Baccala, or Salt Cod, Like Nonna Maria Use to Make

Baccala alla Nonna Maria da Venezia

Italians are crazy about Merluzzo Baccala or Salt Cod as it is known in English. You will find it all over in the markets here in the winter especially. Most cod comes from Norway, where the cod is found and fished in the icy waters of the northern seas. They say that it was originally just air dried, but as salt became more readily available and cheap, it became the preferred way to keep the bounty of fish. this method of preservation meant that the fish was easily transported and kept well for at least a couple of years. Baccala  then came to southern Europe where it became very popular and still is, especially for the Catholic countries that use to observe not eating meat on Friday and during Lent. Even though times have changed and the Catholic edict to eat fish on Friday is no longer in existence, salt cod is loved and served regularly in many various preparations. 

The recipe I am sharing today is something I recreated from a dish that Fabrizio's maternal grandmother, Maria, use to make him when he was young and some suggestions I saw on an  Italian TV cooking show.  Nonna Maria  was born and grew up in the Veneto, which is the province that Venice is located in and famous for its love of fish dishes. Nonna Maria once worked as a cook and house keeper for a wealthy family before she married Fabrizio's maternal grandfather, who was born in an old stone house over by where our garden is today. She was known to be a very good cook and is where Fabrizio's mother learned to cook before Fabrizio's parents pursued their dream to open "La Baita" restaurant here back in the 60's.

As they were getting the business built and established, Fabrizio stayed with both sets of grandparents to keep him out from under their busy feet, so he has lots of fond memories of Nonna's cooking. When I served him my version awhile back, he complimented me saying it was just like what Nonna Maria made. I like that kind of compliment. it makes me feel proud to recreate a flavor from his childhood and one I now love as well.

Merluzzo Baccala - Salt Cod

Just like most Italian recipes, this one is a little loose on exact amounts,  quite easy to make and oh so delicious. I tend to make it to fit my cast iron skillet, that my grandmother and mother did a lot of cooking in too. So this is a nostalgic dish that touches a lot of buttons. So relax and don't worry too much about the amounts, just put it together and either bake it in the oven or cook it on top of the stove like I did. In the end I thought it was a lot easier and true to the fact that Italians are not quick to turn on the oven and make most everything on top of the stove, I thought it worked just fine. Feel free to choose your favorite way, oven or stove. 

Finished dish

Baccala alla Nonna Maria delle Veneto

Serves 2 hungry people

Ingredients:

500g /1 # salted cod, soaked in cold water for at least 24 hours days, changing the water at least 3 times over the soaking time. 

1 medium to large onion, diced

1-2 cloves garlic, diced enough for flavor but not enough to overpower

2 medium to largish potatoes, your favorite variety, a somewhat floury potato is good, peeled or not as you like but scrubbed and sliced in to thin rounds. I like them about 1/8 inch or 1/4cm thick so that they don't take too long to cook.

250 - 325ml / 1- 1 1/2 c. milk, as needed. You can use all milk, or half and half, single cream and a heavy splash of heavy cream with the milk for richness if you like

1-2 T Olive oil
1 Bay leaf

Paprika

Method:

Heat a heavy  9 inch or 24 cm sauté pan slowly.   

Prepare your cod by pulling any long pieces of bone that might still be in the fish and peel the skin off. 

Slice fish into thin slices by holding the knife at an angle and cut at an angle to the table. This should make thin slices. Don't worry if the fish crumbles some. 

Thinly slice the washed potatoes with or without peels. 

Once you have all of your ingredients assembled and prepared, begin to sauté the diced onion and garlic. 

Add the bay leaf.

Once the onion has begun to turn translucent, lay slices of fish in a single layer on top of the onions and garlic. 

Next cover the fish and onions completely with the potato slices.

Pour the milk or milk and cream combination over the whole top of the potatoes. 

Sprinkle the top of the potatoes with black pepper and paprika. 

Cover the top and cook over low heat till all is bully and the potatoes are done. 

Remove the top if it seems too soupy and you want to reduce the liquid some or if the m ix seems too dry before the potatoes are cooked, then a dad bit more milk. 

You can also cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake it in a moderate oven till all os bubbly. Remove the foil and let the top brown up if you like. 

Serve while hot. 

