After watching an episode of Chef at Home, I've been experimenting with chef Michael Smith's recipe for salmon and potato cakes. The Food Network Canada website has his recipe here, but it looks like they've jumbled a few of the steps around or perhaps left a step out. Step two reads, "Meanwhile heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat and when it's hot, add oil." Step three: "Using a potato masher, mash them together." Obviously something is amiss. At any rate, if you have salmon leftovers (not to be confused with these guys), this is a good way to use them up. Let's assume we're starting from scratch, however. Smith suggests pan-frying a salmon fillet, which I did the first time I made this recipe. The second time, I broiled it, which I think is more convenient and I didn't notice too much of a difference in the taste of the final product. So, either pan-fry or broil a skinless 1 pound salmon fillet until it's just cooked through and flakes easily. When I broiled the salmon, this took between 15 and 20 minutes.With the potatoes, I again deviated from Smith's recipe and used red potatoes instead of starchier baking potatoes because, well, I like red potatoes. In the end, I wound up having compensate for using a moister potato by adding some panko crumbs. Either way, steam approximately 1.5 pounds of potatoes that have been cut into manageable pieces. When your potatoes are fork-tender and mashable, combine them in a bowl with the flaked salmon and mash them together with some salt and freshly ground black pepper. At this point, you can add pretty much whatever you want. Smith suggests chopped dill and green onions. I agree. I also like some diced red bell pepper. Adding 1 beaten egg helps bind the mixture and, as I mentioned, I needed approximately 1 cup of panko crumbs to make the cakes a bit drier. Regular bread crumbs would probably work as well. I had panko on-hand. Basically, you're looking for a texture that, when formed into a large, burger-sized patty, will hold together when fried in a pan. Once you've formed the cakes, chill them for a few hours between sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap. When you're ready to fry, coat a non-stick or well-seasoned cast iron pan with vegetable or olive oil and fry the cakes over medium high heat, flipping once, until they're well browned and crisp on both sides. I believe Smith served his fish cakes with a traditional ketchup-mayo-horseradish cocktail sauce. I'm not a big fan of that one. Usually, I think all these need is a good squeeze of lemon juice. Nevertheless, the last time I made them, I put together a simple mustard-cream sauce (pictured) by combining a 1/2 cup of sour cream with a 2 to 3 tablespoons (or more to taste) of whole grain mustard and 1 tablespoon of whole milk. I heated these briefly over low heat in the smallest saucepan I had, stirring them until the mixture had thinned a bit. Next time I might just add a few tablespoons of the whole grain mustard to the fish cake mixture. One pound of salmon to 1.5 pounds of potatoes generally yields 8 cakes. Although one of these large cakes makes a great lunch or dinner, I'm planning on making smaller, bite-sized cakes for a brunch soon. Here I served them with some cucumbers sprinkled with salt and lemon juice.