One of my favorite parts of this blog is challenging myself to use new and different ingredients and/or new and different techniques. So when I was contacted to participate in CFE’s International Saltfish Blogger Recipe Challenge, I jumped at the chance.
So what exactly is saltfish? It is fish, typically cod, pollock, or other white fish cured with dry salt to preserve it. This method of preservation dates back centuries, as it helped preserve fish without refrigeration.
CFE International offers a number of brands of salt fish: Buena Ventura, Cristobal, BacalaRico, and Isla Brisa. For this challenge, I was sent some Isla Brisa Salted Alaska Pollock Fillets to use in a recipe. (You can find these brands of saltfish in your local Cousins, H-Mart, Jetro, Price Chopper, and Price Rite supermarkets.)
I decided to do a spin on Brandade (Whipped Salt Fish Spread), a salt fish spread popular in Mediterranean countries. It’s also known as Brandada in Spain, and Baccala Mantecato in Italy.
The spread is whipped salt fish, potatoes, olive oil, and cream with seasoning and is served with crusty bread. My version below adds in some roasted garlic, caramelized onions, and horseradish to add new layers of flavor.
I love a good mashed potato recipe. They are definitely my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal. Classic mashed potatoes will always be a favorite of mine, but this recipe from Nigella Lawson that I found on The Chew sounded really fantastic. My aunt and uncle always use horseradish cheddar in their mashed potatoes and I love the tanginess that the horseradish brings. I thought it would be the perfect complement to the sweetness of the apples.
Ingredients:
4 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
1 cup whole milk
1 – 1 1/2 cup horseradish cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shallots, chopped
2 fuji apples
4 strips of bacon
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons butter
You need a red apple that can stand up to being sauteed and maintain its shape. Look for Liberty, Fuji, Jonagold, or Pink Lady apples.
Bring a salted pot of water to a boil. Peel your potatoes. Cut into smaller pieces and add to the pot.
Boil the potatoes for 30 minutes or until fork tender.
While waiting for the potatoes to cook, add the bacon to a saute pan over medium heat. Heat until cooked through, turning once, about 10 minutes.
Remove the bacon from the pan and add to a plate lined with paper towels. Roughly chop.
Add the shallots and the apples to the saute pan with the bacon drippings.
Saute over medium-low heat until the apples are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm. Mix with the chopped bacon.
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain. Take the pot that you used to boil the potatoes and add the 1 cup whole milk over low heat. Using a ricer or potato masher, mash the potatoes back into the pot, stirring to combine with the milk.
The horseradish cheddar I used was really soft so I just broke it into smaller pieces and mixed into the potatoes. If you have a harder version, you can grate the cheese and add it in, mixing to combine. Add the butter and mix to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
Top with the bacon and apples.
I had no idea apples would go so well with mashed potatoes! The slight sweetness with the shallots was such a perfect complement to the subtle tang of the horseradish cheddar. And obviously, everything is better with bacon.
This would be a fantastic spin to traditional mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving without adding too much extra work to your day. You could make the mashed potatoes and the bacon and apple mixture both the day before. The day of, you can heat both separately and then top the potatoes with the mixture.
Horseradish Cheddar Mashed Potatoes with Bacon and Apples
Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
4 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
1 cup whole milk
1 – 1 1/2 cup horseradish cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shallots, chopped
2 fuji apples
4 strips of bacon
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
You need a red apple that can stand up to being sauteed and maintain its shape. Look for Liberty, Fuji, Jonagold, or Pink Lady apples.
Bring a salted pot of water to a boil. Peel your potatoes. Cut into smaller pieces and add to the pot.
Boil the potatoes for 30 minutes or until fork tender.
While waiting for the potatoes to cook, add the bacon to a saute pan over medium heat. Heat until cooked through, turning once, about 10 minutes.
Remove the bacon from the pan and add to a plate lined with paper towels. Roughly chop.
Add the shallots and the apples to the saute pan with the bacon drippings.
Saute over medium-low heat until the apples are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm. Mix with the chopped bacon.
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain. Take the pot that you used to boil the potatoes and add the 1 cup whole milk over low heat. Using a ricer or potato masher, mash the potatoes back into the pot, stirring to combine with the milk.
The horseradish cheddar I used was really soft so I just broke it into smaller pieces and mixed into the potatoes. If you have a harder version, you can grate the cheese and add it in, mixing to combine. Add the butter and mix to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
I’m not even going to pretend to care about football. I have no clue what is going on on the field, nor do I honestly want to. Not even going to school with Flacco could peak my interest in the sport. But I do care about the food aspect of watching football, to no one’s surprise.
So with the season in full swing, I figured it was about time for me to figure out how to make ribs. I “surprisingly” do not have a smoker in my tiny apartment, so I went in search of a slow cooker recipe. This Bourbon BBQ Baby Back Ribs recipe fit the bill.
Ingredients:
5 lbs baby back ribs, cut to fit in your slow cooker
Because we still had some of the Creamy Horseradish Dijon sauce from the Corned Beef and Cabbage, I substituted that for thousand island dressing. Past that, this recipe is pretty traditional.
I still had half a cabbage left so I decided to make my own sauerkraut using a “fast” method so I could enjoy a Reuben with Homemade Sauerkraut today instead of waiting days for the sauerkraut to be ready.
Ingredients:
Sauerkraut:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 a small onion, chopped
1/2 a head of cabbage, roughly chopped
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
Reuben:
2 tablespoons butter, divided
Left over corned beef, thinly sliced
Sauerkraut (recipe above)
Rye bread
Swiss cheese
Creamy Horseradish Dijion (recipe here), or thousand island dressing
St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, which means Americans nationwide are gearing up for a corned beef and cabbage feast. Despite being Irish-American myself, I’ve never eaten this St. Patrick’s Day staple before. My boyfriend, a huge corned beef fan, was really looking forward to having some, so I finally decided it was time to try to make it. I choose to adapt this recipe from Food Network for Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage so that I could use my slow cooker and not have to watch over it for hours.
Ingredients:
4 pounds raw corned beef brisket
Pickling Spice (included with brisket)
1 medium rutabaga, halved, peeled and cut into wedges