Ingredients, Layering the pan, Milk added and Paprika dusted, Cooked

Winter Gifts from the Garden: Savoy Cabbage and Cheesy Potato Bake Recipe

Savoy Cabbage Layered with Taleggio Cheese and Potatoes

It is finally spring and for those of us in the mountains it comes just a tad later than it does for most folks. I still have ample supplies of some of our winter staples like potatoes and savoy cabbage that we are using for a delicious result these days before all the spring delicacies take over. I thought I would share one of my favorite dishes combining these pantry staples. I am sure most of you are thinking of Easter with asparagus and peas and those sorts of veggies, but we are still having cooler temperatures here and sounds like we are not the only ones and this dish is one that I think is sure to please as it has just the right amount of comfort foodiness to it. Let me know if you agree.  

I made it the traditional way the first time in an oven proof pan in the oven and it was like a variation of scalloped potatoes, which will always make me think of my mom and growing up in southern Illinois. I added some parma ham once when I had some that need to be used up and I had some mozzarella as my only cheese, which worked out well with the ham giving it some needed salty element to the dish. I naturally have used all sorts of local cheeses because this is a recipe that lends itself to variations and innovation, so by all means feel free to add your own special touch.  My latest change has been to make it in a skillet on top of the stove without turning the oven on to great success. I do miss that crispy top crunch, but not enough not to make it when the oven is not part of the plan. This recipe is based on Antonio Carluccio's recipe that he used for one of his Italian sojourns that featured Piedmont. By chance it was one of the possible entertainment selections that was on offer on my flight back from the U.S. a few years back.  It was a great episode and a great reminder of a dish that is comforting to anyone and especially those of us from the former kingdom of  Savoie, where Savoy cabbage hails from. 

Savoy Cabbage from our garden and the stove top version 

Oh yes and if you are not familiar with Savoy cabbage, it is the one that is green and wrinkly. I find it to be mild and tender and certainly one of my favorites. It hails from this part of Europe and is a winter time favorite as it will keep under the snow for when you are ready to harvest it when needed. My in laws have always kept some all winter for not only our eating pleasure but also for salad for the chickens when she used to keep them. We aren't the only ones who like some greens in the winter. You can make this dish with regular smooth cabbage as well it just is a slighty different flavor and texture, but it will be almost as good, so do try and find the savoy cabbage if you can. but don't not make it if you can't.

I thought I would also share with you a little video I put together from our harvesting of the last of our cabbages a few weeks ago. We still have patches of snow dotted around now, but the "foehn" (warm strong) winds that have been howling for the past few days have helped the big patches evaporate rather quickly.   

This is me filming Fabrizio harvesting our Savoy cabbage a few weeks ago.  I hope you enjoy my second attempt at making a movie from my videos.

Savoy Cabbage and Potato Bake

(Cavolo Piemontese con Patate)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

650g / 1 1/2 lb Savoy cabbage, cut out the tough main rib* of the leaves leaving two halves of the leaves.

8 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (medium sized floury potatos, although red ones will work as well)

300g / 10oz Taleggio cheese, thinly sliced (or any other melty cheese, fontina, mozzarella and a little parmesan)

Some grated Parmigiano cheese to sprinkle on top and maybe between layers if you are using mozzarella

150g / 51⁄2oz butter for greasing your pans ( I didn't use it when I finished it in the skillet, although I did use a bit of olive oil.

salt 

black pepper, freshly ground

**I have added a layer of prosciutto crudo on occasion and used mozzarella and liked the results

Preparation:c

• Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F.
• Boil some slightly salted water in a sauce pan. 
• Cook the potatoes for about three minutes,in the salted water, then scoop the potatoes out with a large slotted spoon and set aside to cool. Plunge into cold water if you want to hurry them along and make them easier to handle when layering.
• Cook the cabbage for about five minutes in the same potato water until tender. Drain well*.

*You can retain the cut out cabbage rib and the boiling water for a soup if desired or you might want to use it for adding a bit of moisture to your dish as it cooks if needed or dispose of both as you see fit.

You can finish this dish in two different ways. 

• You will layer the cabbage, potatoes, cheese in a ovenproof pan or skillet depending on how you prefer to finish cooking this dish.
• The original recipe calls for baking it in a 9"/ 23 cm(approximately) oven proof pan, which will give you a nice crispy top when you bake it.
• You can also layer it all in a skillet and cook it gently covered adding milk or your leftover boiling water if needed, till all is bubbly and cooked through. 
• Grease the ovenproof dish generously with some of the butter.
• Arrange half of the potato slices, slightly overlapping, on the bottom of the dish, dot with some more butter
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Arrange the cabbage and half of the cheese on top of the potatoes 
• Season with salt and pepper. 
• Top with the remaining potatoes and cheese. 
• Dot with the remaining butter.
• A generous sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese is a nice finish as well

Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes, removing the foil five minutes before the end of the cooking time. Remove from the oven and serve.

