Hi I'm Michela and I've got a little toddler and number 2 on the way.
Today I'm going to be doing fishcakes, they are easy simple and they provide a solution for not just baby
but toddler and the adults in the family.
And most importantly they're quick and easy and super nutritious
To start this recipe you just need to put your main ingredients in to a pan and cover them with milk.
250g of sweet potato, which I've peeled and diced
because they cook nice and quickly.
That's about one large sweet potato.
We've got 250g of salmon or either a white fish
so it's got a nice meatiness
but make sure you've removed all the bones
now your fishmonger can do that for you or you can get tinned salmon if you prefer,
but that's really important that you've got no bones in this fish for your little baby.
So that's going to go in to your pan,
and then you're going to put about 2 large handfuls of frozen peas
about 100g
and then cover that with some full fat milk.
You want to poach the sweet potatoes, fish and peas all at the same time.
So just bring that to the boil, a gentle boil and as soon as you start seeing it boil turn it down to a low simmer
and that should be about 5-8 minutes to poach that fish
and make sure it's really well cooked
and obviously your sweet potato is too
That's been poaching in there on a low simmer for about 5 minutes
let's have a little look
so if you use a fork and it goes through, you know it is well cooked.
There we go, potatoes are cooked
most important thing is to make sure your fish is cooked.
Ok you want to drain this
most important thing is you want to keep the milk
because you're going to use it a little bit to loosen up the fishcake.
So just pop a colander over a bowl, just separate the liquid from the mix
then that goes back in to the pan because you're going to mash all that together
lovely, so there you've got the base of your fishcakes
which is going to go perfectly for baby.
You could do one of two things, if your babies enjoy finger food and textures and is at that stage
you could just spoon off some of this in to a bowl, my little one loves peas and anything cooked like this.
Or if your baby is a little bit younger, just mash it all up.
This is the stage you pull this out for baby because it hasn't been seasoned and it's got no added salt.
So I'm going to pull out a small portion
for the little one
you can serve that as is to the little baby
or what I like to do is use a little bit of that poached liquid, just to loosen it to the desired consistency.
That adds a little bit of moisture.
But most importantly those lovely flavours and nutrients from the liquid
so baby's portion is done.
Now we're going to get on to the fishcakes for the toddlers and the adults.
So you want to add in 1 egg, make sure you mix it quite quickly because the mixture is still warm and you
don't want it to scramble.
And we're going to add the zest of one lemon as well, to give it a bit of a zing
so now the mixture's cooled we're just going to form the patties
so all you need is 2 bowls, and we're going to pop on egg in to one.
give it a little whisk
and remember we're doing this for toddler and adult so we're going to add a little pinch of salt to the egg.
Similarly we're going to season this with a little bit of salt and pepper.
Then you just need to put in the other bowl, the crunchy topping. Now you can use different things for this
some people use cornflakes, but my favourite is using ryvita crackers
because they're nice and dry and they make it go really crunchy and crispy.
Got a baking tray covered in grease-proof paper.
You're just going to get a tablespoon amount.
So form a little pattie.
Dip them first in the egg
and then pop them in the breadcrumbs.
This recipe makes approximately 12 fishcakes
The other little tip you could do is in to that topping, you could put some dried herbs you could put
oregano, basil, whatever herbs you want to experiment with.
But again it's really all about introducing different flavours and textures to your kids.
Lovely, last one.
That's it, so it makes about 12 patties
and your baby food.
Just going to wash my hands.
Now just before they go in the oven, I'm just going to drizzle them with a bit of olive oil.
They go in at about 190 degrees for 90 minutes.
Turn them over half way through just to make sure they're nice and golden all the way round.
Remember when you put these in the oven they're essentially cooked because you've cooked the
fish already, the potatoes have all been cooked.
It's just the egg that needs properly cooking.
The colour alone is amazing
the sweetness of the sweet potato which you don't from regular potatoes and they cook quicker,
so much more practical, and then you've got that crispy crunch on the outside
and the best bit the zing of that lemon zest is just delicious.
So I'm just going to portion up a toddler sized portion, a couple of fishcakes, seasonal greens and a bit of veg
So there you go there's my sweet potato fishcakes for baby, toddler and adult.
Head across to jamieoliver.com if you want the recipes, special link there for you
simple, quick solutions which are really nutritious.