Salmon Burgers and Salmon Pâté (same mix, different outcomes!)

Want to make something delicious with poached salmon fillets? Try this super easy recipe where prep is done in 5 minutes and you could be feasting on crunchy crusted salmon burgers coated in healthy oat bran. Better still the very same mixture also creates a gorgeously smooth salmon pate!

These two recipes came about as many of mine do: by accident. I've become a bit obsessed with buying and cooking salmon offcuts (I like the challenge of finding something to do with them) and after making rillettes, I figured that I could easily also make pâté using a different set of flavours (that is whatever was in the fridge) and I made a pâté.

But as cravings often strike without reason, I didn't really feel like pâté, I actually felt like a burger. I wanted something crunchy in a soft bun with lots of mayonnaise. I had burger buns but I was out of panko breadcrumbs so I improvised with a bag of oat bran that had been languishing in the bottom shelf of the fridge for over a year. You can use cream cheese in the mixture but I used natural yogurt.

I get this urge to repurpose from my family who don't like to throw anything out (although after the last time we moved, I completely modified the throwing out behaviour and now gladly give things away or throw them out). My parents recently had a bit of a computer situation. Their computer no longer worked and they had trouble signing into email accounts so Mr NQN went over to take a look at it.

It turned out that their computer was completely riddled with viruses. The reason why is because my father had been going into his SPAM folder and clicking on all of the links. When he had seen the too good to be true offers that he had won free gift vouchers or he thought that they were genuine offers. We had explained that he shouldn't click on emails in his inbox especially unexpected attachments and that he should never click on a bank email but he told us that we hadn't explained to delete the spam folder and not to look in there too!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you prefer the idea of the burger or the pâté? Do you try and satisfy cravings as they strike? And have you ever gotten a computer virus?

Trash From Treasure: Salmon Burgers and Salmon Pate

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 5 minutes (plus resting time)

Cooking time (for burgers) 10 minutes

Makes 1 very large container of pate or 4-6 burger patties (depending on size)

• 4 spring onion sticks (green and white)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 dill pickles
• 500g/1.1bs poached salmon meat*
• 4 tablespoons natural yogurt
• 2-3 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
• 10g fresh dill
• Finely grated zest from 1 lemon
• Black pepper

Buyer's tip: The salmon meat was from a bag of salmon offcuts. I bought a kilo of salmon offcuts for $4 (no heads) and simmered them in hot water until cooked, cooled them and picked out the bones. You can also use salmon fillets for this and this will save you time.

Step 1 - First blend the onion, garlic and pickles and then add in the remaining ingredients: salmon, yogurt, salt, chilli flakes, dill, lemon and black pepper. Blend until it becomes a smooth paste.

To make a pate: Simply place this mix (it is quite runny) in a pate terrine or a ceramic dish. Leave to refrigerate overnight where it will become firm.

To make salmon burgers: line 2 baking trays with parchment and scoop out 6-8 patties (depends on how big you make them, I match them to the burger bun size). Place in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up and then roll in breadcrumbs or oat bran and then shallow fry. Serve with leaves of soft lettuce and mayonnaise mixed with dill.