Cod Cakes

Psst. Over here. Come closer. A little closer. Okay. I have to tell you a secret. I don't like leftover turkey. At all. In any form. Not sliced in a sandwich. Or shredded into soup. Not cubed into a pot pie. Or minced into a meatloaf.

But leftover mashed potatoes? Now that's another story altogether. A nice big scoop served with a ladleful of gravy? Yes, please.

But since that's not the *healthiest* option, I often transform leftover mashed potatoes into cod cakes. The potatoes give these cod cakes a delicate, melt-in-you-mouth texture. They're light and creamy on the inside, golden brown and crispy on the outside.

Of course you don't need leftover Thanksgiving mashed potatoes to make these cod cakes. But if you've got some, I highly recommend giving this recipe a try.

Place mashed potatoes in a bowl. Reheat to lukewarm if cold.

Saute onion, bell pepper and celery until tender. 

When cooled, combine the vegetables and potatoes.

Add lemon zest and egg. Set aside.

Season fish with salt and pepper.

Saute over medium-high heat until fish is cooked through, about 2 to 4 minutes per side. Place in a bowl and flake into large chunks. 

When fish has cooled, gently mix into potato mixture. Add just enough breadcrumbs so that the mixture is no longer loose. 

Form into burger sized patties. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Place cod cakes into a hot skillet. Cook for 4 minutes per side, over medium to medium high heat, until the cod cakes are dark golden brown.

Serve warm.

Cod Cakes

Recipe by TheGarlic Press

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

2 small celery, finely chopped

salt

pepper

1/2 tsp Old Bay or cajun seasoning (optional)

3 cups (or so) leftover mashed potatoes (gently reheated to lukewarm if cold)

Zest from 1 lemon

1 pound cod fillets

1 egg

1/3 cup breadcrumbs (or more, as needed)

olive or canola oil

 1.    Saute onion, bell pepper and celery in olive oil until tender. Season with salt, pepper and Old Bay or cajun seasoning (if using). Once cooled, combine vegetables with mashed potatoes. Season mixture with additional salt and pepper, if needed.

2.    Add  lemon zest and egg to potato mixture and stir to combine. 

3.    Season cod with salt and pepper. Cook on skilled over medium-high heat for 2 to 4 minutes per side, until cooked through. Cool slightly and break into large chunks.

4.   Gently combine fish with potato/vegetable mixture. Add breadcrumbs. Mixture should just hold together. Add more breadcrumbs if needed.

5.    Form mixture into burger-sized patties. Place on baking dish and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

6.    Pour enough canola or olive oil in a large skillet to cover the bottom of the pan. Heat over medium heat. When hot, add the cod cakes (don't crowd the skillet; work in batches if you need to).

7.    Cook cod cakes until brown and crisp, about 4 minutes per side.

8.    Serve warm with lemon slices and remoulade or tartar sauce.

  

Makes: 6 cod cakes

Shrimp Biryani

Grace, one of our talented non-blogging Daring Kitchen members, was our Daring Cooks' August hostess who shared with us some of her family's tried and true Bengali Biryani recipes -- all of them delicious and all of them prepared fresh from our own kitchens!

I've said it before. Rice strikes the fear of God in me. I know the formula: one part rice to two parts water. But I've had enough undercooked and overcooked rice (not to mention two destroyed rice cookers) to know that that formula is by no means foolproof. 

So you can imagine my apprehension when I saw that this month's Daring Cooks' Challenge was biryani. I grew up eating biryani. It's an Indian dish of rice, layered with a tasty meat or vegetable mixture, strewn with fried onions and potatoes.

It's a special occasion dish. It takes time. And effort. And skill. Because you don't just cook everything and layer it. No. You cook the rice partway through. Then you layer it with your meat or veggies. Then you cover it tightly and steam it until the rice is just cooked through and the flavors of the curry permeate the entire dish.

Done right it's a sight to behold and a pleasure to eat. Done wrong, it's a travesty. 

Due to my (aforementioned) fear of rice, I'd never attempted biryani. Good thing Daring Cooks is around to kick my butt.

As expected, the most difficult part — for me — was the rice. The recipe called for the rice to be boiled until it was three-quarters of the way cooked. What? How are you supposed to judge that? Not to mention, I'd mistakenly thought I had basmati rice in my pantry. I was wrong. I substituted a different long grain rice. But that meant I couldn't even fall back on the recipe for guidance on cooking time.

