The Recipes

The recipe for the fritters is from A Taste of Southern Italy by Marlena de Blasi:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
12 ounces beer
2 pounds baccala or stoccafisso – prepared
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
2 large egg whites
4 to 6 cups peanut oil
2 lemons

Place the flour in a medium bowl and stir in enough beer to form a batter the consistency of heavy cream. Cover the batter and set aside.

Place the prepared baccala in a large bowl and, with two forks, finely shred the fish. Stir in the cream, blending the elements until thick.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff but not dry peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the creamed baccala.

In a large, deep sauté pan or a deep fryer, heat the peanut oil over a medium flame. With your hands, form ovals of the baccala mixture, about 3 inches or 2 inches, then quickly dip them in the beer batter. Fry the fritters in the very hot oil. Cook the fritters until deeply golden before turning them, then cook the other side, and remove them with a slotted spoon to absorbent paper towels. Present the fritters as fast as you can, with wedges of lemon and cold white wine.

The sauce recipe is from Cucina del Sole: A Celebration of Southern Italian Cooking by Nancy Harmon Jenkins:

10 canned plum tomatoes, preferably imported San Marzano tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons pine nuts
2 tablespoons golden raisins, plumped in hot water and drained
½ cup pitted black olives, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons capers, preferably salt-packed, rinsed, drained, and chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Drain the tomatoes, reserving about ¼ cup of their juice in case you need to add it to the sauce later. Chop the tomatoes coarsely and set aside.

Combine the olive oil and garlic in a saucepan over low heat. Cook the garlic until it is soft but not brown. Add the tomatoes, increasing the heat to moderate. Cook the tomatoes for about 15 minutes. Use the back of a fork to crush them as they cook down, adding a little of the reserved juice if necessary. The sauce, however, should be very thick.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, toast the pine nuts over medium-low heat until they are golden, stirring constantly. Pine nuts burn quickly, so be attentive. Stir the toasted pine nuts into the sauce and add the drained raisins, olives, and capers. Add salt if necessary and pepper to taste. Serve the sauce warm or at room temperature.

The Recipe

Source: A Taste of Southern Italy by Marlena de Blasi

8 tiny artichokes, preferably the purple-lipped variety, or 4 small, very young artichokes, several inches of their stems still intact
1 1-pound fillet of baccala, skinless and boneless
1 cup whole milk
juice of 1 lemon
1 small head red lettuce, radicchio or red oak leaf, washed, spun dry, and coarsely shredded
4 ounces large green Sicilian or Greek olives, crushed lightly with a mallet, stones removed, the flesh coarsely chopped
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 fat cloves garlic, peeled, crushed, and finely minced
1 small, dried red chile pepper, crushed, or 1/3 to ½ teaspoon dried chile flakes
1 ½ tablespoons good red wine vinegar
fine sea salt

Prepare the artichokes, trimming just a snip from their still-tender leaves and leaving them whole if they are tiny, slicing them in two, or even in fourths, if they are a bit larger, cutting out the choke should it have begun to develop beyond an innocent embryo.

Soften the baccala a bit with a mallet and soak for 24 hours in cold water (change the water three times, adding 1 cup of milk to the final water), rinse the baccala in cold water, cover again with cold water, and poach for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a large bowl, acidulate the artichokes with the juice of a lemon, add the shredded lettuce, the copped olives, and the poached baccala, cut into 1-inch pieces.

Make a simple warm vinaigrette by heating the olive oil, softening the garlic without coloring it for a minute or two, and scent the oil with the crushed chile. Remove from the heat, add the vinegar and a whisper of sea salt. Beat the dressing with a fork and pour it over the elements in the bowl, tossing them about and combining them well.

Present the salad with a young, cooled red wine that will do its best to stand up to both the artichokes and the baccala.

The Recipe

Source: Cucina del Sole: A Celebration of Southern Italian Cooking by Nancy Harmon Jenkins

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons, if necessary
1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds refreshed salt cod or fresh fish
all-purpose flour for dredging fresh fish
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 pound ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 tablespoon tomato concentrate, extract, or paste
3 sweet red peppers, roasted and peeled
½ small fresh hot green or red chili, roasted and peeled
2 tablespoons golden raisins, soaked in hot water to plump
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons pine nuts
½ cup minced flat-leaf parsley

In a medium skillet, heat ½ cup of the olive oil over medium heat until it has reached frying temperature (360 F).

While the oil is heating, cut the fish into 1-inch pieces. Pat refreshed salt cod dry with paper towels. If you’re using fresh fish, pat it dry, then dredge it lightly in flour, spread on a plate. (Do the drying and dredging right before you’re ready to fry; otherwise the coating will get gummy.)

