Smoked salmon croquettes

Serves 8-10

This is the perfect recipe for using up leftover smoked salmon trimmings – and once made, you can store these in the fridge for a couple of days.

250-300g large floury potatoes, peeled and quartered
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
120-150g smoked salmon trimmings, finely chopped
2tbsp chopped dill
2 egg yolks
3-4tbsp plain flour
2 eggs, beaten
60-70g fresh white breadcrumbs
Vegetable or corn oil for frying

For the sauce

2tbsp good-quality mayonnaise
1tbsp freshly grated horseradish or strong horseradish sauce

Put the potatoes in a pan, cover with cold water and a teaspoon of salt, bring to the boil and simmer until tender then drain, return to the pan on a low heat for a minute or so to dry them out.

Mash the potato through a potato ricer or as finely as you can with a masher, then leave to cool.

Once the mash has cooled down, mix in the egg yolks, salmon and dill and season to taste.

You can mould the potato mix into a cylinder about the size of a 10p piece or just make odd shapes with a dessertspoon then refrigerate for a couple of hours to firm up.

Have three dishes ready, one with seasoned flour, one with the beaten eggs and the third with the breadcrumbs – and a tray for the finished croquettes. Carefully pass them through the flour, shaking off any excess, then the egg and finally the breadcrumbs. Then store in the fridge until required.

To serve, preheat about 8cm of oil to 160-180C in a large thick-bottomed saucepan or electric deep-fat fryer. Mix the mayonnaise and horseradish together.

Then deep-fry the croquettes a few at a time until they are a nice golden colour, moving them carefully around in the fat as they are cooking with a slotted spoon and then transfer them to a tray lined with kitchen paper.

Serve on a bed of sauce or with the sauce in a dipping pot.