Mom's Fish Cakes

My parents have had a boat since I was a small child and I practically grew up with a fishing pole in my hand. Unfortunately, there are some fish that we love to catch, but hate to eat. Bluefish, Striped Bass & Mackerel come to mind.

A few summers ago, my mother played around with a recipe for fish cakes as a way to use these "fishy" fishes in a way that makes them edible. She tweaked it here and there and this is the final result.....and they are YUM-O There are really no measurements, so use your best guesstimate (I'll put in parenthesis what I used). And you really can use any kind of white fish.

Mom’s Fish Cakes

1 medium onion, diced (1/2 large onion)
1 red pepper, diced (1/2 pepper)
1 or 2 stalks celery, diced (2 small stalks)
1 to 2 eggs (2 eggs)
bread crumbs (approx 1 cup)
mayonnaise (approx 3 tbsp)
dijon mustard (2 tbsp)
red hot sauce or old bay seasoning (large pinch of old bay)
fresh parsley, chopped (tbsp dried)
fresh, uncooked fish filets ( have used striped bass, fluke and tilapia), diced

Saute the onion, red pepper & celery in a little olive oil until tender. In the meantime, in a large bowl whisk the egg(s) and add the bread crumbs, mayo, mustard, red hot sauce and parsley. Add the vegetables and fish. Shape into cakes. It is best to make these either the day before or first thing in the morning that you plan to cook them. The longer they set the better they will hold together when you cook them

Brown them in a saute pan with some olive oil and then place them in a 350 oven for about 10 to 15 minutes to finish them. Serve with a squeeze of lemon.