When the oil is hot, add the fish pieces to the pan a few at a time and fry briskly until golden on all sides, transferring the finished pieces to a rack spread with paper towels to drain.

When all the fish pieces are done, lower the heat to low. Discard the oil, wipe the pan out, and add 2 tablespoons of fresh olive oil. Add the sliced onions and cook gently over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very soft. Add the tomatoes, raise the heat slightly, and cook vigorously. As the tomatoes yield their liquid, stir in the tablespoon of concentrate. Continue to cook the tomatoes until they have disintegrated into a chunky sauce.

While the tomatoes are cooking, slice the peeled peppers into long 1/2-inch-thick strips. Chop the chili coarsely. Drain the soaking raisins.

Lower the heat under the tomato sauce again, then taste and add salt and pepper, keeping in mind that the salt cod my be very salty. Stir in the peppers, raisins, and pine nuts. Finally, fold in the pieces of fried fish. Cook the fish in the sauce over low heat for about 10 minutes to meld the flavors together, then serve immediately, garnished with the minced parsley.

The Recipe

Source: The Balthazar Cookbook by Keith McNally

¼ cup olive oil
1 sprig of rosemary
3 sprigs of thyme
2 sage leaves
10 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in thirds
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 pound salt cod, soaked overnight in a large bowl of water, changed three times
3 large Idaho potatoes (about 1 ¾ pounds), peeled and cut into sixths
1 baguette, thinly sliced, brushed with olive oil, and either toasted or browned in a frying pan

In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil and the rosemary, thyme, and sage over a low flame for 3 minutes, allowing the herbs to infuse the oil. Discard the herbs and set the oil aside.

Combine the garlic and cream in a small saucepan over medium flame.Bring to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer, and cook for 15 to 30 minutes, or until the garlic is very soft. Pour the mixture into a blender and puree. Keep a firm grip on the lid, as the heat from the cream mixture will force the lid up. Set aside, with the intention of reheating it later in eiter a saucepan or in a microwave. (The garlic-infused cream can be prepared a day in advance and stored, covered, in the refrigerator.)

Drain the cod, trim away any dark pieces of flesh, and cut the fish into 2-inch chunks. Place in a 5-quart saucepan with the potatoes and water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and the fish flaky. Drain in a colander.

Transfer the fish-potato mixture to the bowl of a standing mixer. Using the paddle attachment, process for 30 seconds. Drizzle in the reserved herb-infused olive oil, and then two thirds of the reserved garlic cream. After the cream has been incorporated, continue mixing for 30 seconds.

Serve from a communal bowl or on individual plates. Drizzle the remaining third of the garlic cream over the brandade and serve with toasted baguette slices.

The Recipe

Source: The Essential Mediterranean by Nancy Harmon Jenkins

1 cup shredded soaked salt cod (here’s how to do that)
2 blood oranges
1/3 cup pitted coarsely chopped black olives
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
1 small fresh red or green chili pepper, roasted, seeded, and thinly sliced
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
pinch of dried Sicilian or Greek oregano, crumbled
salad greens, such as escarole or frisée (optional)

Peel the blood oranges and [segment them]. Slice the flesh into small chunks-you should have about 1 cup of orange chunks [I just cut the segments in half. If your blood oranges are very small, I would leave the segments whole]. Combine the orange chunks in a bowl with the olives, onion, chili, oil, vinegar, salt cod, and oregano. Toss to mix well. Set aside, covered with plastic wrap, for at least 1 hour to meld the flavors.

To serve, arrange the greens, if using, on a serving platter and mound the salad on top.

The Recipe

Source: The Essential Mediterranean by Nancy Harmon Jenkins

1 cup shredded soaked salt cod (here’s how to do that)
1 pound small Yellow Fin or fingerling potatoes
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon aged sherry wine vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 fresh sweet red peppers
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Peel the potatoes, cut them into chunks, and add them to a pan of rapidly boiling salted water. Cook, covered, for 10 to 12 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Drain. As soon as you can handle the potatoes, slice them about ¼ inch thick into a salad bowl. While the potatoes are still warm, add 3 tablespoons of the oil, the vinegar, and salt and pepper.

Roast and peel the red peppers. Core the peppers, discarding the seeds and white inner membranes. Slice the peppers about ½ inch thick and add them to the potatoes.

Add the salt cod and toss gently to mix. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for an hour or so to meld the flavors.

When you are ready to serve, if you wish, transfer the salad to a serving platter. Brown the garlic slices in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and pour them, oil and all, over the salad.