Potatoes With Cod

Potato with cod recipe,  a very simple and healthy dish. Cod is one of my favorite fish for its flavor and price, that’s why it is one of the ones I cook the most at home. In addition, in Galicia, northern Spain and throughout Portugal it is a main dish in many meals, not only can we find it in empanada, but also innumerable fish recipes , such as cod al pil-pil ,  cod with tomato , Portuguese-style cod, Biscayan cod , brandade , with eggs … a rich and varied repertoire with this wonderful delicacy that the sea gives us.

Within the traditional Spanish cuisine, like the Portuguese, we find a wide range of recipes with cod. These days we will find in our houses the famous wake pottage but this is an equally good option to enjoy this ingredient. Since our elders had to preserve salted fish, we have enjoyed great recipes that have become classics in our homes. The great quality, flavor and virtues of cod more than justify its use today.

We can put this stew or stew in the drawer of simple, humble and cheap recipes. Some adjectives that accompany a dish of a lifetime, one of those homemade stews with potatoes of a lifetime. A simple and very easy to make potato casserole with cod, to which we can also incorporate other ingredients, including other fish. A superb stew with all the flavor of the sea and potatoes from my father’s garden, the best of our Galician garden so you can smack yourself and leave the plate clean as it deserves. Only the aroma of the dish is already tempting. Enjoy yourself!

How to desalinate cod

1. To desalinate the cod loins we must first cut them if they are very large. Normally the thick loins are those that are usually used for preparations in sauce with longer cooking (for example in tomato sauce or biscayne). The thinner parts will be used for making pil-pil sauce. Finally, the cuttings will be used in scrambled eggs, cold or warm salads and to fill peppers.
2. To desalt the cod, the piece of fish must be covered in plenty of water.
3. The thick parts will desalt for 48 hours, with water change approximately every 6 hours. The finer parts will desalinate for 36 hours, with a water change every 8 hours. The remains and the crumbled cod usually desalt under the cold water tap for 10 minutes but if you do not want to spend a lot of water, you can also leave them to soak for 2 hours with a change of water after 1 hour, that is enough.
4. While the fish is desalting it must remain at a temperature between 6 and 8 ºC in the refrigerator, since at room temperature it can ferment. If it happens to you, you will undoubtedly notice, it has already happened to me, the smell is … well, I don’t need to describe it. Inside the fridge we avoid temperature rises and falls, which would accelerate or delay desalination.

Preparation of the cod stew

1. Peel the carrots and chop finely into slices. We wash the peppers and zucchini and cut into small cubes. We reserve.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the carrots and brown for two minutes over low heat. Remove from the casserole and reserve.
3. Chop the onions and chives in julienne strips, that is, into thin and elongated strips about 4 centimeters long and the thickness as thin as possible (2 to 3 mm). Fry the onion with the peppers and pieces of zucchini for about 10 minutes over low heat.
4. Add the carrots to the previous sofrito and stir everything well with a wooden spoon, mixing the flavors.
5. When the sauce is well browned, add the pieces of cod and add the glass of white wine, of your choice. Add the bay leaves and rectify salt and pepper. We let it reduce a little, about 10-15 minutes over medium heat to remove part of the alcohol and give the fish stew a sweet touch.
6. I always have frozen fumet or fish stock in case I have to prepare a rice or a stew. To prepare it, it is best to take advantage of the remains of other fish-based meals, for example if you prepare monkfish, hake or cook seafood.
7. A humble tip: when making the fish fumet the first thing is to poach the fish heads before adding the rest of the ingredients to the broth. For a good fumet, we bring to a boil the remains of the prawns and a head of the monkfish or another fish that you like with some bay leaves to make a fish and seafood broth. Cooking time is about 20 minutes over low heat.
8. In this case we prepare almost fried potatoes in the microwave with a splash of extra virgin olive oil for 20 minutes at medium temperature, stirring every 5 minutes the contents of the bowl. With this type of frying the potatoes I avoided the excess oil that I did not want for the cod stew without giving up the crispy potato.
9. Add the potatoes to the stew and cover everything with the fish stock or fumet and the sweet paprika. We try salt, as you will have seen we have not added salt for the cod and the fumet, if it is bland we add salt and pepper to taste but always at the end of cooking.
10. We cook over low heat until the liquid reduces, about a 1/2 hour. It is important that you stir from time to time so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. If you prepare it the day before, the best way to reheat it when consuming it is to use the same saucepan over very low heat, moving from time to time.
11. We serve very hot and with a little bread, the sauce in this recipe is great, I assure you.

These potatoes with cod are a humble dish, a stew of those from before that always feel good and comfort the body. Therefore, since we have cod throughout the year, I recommend that you prepare it throughout the year, because traditional dishes are timeless. Perfect for balancing the shopping cart and creating a weekly menu that is as affordable as possible. I hope you like it and prepare it at home.

Be sure to enjoy all the recipes for fish and seafood that we have on the blog, I assure you that you will find a lot of ideas to make yours much happier.

Do not miss the step by step of this recipe for potatoes with cod in this album, it will be delicious.