My brand of brandade

This concoction is one of the more astounding things I’ve discovered recently. Given that there is potato involved, we expected something kind of dense. These cakes were like clouds, approaching cotton candy in their airiness. As I understand it, brandade is a combination of salt cod and potato, and can be a dip, a fritter, or, as in my case, a cake (a la crab cake).

I saw brandade cakes (potato with salt cod) being made on Cooking Channel recently. I’d been wondering what to do with the last of the frozen shrimp in the freezer. There wasn’t quite enough to stand alone for dinner, but I make “cakes” with shrimp and catfish from time to time. However, a recent great experience with frozen cod led me to the idea of a sort of brandade with potato, shrimp and cod.

As the TV cook said, I don’t think the exact proportions are terribly important – the cakes just need to hold together. So, below is what I threw together. I use frozen cod because I’ve had so many bad experiences with fresh cod. It seems to get a little stinky awfully quickly and once I’ve gotten that scent in my head it kind of spoils the whole thing for me. Frozen cod isn’t all that great if you treat it like fresh, i.e. sautéing or steaming, but for frying it works and I knew it would work in the brandade. The amounts of potato, shrimp and cod below are pretty arbitrary, but the cakes held together and that was the goal.

Brandade of potato, cod, and shrimp with onion and pepper strips

½ onion, cut into strips
½ red or green bell pepper, cut into strips
¼ tsp smoked paprika
8 oz. russet potato
¼ cup heavy cream
3 tbsp butter, divided
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly smashed
6 oz. frozen shrimp (31-40’s), thawed and peeled
7 oz. frozen cod, thawed, rinsed and dried
salt and pepper to taste
½ tsp paprika
bread crumbs – Panko is great; homemade is better; Italian seasoned is bad
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
lemon wedges for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put the onion and bell pepper strips on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Bake for 20 minutes. Set aside.

Slice the potatoes into 1/2” slices. Put the potatoes into a pot with 4 cups water. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Remove to a sieve with a slotted spoon, reserving the cooking water, mash with ¼ cup heavy cream and 1 tbsp butter and set aside.

Make a court bouillon: To the potato water add 1 tbsp salt, 2 tbsp white vinegar and the 2 garlic cloves. Bring back to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer covered for 15 minutes.

While the court bouillon heats, cut the cod into 2” pieces. (If using larger shrimp, cut them in half) After simmering the court bouillon, add the cod and shrimp to it and remove the pan from the heat. After 2 minutes, remove the shrimp and put them in a food processor. After 5 minutes, remove the cod and add to food processor. Save ½ cup of the court bouillon and discard the rest. Add the garlic to the food processor too if you wish. I did.

Pulse until roughly chopped and combined. Don’t puree it. Transfer fish to the bowl with the potatoes, add some salt and pepper, and mix together with your hands (wet them with cold water first). Form into cakes. These amounts of ingredients made 7 cakes. If needed, add a bit of the reserved court bouillon. The cakes should hold together well if you handle them with care. Sprinkle them on both sides with a bit of salt, pepper and paprika. Dredge in breadcrumbs.

Heat a large skillet over medium high (6 on my 1-10 dial). Add the cakes and sauté until golden brown, turning once – about 3 minutes per side. Be very careful when turning them and they won’t break.
While the cakes sauté, microwave the pepper and onion strips to re-warm them. Serve the cakes over a pile of these strips. Squeeze a little lemon juice over the cakes and serve.

Fish tacos

I was once again inspired by Jenn when she posted her fish tacos several days ago. There were several decisions to be made: what kind of fish; how was I going to cook the fish; what other miscellanea would go into the mix; cheese or no cheese. Answers: fish – tempura fried; avocado, sour cream, tomato salsa, lettuce; no cheese.

Fish tacos
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/2 jalapeno, minced, seeds left in (optional)
2 scallions, chopped (white and green parts)
1 garlic clove, minced
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper
lettuce leaves
1/2 avocado, sliced
sour cream
1 lb. cod, cut into 1” strips
tempura batter
oil for frying
4 flour tortillas

Start by making a salsa. In a bowl, mix together the first 6 ingredients. If concerned about the heat, remove seeds from the jalapeno.

Place lettuce leaves, avocado and sour cream each in its own small bowl.

Mix the tempura batter according to package directions. I had to adjust the amount of batter mix and water as I had exactly 1 cup of mix. As it was there was enough batter left that we will make shrimp tacos using it tomorrow.

Heat 2 inches of oil to 350 degrees. Sprinkle some salt on the fish, dip each piece into the batter, and fry until crisp and lightly browned, about 1 ½ minutes (do this in batches so as not to crowd the pan). When each batch is done, drain on paper towels.

Wrap 4 tortillas in a kitchen towel and microwave 30 seconds. Done! Assemble tacos at the table and chow down.

Baked cod with barlotto

Had a hankering for fish. Went to the market and found some nice fresh cod filets. Then this:

Baked cod
2 cod filets, about 6 oz. each
salt and pepper
all-purpose flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
¾ cup parmesan cheese
breadcrumbs, homemade or panko

Preheat oven to 400 degrees with a baking sheet inside.

Lightly salt and pepper the cod on both sides. Dredge in flour, shaking off excess. Coat with egg, shaking off excess. Press into bread crumbs (mixed with the parmesan) on both sides.

Put the filets on a wire rack coated with cooking spray. Lay the wire rack on the baking sheet in the oven. Bake 16 minutes.

Wednesday’s NY Times “Dining” section had some interesting recipes including two for using watercress and one for sorrel, a green I’ve never had that I can remember. Last night I made barlotto, a risotto made with barley and watercress.

The ramps of course are available for such a limited time, but, having had them – used them. The original recipe called for 1 shallot minced.

If I make this again someday I will pre-cook the barley for 30 minutes. At our altitude it took 45 minutes to cook the barlotto and even then the barley was significantly (but acceptably) al dente.

Barlotto (for 4)
4 oz. watercress, heavy stems removed
1 oz. spinach (about 1 cup)
½ cup flat parsley leaves
5 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 ramps, white and green parts finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
6 oz. pearl barley (1 ½ cups)
¼ cup white wine
2 oz. parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Have a large bowl of ice and water ready. Blanch the watercress, spinach and parsley for 1 minute and transfer to the ice water. When cool, squeeze out excess moisture and puree in food processor with ½ cup of the stock until smooth.

Place remaining stock in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a wide sauté pan. Add shallots and garlic and sauté on medium heat until barely starting to brown. Add the barley, stirring until coated with butter. Add wine and boil away until evaporated. Start adding warm stock, about 2/3 cup at a time, stirring frequently and adding more as it is absorbed, until barley has plumped but is still al dente, about 30 minutes (maybe longer).

Fold in remaining butter, the watercress puree and half the cheese. Season with salt and pepper, and serve with remaining cheese, and serve with remaining cheese and a garnish of watercress sprigs on top.