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Recipe: Alaska cod frittersIt's been weeks of well below-zero temperatures at my house. We are still shoveling snow, marveling at the incredible northern lights, and trying to stay warm. Around Alaska, not everyone is deep in snow. Some people are out on the ocean fishing. It's a time of year when several Alaska fish species are in abundance, including cod. Maybe it's a little warm-weather dreaming as the snow drifts across my window, but I decided this week, with a delivery of fresh cod, to make a dish that I fell in love with in Barcelona. I have been studying Spanish cuisine for a while now and perhaps my favorite dish is a paper cone of bolas de bacalao from the Boqueria market in Barcelona. Let's break that down. Bolas means balls and bacalao is salted cod; so, this translates to cod balls. I couldn't bring myself to use salted cod in our Alaska recipe. Why bother? It seems the whole world adores salt cod and I personally don't think we Alaskans need it. We have access to such fresh fish here (and I guess I can throw in the cold temperatures for preservation). In Barcelona, salt cod hangs like prayer flags throughout the markets and you might wonder how there can be any fish left in the sea. It's not tricky to use salt cod but you have to budget in the time to soak the fish in water to rehydrate it and change the water frequently to wash out some of the saltiness. It does have a particular pleasantly concentrated flavor and it's worth a try if you are interested. For our recipe (I have named it "cod fritters" because I was being teased in the kitchen with the name "cod balls"), I've deviated from the Spanish tradition only slightly; fresh fish instead of salted fish, Alaska red potatoes (the best in the world) instead of bakers, and I've added in a little nutmeg to our mixture. I hold true to poaching the fish in a milk, oil and onion broth. This is a good technique for other recipes as well. In the photo essay, you can see that we mashed up boiled potatoes, added in parsley, onions, garlic, and spices. Then, we added in the poached cod, egg, and lemon. At this point, you could use the same batter to make dinner-sized cod cakes, or add the mixture into chicken broth and tomatoes to make a stew, or, add it into chicken broth and cream for chowder. We portioned the batter into bite-sized pieces and rolled them into a round shape. We then dipped them first into flour, egg, and then Panko breadcrumbs. Some people, my daughter Mandy included, will repeat the dipping cycle a couple of times to create a slightly thicker crust. I have a small, almost personal-sized deep fryer that I love. There are many models out there but the smaller size allows for less oil waste and easy storage. I like to use canola oil for frying. I heat the oil to about 360 degrees and drop in one test fritter to make sure the temperature is good. I fry the balls for a few minutes until they are golden brown and place them onto paper toweling to soak up any excess oil. I like to sprinkle our fritters right away with plenty of salt. We made a little sofrito to go along with our fritters, but we often make a garlicky mayonnaise called alioli (In Catalan, it is alioli. In France, it is aioli). Sofrito is easy to make. We heat plenty of olive oil in a sauté pan; add in a handful of minced onion, garlic, and perhaps a hot green pepper. After this is good and sautéed, we add in a can or two of good quality organic diced tomatoes. I have some cod left over, so next I am going to try a true British fish and chips recipe from Chef Josh Eggleton on the website www.greatbritishchefs.com. He puts curry powder and lager beer into his batter and serves them with smashed peas. Fresh Cod Fritters3-4 Alaska red "B" potatoes
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