Delightfully tasting the Familiar in Unfamiliar Ways

Like you, I buy the same ingredients weekly, like you, I prepare the same dishes every week and like you, I am always looking for new ways to prepare these familiar ingredients that I buy often, that is why when I came across Brandade de Morue and Salt Fish Fried Rice, I knew I had to share it with you. They are perfect examples of using a familiar ingredient (Salt Fish) in unfamiliar ways. Click here to read the rest of the column.

I have to thank Sylvia of La vida en Buenos Aries for the inspiration to try making the Brandade de Morue and Tiger Fish for mentioning in my post on Salt Fish last year about using it to flavour Fried Rice.

The recipe I used for the Brandade de Morue can be found here.

First you need to start by soaking and de-salting your salted cod. I used boneless cod but you can certainly use the bone-in variety, just be sure to remove all the bones and skin.

Garlic is a key ingredient and you need to roast it to bring out its sweet flavour and creamy texture. I enhanced mine by roasting it with fresh thyme, like so:

Boil the cod with a bouquet garni, drain and then break into tiny bits. In batches, pound the salt fish into tiny shreds using a mortar and pestle or whatever device you have.

Following your recipe, little at a time and alternately, add your heated oil and infused cream and keep stirring and mixing. Until it looks like this.

To make it into a dip, you can take it further by adding more of the cream making it a little more moist as is done here.

Season with fresh lemon juice, white pepper and grated nutmeg. Stir in some freshly minced parsely.

Serve on toasted baugette as an appetizer or in its other creamy state, as a dip for veggies and chips.

Or au gratin. I used panko breadcrumbs, seasoned with fresh herbs for my topping. It makes a whole meal served with a salad and some crusty bread.

For the Salt Fish Fried Rice, de-salt the cod, shred and add to your fried rice when sauteeing your aromatics and continue as you would when making your fried rice. If you'd like the recipe of how I made mine, then send me an email.

Have a good one everybody!