then fry for 5 minutes or until golden brown
Heat the oil for the blue cheese sauce in a medium saucepan over low heat; when hot, add the garlic and fry till it just starts to slightly brown and gives off a fragrant smell (about 1 minute).
Add the flour and fry uncovered for about 2–3 minutes or until it is light golden brown color.
Increase the heat to medium and add the milk, then bring to a boil; once the sauce boils, reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer uncovered for 4 minutes.
Add the blue cheese, nutmeg, black pepper and salt, then simmer uncovered for 2 minutes on low heat; remove from heat.
Place 1 lettuce leave over each bun, then top with the salmon patty, pour the blue cheese sauce over the salmon and top with caramelized onions.