Salmon Loaf With Cucumber Sauce

bluemoon downunder's Note:

A tasty salmon loaf served with a warm cucumber sauce. Serve it with salad or vegetable dishes. What's leftover is delicious for lunch next day in a sandwich with baby spinach leaves or freshly sliced cucumber. Adapted from a recipe I've had in my files for years. I don't now remember where I found the original recipe. See my notes below for suggestions for additional ingredients.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 (16 ounce) can canned salmon , thoroughly drained and flaked (reserve the brine)
• ¼ cup butter , at room temperature
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons onions , finely grated
• 2 garlic cloves , finely grated
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon fresh dill , finely chopped
• 1 cup soft breadcrumbs
• 2⁄3; cup milk
• 2 eggs , beaten
• ½ tablespoon parmesan cheese

Cucumber Sauce

• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1 ½ cups grated cucumbers
• 1 teaspoon paprika (mild or hot, depending on your preference)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven at 325ºF.
2. Combine the salmon with the butter.
3. Add salt (to taste), lemon juice, grated onion, grated garlic, parsley and dill.
4. Soak the breadcrumbs in milk.
5. Add the beaten eggs.
6. Add the Parmesan.
7. Stir the breadcrumb mixture into the salmon mixture.
8. If the mixture seems too dry at this point, add a little of the reserved brine (about a teaspoon at a time) or if you have more lemon juice available, a little more lemon juice (a teaspoon at a time).
9. Spoon the mixture into a lightly greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.
10. Bake at 325°F for 45 minutes, or until cooked.
11. THE SAUCE: grate the cucumber.
12. Melt the butter in a pan over a medium-low heat.
13. Blend in the flour.
14. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thickened and bubbly.
15. Add the grated cucumber and paprika.
16. Stir to blend.
17. Serve with the salmon loaf and your favourite salad or vegetable side dishes.
18. Chef's notes: This loaf can be made with red or pink salmon. Red is tastier. For the health-conscious, use the salt-reduced or salt-free varieties. And omit - or reduce - the salt in the recipe. I made this again recently, after MarieAlice's review - I hadn't made it for years and years. And not being very good at following recipes exactly whether they be mine or someone else's, I just HAD TO make some changes. I added several grated baby carrots (they are just so sweet and flavoursome at the moment) and several tablespoons of wheat germ. Then in order to retain the moistness, I added some extra lemon juice. And I discovered also that this is one of those recipes that is tastier cold!

Reviews

[Mrs. DeVelopment]

Excellent! I baked mine in muffin tins, and we all really liked them. I added some carrot and extra onions. I didn't use the butter in the fish mixture either - but I did add in a drained can of tuna because my salmon was only 10 ounces. Sprinkled the tops with a little extra grated parmesan and served with steamed broccoli and leftover cucumber sauce from our turkey gyro lunch. Thanks for posting such a versatile recipe!

[Barnhen]

LOVE THIS!
I also baked this in a muffin tin and added carrots- it was awesome the first night and the left-overs were great for lunches. Even my toddler ate these up!
We will be using this recipe again.

[jnelson02]

I thought that this was great even served warm. I did have to add a little more paprika though, for my taste. But this was great!