In the end, the biryani was a bit of a miss, but mostly a hit. In an effort not to undercook the rice, I steamed the final, layered mixture for too long. That left me with a hard, dry layer of rice on the bottom and part way up the sides of my pan. But when we scooped around the hardened crust, what remained was a flavorful mixture of tangy, spicy shrimp, mixed with fragrant rice and bits of fried onion and potato scattered throughout.

Marinate shrimp in turmeric, chili powder, ginger garlic paste and lemon juice. Refrigerate for a few hours or up to overnight.

Soak rice in cold water .

And start heating the water for cooking the rice. Adding salt, bay leaf, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon to the boiling water results in wonderfully fragrant rice.

Now prepare the shrimp masala. Start by sauteeing cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf in hot oil until fragrant.

Add onions and cook down until deep golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute.

Add tomatoes and cook until completely cooked down and disintegrated. Mix in salt, chili powder and turmeric.

Add shrimp and saute until just cooked through. Sprinkle in lemon juice. Turn off heat and set aside.

Prepare the garnishes. Start by cooking sliced onion in oil until crisp and golden brown.

In the same oil, cook potatoes until crisp and golden brown.

Drain soaked rice.

Slowly add rice to boiling water.

Boil for about 7 minutes, until about 3/4 cooked. Drain and remove whole spices.

Now it's time to layer the biryani! Spread a bit of oil on the bottom of a large pot. Add 1/3 of the rice and spread over the bottom of the pot.

Top with half of the shrimp mixture. If you have some extra fried onion and potatoes, sprinkle a bit of those on top of the shrimp. Repeat with another 1/3 of the rice, then the remaining shrimp, then the remaining rice. Sprinkle onion and potato garnish over top.

Cover the pot tightly with aluminum foil. Then place a cover on top. Steam over medium-low flame for about 30 minutes. It's best to put a flat pan on top of the flame, then put the pot on top of that. (I didn't do that and ended up with a hard bottom crust of rice.)

Remove cover and aluminum foil and behold!

Dig in carefully, straight through to the bottom and admire your carefully layered biryani.

Enjoy!

Shrimp Biryani

Adapted from Kitchen Secrets and Snippets 

Shrimp Marinade:

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

1 tsp red chilli powder (or to taste)

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp lemon juice

Shrimp Masala:

1 1-inch piece cinnamon stick

2 cardamom pods

2 whole cloves

1 bay leaf

3 Tbsp canola oil

2 onions, chopped

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

2 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 tsp red chili powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

marinated shrimp

1 tsp lemon juice

Rice:

2 1/2 cups long grain rice

1 tsp oil

1 tsp salt

2 cloves

2 cardamom pods

1 1-inch piece cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

Garnishes:

1 onion, sliced thin

1 potato, sliced into thin rectangles

Marinate shrimp:

1.    Marinate shrimp with ginger garlic paste, chili powder, turmeric and lemon juice for a few hours or up to overnight.

Prepare the shrimp masala:

1.    Heat oil in a saute pan. Add the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and fry for a few minutes until fragrant.

2.    Add the onion and cook until they are dark golden brown.

3.    Add ginger garlic paste and saute well.

4.    Add tomatoes and cook down until all of the moisture is gone and the tomatoes have disintegrated.

5.    Add the turmeric, chili powder and salt.

6.    Add the shrimp and saute until the shrimp are just cooked through. Add the lemon juice and mix.

7.    Turn off the heat and set aside.

Prepare the rice:

1.    Soak the rice in a bowl filled with plenty of cold water for 30 minutes.

2.    Fill a large pot 3/4 full with water. Add oil, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, bay leaf and salt. Bring to a boil.

3.    Drain rice, then add it slowly to the boiling water. Cook for about 7 minutes, until it is 3/4 cooked.

4.    Drain the rice. Remove the whole spices.

Garnishes:

1.    Shallow- or deep-fry onion until golden brown and crispy. Remove to a paper-towel covered plate. Sprinkle with salt.

2.    Repeat for potato.

Layer and steam biryani:

1.    Take a large (preferably nonstick) pot. Spread a tiny bit of oil on the bottom. Add 1/3 of the rice and spread it evening across the bottom of the pot.

2.    Top with half of the shrimp and tomato/onion mixture. If you have enough fried onions and potatoes, you can scatter a bit of those on top of the shrimp.

3.    Top with another layer of rice and then shrimp. Then top with the final layer of rice.

4.    Sprinkle the remaining fried onions and potatoes on top.

5.    Cover the top of the pot with a piece of aluminum foil. Tightly seal the edges so that no steam escapes. Put a cover on top of the foil.

