Brandade Smoked Black Cod Recipes

BRANDADE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking dish and set dish on a baking sheet.
• Rinse salt cod under cold water, transfer to a sealable container and cover with several inches of cold water. Soak cod in the refrigerator, changing the water every few hours, for 24 to 36 hours. Remove cod from water and cut into evenly-sized pieces.
• Stir cod, milk, thyme, bay leaves, and cayenne pepper together in a pot over medium-high heat. Cook until fish begins to flake; 7 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and strain; reserve cooking liquid and transfer fish to a bowl.
• Place potatoes and garlic in a large pot and cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain.
• Mash cod, a few splashes reserved cooking liquid, and lemon zest together in a bowl. Pour in remaining reserved cooking liquid and potatoes; mash until desired consistency is reached. Stir in 1/2 of the olive oil, lemon juice, and black pepper until smooth. Add remaining olive oil and blend until smooth. Season with salt. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Spread creme fraiche over the top and score the top with a spoon to create a crisscross surface.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned and bubbling, about 20 minutes

WARMED SMOKED BLACK ALASKAN COD SALAD

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan bring the potatoes, salt and vegetable stock to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, remove from liquid and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the grainy mustard, Dijon mustard, rice wine vinegar, horseradish, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Whisk in oil. In a medium saucepan, bring the milk, thyme, bay leaf and garlic to a boil. Turn heat to low and poach black cod in liquid for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm. Blanch baby leeks in water, remove and set aside.
• In a small bowl, toss arugula, chickweed, onion and radishes with a tablespoon of vinaigrette, season with salt and pepper.
• To serve: Place the room temperature potatoes with baby leeks on 4 plates. Place salad on top of the potatoes and leeks. Place warm smoked black cod on top of salad. Top with small dollop caviar.

SEARED BLACK COD WITH CREME FRAICHE, CAVIAR, TOBIKO AND BLACK TRUFFLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Season a pot of boiling water generously with salt. It should be as salty as the sea. Prepare an ice bath and season generously with salt. Add the haricot verts to the boiling water and cook until bright green and tender, but still slightly crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the haricot verts and immediately plunge into the ice bath and set aside.
• To the same pot of water, add half of the cauliflower florets and cook until very soft and tender, about 10 minutes. Drain, transfer to a blender and set aside. Heat a medium sauté pan with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the shallots and a pinch of salt and sweat until soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add half of the shallots to the blender with the blanched cauliflower. Add the heavy cream and creme fraiche, then puree until smooth. If the mixture seems too thick, add a bit more heavy cream. Season to taste with salt and set the cauliflower puree aside.
• Toss the remaining cauliflower florets in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and salt to taste, then transfer to a half sheet pan. Place in the oven to roast, tossing halfway through, until brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, to the pan with the remaining shallots, add the blanched haricot verts and a pinch of salt and toss over medium heat just until the haricot verts are heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.
• Pat the skin on the cod fillets dry, then season both sides with salt. Heat a large nonstick pan with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Coat the bottom of another pan with some olive oil. Place the fillets skin-side down in the first pan, top them with the second pan and firmly press down on it for a few seconds. Cook until the skin is crispy, about 5 minutes. Remove the second pan, flip the fillets and cook until just cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes more. Transfer to a platter skin-side up and allow to rest for a few minutes.
• To serve: Put a spoonful of cauliflower puree on each plate and top with the haricot verts, roasted cauliflower florets and then the seared cod, skin-side up. Garnish with caviar, red tobiko, chives and black truffle.

BRANDADE WITH FRESH SALTED COD

Steps:

• Salt the cod very generously with kosher salt. Place in a perforated pan or colander and let sit, refrigerated, for 2 days.
• Add the herbs, spices onion and garlic cloves to the milk and heat for 5 minutes, do not let boil. Add the cod and poach until tender, around 5 to 7 minutes.
• Gently remove the cod with a slotted spoon. Remove any bones and skin. Meanwhile peel and chunk the potatoes. Cook in well-seasoned water or better still, use the milk the fish was poached in. When the potatoes are tender drain, and puree them, either in a ricer or a mixer using the paddle attachment. Pull out 1/3 of the potatoes and add the cod.
• Mix well, at medium speed if using a mixer, drizzling in the olive oil and a bit of the cooking liquid. Keep mixing and adding liquid until the desired consistency is reached. Pound the green garlic or 2 cloves of garlic to a fine paste in a mortar and pestle and stir into the puree.
• For an even more full flavored brandade, pass the onion, garlic, and aromatics through a food mill and stir some of this puree in as well. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed

SALT COD BRANDADE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Bake the potatoes until fork-tender, about 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine the salt cod, milk, garlic, thyme and onions in a saucepan. Bring to a slow simmer and cook until the cod flakes, 20 to 30 minutes. Strain the mixture, reserving separately both the milk and the cod/garlic/onion mixture. Remove the thyme and discard.
• While the potatoes are still warm, rice them through a food mill. Stir the cod mixture into the riced potatoes. Add the butter, creme fraiche and enough of the reserved milk to make it smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
• Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with the capers, dill, parsley and lemon zest and serve with crostini if desired.

FRENCH SALT COD AND POTATO BRANDADE

Steps:

• Rinse salt cod well and rub off any salt. Soak in 2 quarts cold water. Drain and change water every few hours (an overnight soak without changing is fine). Total soaking time should be at least 8 hours.
• In a medium saucepan, heat milk plus 1 cup water over medium-high heat. Add soaked salt cod, thyme, bay leaf, peppercorns, allspice berries and clove. Adjust heat to maintain a bare simmer. Cook until fish flakes easily, about 15 minutes. Remove fish and hold at room temperature.
• Meanwhile, in another pot, cover potatoes with water and bring to a boil. Add garlic cloves and a good pinch of salt. Drain potatoes when they are soft, about 15 minutes, reserving cooking liquid and garlic.
• Put cooked garlic cloves in a small saucepan and crush with a fork. Add olive oil and heat over a medium flame until quite warm to the touch. Set aside.
• Put potatoes in a large mixing bowl. With your fingers, flake cooked salt cod on top. With a potato masher, roughly blend potatoes and fish. Drizzle in warm garlic oil and mash again. Add cayenne, nutmeg to taste and lemon zest. Stir in ½ cup crème fraîche and beat well to combine. Beat in about ½ cup cooking liquid to lighten mixture so it has the texture of soft mashed potatoes. Taste and adjust seasoning - it will probably need salt and pepper.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Use 1 tablespoon butter to grease a low-sided 1-quart baking dish or pie pan. Transfer brandade mixture to dish and smooth with a spatula. Paint the top with 2 tablespoons crème fraîche, and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Dot top with remaining butter. (May be prepared up to a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator; bring to room temperature before baking.) Bake until golden and bubbling, about 20 minutes.