Brandade De Morue au Gratin

Brandade is a puree of salt cod, garlic, and potato emulsified with olive oil. You can prepare the brandade ahead and reheat it in a gratin dish at serving time until hot, bubbly, and brown on top.
Then let your guests either dip the toasts in the brandade or spread some of the mixture on them.

Serves 8 to 10 as an hors d’oeuvre


1 pound salt cod
2 large Red Bliss potatoes (about I pound)
1 teaspoon lemon rind
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 cups milk, heated until hot
8 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 baguettes, cut into about 50 1/2-inch-thick rounds

Rinse the cod under cold running water and put it in a large bowl containing about 5 quarts cold water. Let soak for at least 4 hours, changing the water after 2 hours.

Meanwhile, put the potatoes in a saucepan, cover them with cold water, and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and boil the potatoes gently for about 30 minutes, until tender. Drain and set aside.
Drain the cod. Put it in a saucepan with 8 cups cold water, bring just to a gentle boil, and drain immediately. Rinse out the pan and add the cod and 4 cups cold water. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Drain.
When the cod is cool enough to handle, remove any skin and bones with your fingers, breaking the flesh into pieces. Return the cod to the pan, add the milk and garlic, and bring to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook gently for 10 minutes.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into 2-inch pieces.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Put the cod, with the milk, and the garlic, in a food processor. Add the lemon zest and potatoes and process for about 1 minute, until smooth. Add the lemon juice, black pepper, and cayenne pepper and process briefly to incorporate. With the motor running, slowly add the oil and continue processing until the mixture is very smooth.
Lightly oil an 8-cup gratin dish and transfer the brandade to the dish, spreading it out evenly. (The brandade can be made several hours ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.)
Sprinkle the brandade with the cheese and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and it is hot throughout. (If the brandade has been refrigerated, increase the baking time by about 10 minutes.)
Meanwhile, arrange the rounds of bread in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until nicely browned.
Serve the brandade with the toasts for dipping or spreading. 

Copyright © 2011 Essential Pepin. All rights reserved.

Caesar Salad From Cook's Illustrated

INGREDIENTS

• Croutons

• 5tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2teaspoon garlic paste from 1 medium clove (see note)
• 1/2 - 3/4loaf ciabatta, cut into 3/4-inch cubes (about 5 cups) (see note)
•        1/4cup water
• 1/4teaspoon table salt
• 2tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

• Salad

• 3/4teaspoon garlic paste from 1 large clove (see note)
• 2 - 3tablespoons juice from 1 to 2 lemons
• 1/2teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 6anchovy fillets, patted dry with paper towels, minced fine, and mashed to paste with fork (1 tablespoon) (see note)
• 2large egg yolks (see note)
• 5tablespoons canola oil
• 5teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2ounces finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 3/4 cup)
• Ground black pepper
• 2 - 3romaine hearts, cut crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick slices, rinsed, and dried very well (8 to 9 lightly pressed cups)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. 1. FOR THE CROUTONS: Combine 1 tablespoon oil and garlic paste in small bowl; set aside. Place bread cubes in large bowl. Sprinkle with water and salt. Toss, squeezing gently so bread absorbs water. Place remaining 4 tablespoons oil and soaked bread cubes in 12-inch nonstick skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until browned and crisp, 7 to 10 minutes.
   2. Remove skillet from heat, push croutons to sides of skillet to clear center, add garlic/oil mixture to clearing and cook with residual heat of pan, 10 seconds. Sprinkle with Parmesan; toss until garlic and Parmesan are evenly distributed. Transfer croutons to bowl; set aside.
   3. FOR THE SALAD: Whisk garlic paste and 2 tablespoons lemon juice together in large bowl. Let stand 10 minutes.
   4. Whisk Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, and egg yolks into garlic/lemon juice mixture. While whisking constantly, drizzle canola oil and extra virgin olive oil into bowl in slow, steady stream until fully emulsified. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan and pepper to taste; whisk until incorporated.
   5. Add romaine to dressing and toss to coat. Add croutons and mix gently until evenly distributed. Taste and season with up to additional 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Serve immediately, passing remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan separately.

TECHNIQUE

A BETTER KIND OF CROUTON

Most modern-day croutons used in Caesar salad are crunchy through and through. We designed ours to be crispy on the outside but chewy in the middle, a far better complement to the crisp-tender romaine leaves.

1. MOISTEN Sprinkling bread cubes with water and then squeezing them moistens their interior.

2. CRISP UP Frying the dampened cubes in oil crisps their exteriors while the moist interior retains some chew.

COOKING CLASS

TEMPERING GARLIC'S BITE

In our Caesar dressing, every little detail counts—especially the strong flavor of raw garlic. In the past, we’ve found that cloves minced well in advance end up tasting harsh in the final dish. Would letting the grated garlic in our recipe sit for just 10 minutes while we prepared the rest of the salad ingredients have the same effect? And could steeping it in lemon juice for the same amount of time—a practice recommended by an old French wives’ tale—actually mellow it out?

EXPERIMENT

We made three batches of Caesar dressing: In the first, we grated the garlic and immediately combined it with the other dressing ingredients. In the second, we soaked the grated garlic in lemon juice for 10 minutes before proceeding. In the third, we let the grated garlic rest for 10 minutes on its own before combining it with the other components.

RESULTS

Tasters found the garlic grated in advance without steeping tasted the harshest of the three. The other two preparations—grated garlic soaked in lemon juice and grated garlic immediately mixed into the dressing—tasted markedly milder, with the lemon juice-soaked sample making for a particularly well-balanced dressing.

EXPLANATION

Raw garlic’s harsh flavor comes from a compound called allicin, which forms as soon as the clove’s cells are ruptured and continues to build as it sits. The citric acid in lemon juice hastens the conversion of harsh-tasting allicin to more mellow compounds called thiosulfonates, disulfides, and trisulfides—the same milder-tasting compounds that form when garlic is heated. And since soaking the garlic is easy to do while preparing the other ingredients, it’s a step we think is worthwhile.

GARLIC ON ACIDSteeping cut garlic in lemon juice mellows its flavor.