Caribbean Tuna Cakes

This is the picture in the cookbook of what tonight's recipe was supposed to look like:

And this is a picture of what it looked like for me:

Yeah, I need to work on my tuna cake making skills...

I'm really not sure what I did wrong. I only did one thing differently than what the recipe said, but I really thought that what I did differently wouldn't make that much of a difference. The recipe calls for the use of panko bread crumbs, which according to the cookbook, are Japanese bread crumbs that contribute a delicate crunch in pan-fried foods. Well, I forgot to get panko bread crumbs. I thought to myself, "SURELY, I can just use regular bread crumbs." For some reason, that did not work.

I put all of the ingredients together, including my one cup of regular bread crumbs, but I could not get everything to stick together! I tried so hard to pack the mixture together into the little cakes, but it just would not pack together! I got them sort of packed into little patties, and then dredged them in some flour (since I didn't have the panko bread crumbs for that stage of the recipe), but they were barely holding together as I put them in the pan. Then when I tried to flip them, well, just forget it! It didn't work. They were all breaking apart, so I finally said, screw it. All of the patties were breaking apart, so I just dumped the rest of the tuna mixture into the pan and mixed it all around, heating it through. 

I felt like the sketchy cafeteria lady slapping a spoonful of mystery tuna mush on the plates.

BUT, good news is that it still tasted good! The Jamaican Jerk really gave it a nice kick. I don't have the special Pampered Chef Jamaican Jerk Rub, so I just got some Jamaican Jerk spice from the grocery store. Adding that spice to both the tuna cakes (mush) and dressing was really good!

Good thing I wasn't trying to impress anyone with presentation tonight! My husband said that it still tasted great, which in the end I suppose taste is more important than how it looks! Oh, and also, the cookbook says that it only takes 20 minutes from beginning to end. That is a lie. It took me way longer! If anyone tries this recipe and has success, then please let me know what you did to make it work!!!

Caribbean Tuna Cakes

Pampered Chef 29 Minutes to Dinner, Volume 2

Published by The Pampered Chef, Ltd. in 2009.

Total time: 20 minutes  Yield: 4 servings

Dressing and Salad

1/2 cup mayonnaise

4 tsp lime juice

1 tsp Jamaican Jerk Rub

1 bag (6.5 oz) butter lettuce mix (2 1/2 cups)

Tuna Cakes

1 small red onion

1 small green bell pepper

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 1/3 cups panko bread crumbs, divided

2 tbsp Jamaican Jerk Rub

1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans (6 oz) chunk light tuna in water, drained

2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided

1. Combine mayonnaise, lime juice and rub in Small Batter Bowl; set aside. For tuna cakes, finely chop onion and bell pepper with Food Chopper. Combine mayonnaise, 1 cup of the bread crumbs and rub in Classic Batter Bowl. Add onion, bell pepper, beans and tuna; mix well. Place remaining bread crumbs in Coating Tray. Using Large Scoop, scoop one heaping scoop of the tuna mixture, packing firmly. Add cake to tray; gently flatten with back of scoop to 3/4-in. thickness. Turn cake over to coat lightly with bread crumbs. Repeat with remaining tuna mixture for a total of 12 cakes.

2. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in (10-in.) Skillet over medium heat 2-3 minutes or until shimmering. Add half of the cakes; cook 2-3 minutes or until golden brown, turning once. Heat remaining oil in Skillet 30-45 seconds or until shimmering. Repeat with remaining cakes.

3. Toss lettuce with 2 tbsp of the dressing. Serve cakes with salad; drizzle with remaining dressing.