Beignets de Brandade de Morue au Confit de Tomatoes et Sauge Frite
This recipe caught my eye the first time I was flipping through this book. The photo in the book looks so fabulous and my love of all things fried made it a necessary evil. It was all a matter of time.
Like most of Keller’s dishes this dish requires some prep work.
Check, Check, and Check.
I had some kitchen helpers for an evening of small plates. This was our start. Meet cousin Geri. She was sport enough to take on the final prep of what we affectionally called, “cod balls.”
Cod is rehydrated and mixed with riced potatoes, garlic, olive oil some spices.
The mix is formed into small balls and then dipped in batter and fried.
Our first batch was a bit sketchy.
It’s hard to tell in this photo, but this ball has no innards. It seems all of the cod escaped into the depths of the fryer. At this point we are not confident in our first dish.
But we needn’t worry! The next batch was much better.
Our only issue was that they kept getting stuck to the bottom of the basket. Not sure how to fix that. We lost the bottom of our balls. That sounds awkward.
On the plate though, it didn’t matter.
They just sit on top of the tomato confit and get a bit of fried sage on top.
THESE were good. Crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy in the middle. Like fish and chips combined in a fancy sphere.
I may make these again- particularly if I have some extra cod to use. They weren’t too difficult since all of the extra components were already prepared. Plus, Geri did all the work.
Recipe can be found in the Bouchon Cookbook or here.
Seattle Cooking Club 