Brandade

Salt cod, potato, cream. More or less. Add a little salad, maybe some Brussels sprouts cooked however, and it's a pretty complete meal. Some white wine and an apple tart and it's a proper fall/early winter feast.

There are a lot of recipes for this stuff. I kind of relied on this one, but was really going for something like what I had at avec a while back (along with an excellent shaved Brussels sprout salad). If you have the time, and it's still on the menu, I'd recommend a trip to avec. If not, what I did worked out okay. Not nearly the same, but really not bad.

About 2/3 of the weight of the soaked salt cod worth of potatoes were peeled and boiled. While they were boiling the cod simmered in cream with a little sliced shallot and a clove of garlic. Once the potatoes were soft they were drained and mashed with a little of the cod-simmering cream. Then the cod (boneless) was flaked and added to the potatoes along with a little more fresh cream. Then a few eggs were added, as was some olive oil, a healthy amount of salt and pepper, and some chopped parsley. The whole mixture was whisked kind of smooth, put in an oven safe bowl, and baked at 425 until it set. Before serving it was topped with some olive oil.

This is kind of like a chowder that's not self conscious about its heft. Cod from Kate's, potatoes from farmer's market (Shaker), shallot from Snake Hill, garlic and parsley from the garden, cream from Snowville, eggs from the backyard. Spanish olive oil, just because. The bread was from Christopher's at the West Side Market--Lake Erie Sourdough. It was serviceable.