More Bacalao!

After the salt cod fritters, which came out great, I made Brandade de Morue. I followed different procedures for the cod re-hab, and realized one needed a much longer cooking time. While normally i would poach cod for 5-6 minutes, with the salt cod 20-25 minutes was necessary. And while overcooking normal fish might make it tough, the extended period worked well for the salt cod.

I think it comes down to what happens to the protein structure of the fish when it dries out in the salt. Something must drastically change to make the structure of the fish change so much.

So while the fritters came out nicely, the brandade came out great. I think, retrospectively, if I had cooked the cod for the fritters for significantly longer, their texture would have radically improved.

For the fritters, a small hockey puck, breaded in panko, pan fried, and served with a herby, garlicky home-made mayo. for the brandade, quenelles on toast points topped with roasted red pepper bits.