Cooking for One - Salmon Cakes with Lemon Yogurt Sauce

Though I live in a tiny Manhattan apartment ('charming' is how I might describe it on a good day), I have been generous enough to host my sister for a couple months this summer while she did her summer internship. We were tight on space, but I was especially happy to have an extra hand around in the kitchen. Having a sous chef sped up the cooking (and eating) process. To have an extra (and eager, might I add) mouth to partake in the feast was also welcome, considering when cooking for one, there's usually plenty left over. (I see no sense in halving, or even quarter-ing a recipe, if it calls for one egg, or something similar I'd end up opening/spoiling anyway.)

My sister left last week (as did my subletter) and now there's peace, space, and quiet. However, I'm missing my extra pair of hands and for that reason chose a simple recipe with easy prep and only one cooking step.

Salmon Cakes with Lemon Yogurt Sauce
Gourmet, August 2008

Notes:
Ingredients:
For the salmon cakes:
-The recipe calls for skinless salmon. Being accustomed to the flesh parting easily from the skin (when cooked, that is), I didn't think anything of buying salmon skin-on and taking it off myself. If you're lazy, or short on time, I recommend buying skinless! It wasn't easy for me to remove using a knife, and I shudder to think what my Mother would say of the wasted meat I left clinging to the skin. Also, since salmon is a fatty fish, it becomes very oily/slippery to handle.
-Because salmon is a thick fish, the larger the pieces of salmon you cut, the heavier your cakes may be- smaller pieces are more manageable when formed into cakes.
-The recipe calls for pita bread or white sandwich bread; I used Aladdin Whole Wheat pita bread (so I could use the other pitas for lunch sandwiches). The results were still good- when you cook the cakes the pita pieces puff up deliciously!
For the yogurt sauce:
-I used lowfat plain yogurt instead of whole milk (I can't find whole milk yogurt in anything but large containers and this recipe only calls for 6 oz.). The sauce turns out fine, however, may be a little runnier/thinner than if you used whole milk yogurt.

While Cooking:
For the cakes:
-Cakes may not seem to stick together too easily at first- lay them down carefully in the pan using a spatula- once you've cooked one side the mixture will harden on that side and make the cake more stable for the flip over.
-I used a Calphalon non-stick crepe pan over high-medium heat at first, which burned my first batch/side - not beyond recognition- but they didn't look pretty. For the second batch I used medium heat and kept the cakes more towards the perimeter of the pan (not directly over the flame at its center).
-I think there's room to add more Cayenne pepper if you like things spicy!
For the sauce:
-If you try the sauce alone, it will taste too salty. Don't despair. Paired with the fish, its flavor smooths out and actually no longer tastes salty (at least in my opinion)!

While Tasting:
For the cakes:
-Lemon wedges on the side are a MUST! Squeezing a bit of lemon juice onto each cake brightens the flavor and makes the salmon not too cloying.

Quick and tasty, with leftovers to spare...!