6.    Place a flat pan on top of the stove, then put your pot on top of the pan (this helps prevent the rice from crisping).

7.    Heat over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes.

  

Serves 6

Fisherman's Pie

Our Daring Cooks’ December 2012 Hostess is Andy of Today’s the Day and Today’s the Day I Cook!  Andy is sharing with us a traditional French Canadian classic the Paté Chinois, also known as Shepherd’s pie for many of us, and if one dish says comfort food.. this one is it!

Thanksgiving dinner in Suffolk, England.
You can see the chestnut puree
beneath the cranberries.

A few weeks ago I went to England for my cousin's wedding. England's not really known for its food. But some of the food I had there really wowed me. It wasn't "cuisine," exactly. Just really good versions of traditional dishes. Sticky toffee pudding, for example. Not a dessert I've ever enjoyed in the U.S. But the version I had across the Pond was dense and light at the same time, sitting in a pool of the most seductive caramel sauce. That same meal, I'd enjoyed chestnut puree. A little dollop of it on the plate, just enough of the creamy nutty spread to leave me wanting more.

And then there was the fruitcake. Fruitcake! Something that I avoid like the plague here. Something that I tried at a tea (a tea!), and that only out of politeness because it had been made by my cousin's fiancé's mother. What a revelation. It turns out that traditional fruitcake doesn't contain the neon red and green "candied" fruit that you find in most American fruitcakes. It's a dense and spicy cake, loaded with raisins and currants soaked in delicious liqueur.

When I got back from my trip and saw this month's challenge, I decided to give it a British spin. I found a recipe for fish pie on the BBC's website. The BBC. I mean, how much more British can you get, right?

Start with skinless white fish. I found some beautiful flounder fillet.

Poach it in milk in which you put onion studded with cloves, bay leaves and fresh thyme.

As the fish poaches, it'll release some of its juices into the milk. And you'll use that flavored milk later in the recipe. Very clever, those Brits!

When the fish is cooked, remove it from the milk. Flake it into large chunks and lay it on the bottom of your baking dish.

Scatter frozen peas over the fish.

Strain the poaching milk into a large bowl and put it in the fridge to cool.

Get your potatoes going. Cube them up, then simmer in water for about 20 minutes until they're tender.

While the potatoes are cooking, make the sauce. Melt some butter into a saucepan. Add the flour and cook for a minute until the mixture turns golden.

Add a bit of the poaching milk and stir until blended. Gradually add more milk, stirring continuously.

Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer for a few minutes until the sauce thickens. Keep whisking while it simmers! Season the sauce with salt and pepper.

Then pour it over the fish and peas.

Once the potatoes are tender, drain them. Mash them up with some butter, salt, pepper, and remaining milk.

Spread the potatoes over the top of your baking dish. Work in from the outside, making sure to seal the edges.

Run a fork over the top to give your potatoes ridges that will get nice and crusty in the oven.

Bake until the fish is hot and the potatoes are golden brown.

Dig in!

Fisherman's Pie

Adapted from recipe by BBCGoodFood

1 ½ lb skinless white fish filet

2 ½ cups milk, divided

1 small onion, quartered

4 cloves

2 bay leaves

10 springs fresh thyme

1 cup frozen peas

1 stick butter, divided

¼ flour

½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

2 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Poach the fish:

1.    Put the fish into a saucepan. Pour 2 cups of milk over the fish. Stud each quarter onion with a clove, then add to the milk with the bay leaves and thyme.

2.    Bring the milk just to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 8 minutes.

3.    Lift the fish onto a plate and strain the milk into a bowl to cool. Flake the fish into large pieces in the baking dish.

4.    Scatter the peas over the fish.

Make the sauce:

1.    Melt half the butter in a pan. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute over moderate heat.

2.    Pour in a little of the cold poaching milk, then stir until blended. Continue to add the milk gradually, mixing well until you have a smooth sauce.

3.    Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring continually until it coats the back of a spoon.

4.    Remove from the heat, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Make mashed potatoes:

1.    Boil the potatoes for 20 minutes.

2.    Drain and mash with salt, pepper, ½ cup milk and remaining butter.

Assemble and bake:

1.    Top the pie with potatoes. Start from the edges and work your way in. Be sure to seal the edges.

2.    Run a fork over the mashed potatoes. The ridges will get golden and crusty.

3.    Bake for 30 minutes until the fish is hot and the potatoes are golden brown.

Serves 4