Or cover your skillet with a lid and gently simmer on top of the stove until all is soft and smooth through. If you find the dish is too soupy, you can uncover it for a bit to evaporate some of the liquid. If too dry add some liquid as needed when cooking. 

I have made it both ways and enjoyed both. Sometimes you just don't have enough reason to want to turn on the oven and I am happy with the stove top results too. 

Hope you enjoy this dish.

Her's a stovetop version I served with some chicken strips I made

Hope you and yours will enjoy this hearty Piemontese dish. From our home to yours!

Potatoes and Celery Root Gratin to die for....

Ok, I promise there is no dying involved. I had another recipe and post on turkey filled crespelle or crepes, as they are more widely known to most of us recently and due to a computer glitch I ended up with the equivalent of  "the dog ate my homework". That post and recipe has now been shelved temporarily until I can recreate it to satisfaction, harumph!   

However, I stumbled across this variation of what we called scalloped potatoes when I was growing up and knew it was destined to be a hit. Made it last night and it was. The recipe is a hardy amount so we have plenty for a few encore performances, and luckily they are that good, that you won't hear any complaining from either of us. I think they would make a great addition to a holiday meal as the recipe is an ample amount. I would call these exactly Italian, but a couple of adjustments I made like the addition of rosemary to the dish gave it an Italian flavor. Here in the northern realms of Italy we cook a lot of dishes in milk, butter and cream, so it is not that much of a stretch to add it to your repertoire. The original recipe came from Whole Foods, and you can find it here, but naturally I made a few adjustments based on our tastes and necessary substitutions. I suggest you do the same if you like. For me most recipes are a starting point that I may follow slavishly and maybe only be inspired by. I imagine some of you are quite the same. Any way you like it, make this dish and enjoy the comfort of potatoes done proud.

Homely shot of my version of Celery root and potato gratin

CELERY ROOT AND POTATO GRATIN

adapted from a Whole Foods recipe

Serves 8-12

Ingredients

1/2 T butter (15g)

2 pounds celery root, peeled and thinly sliced
1 3/4 pounds potatoes, floury variety, unpeeled, if they are organic and thinly sliced

2 c milk, low fat (1/2 L)
2 T flour (6g), optional if your potatoes are floury

2 tsp garlic, chopped

2 c yogurt, plain, full fat,(200-250g) my preference, as I make it at home

3/4 c grated cheese, (100g) I used a rich young Toma, you can use a swiss type

1 1/2 c crushed crackers, saltine type or panko-style bread crumbs 

1-2 T fresh rosemary, chopped fine, less if dry

Salt and pepper to taste 

1 T flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F. 

Butter a 13-x9-inch casserole dish with your 1/2 T butter and set aside. If you ave extra, add it to the mix when assembling.

Whisk together milk, flour, garlic, and season with some salt and pepper in a large pot over medium heat. I used my large tall sided saute pan.

Gently stir in celery root and potatoes, if you are using waxy potatoes and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, stirring frequently and gently, until thickened slightly, about 10 minutes.

Add the yogurt at this time and gently stir to mix it all together. Taste and adjust your salt and pepper.

Transfer the potato mixture to your prepared dish and spread out evenly.

Scatter the grated swiss cheese over the top.

Mix your bread crumbs, rosemary and grated parmesan together and scatter over the top to cover.

Bake until tender, bubbly and golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes.

Set aside to let rest for a few minutes minutes.

Garnish with your chopped parsley and serve.

**Cooks notes and suggestions**

There are quite a few recipes on the internet with a variety of suggestions to try.

I like the idea of adding bacon or pancetta for a complete one pan meal with a salad or green vegetable to go with it.

I don't think I will bother with adding the flour next time as our garden variety of potatoes break down and thicken up the dish quite nicely. If you are using waxy potatoes you probably will need the flour.

Since I used the yogurt in place of the cream, I didn't cook it with the vegetables on top of the stove and I didn't have enough liquid to cover the potatoes. I think next time I might just cook the celeriac in the milk and then mix it all up and add the potatoes and yogurt just before adding it all to the baking pan. If you have a larger pan than the one I used, I think you will have more servings and less time in the oven.

I covered mine for the first 20-30 minutes as I have a convection oven that dries everything quickly. I removed it towards the end to brown up the top.

Could easily be assembled a day ahead and baked off the next day.