Cod Cakes
I was planning on making dinner by cooking cod fillets from The Local Catch in a skillet but they were thin and broke apart too much when I flipped them. So I stopped cooking and quickly searched for a recipe online and found a nice potato based cod cake recipe from Saveur.
The cod cake recipe can be found here. I made adjustments to the ingredients that suited my portion of fish. I didn't serve the cod cakes with a chow chow as recommended because I didn't have those ingredients. Rather, I made a quick Béchamel sauce.
For the Béchamel, I made this quick version because I didn't have a lot of time:
For the roux, I combined 1 tablespoon butter (I used organic lactose-free Earth Balance Buttery Spread, I read that olive oil can also be substituted) with 1 tablespoon flour until well blended in a small sauce pan over medium-low heat.
Then I added 1 1/2 cups milk (I used Organic Valley lactose-free), 1 bay leaf, a little onion powder, sea salt, and fresh ground pepper to taste. I omitted the traditional clove-stuck onion and nutmeg for this sauce but it could be made that way.
I cooked the sauce on medium-low, whisking until the flour flavor was gone and it coated the bay leaf, like below. Then I discarded the bay leaf and sprinkled in some Old Bay seasoning to taste. I thought of Old Bay seasoning because it's what my father uses often when he makes seafood meals.
I topped the cod cakes with the savory Béchamel and we ate them with leftover roasted vegetables. Cheese can be added to the sauce, but I liked it just like this and wanted to keep it lactose-free.
Cod Cake Burgers
I made burgers with the leftover cod cakes. The Remoulade was a nice condiment by itself but I would have also liked a slice of tomato. However, it's winter and I stay away from grocery store tomatoes -- they are no substitute for a fresh summer garden tomato!
Quick And Easy Remoulade
To 1 cup of mayonnaise (I used the Just Mayo brand I talked about in the previous post), I added 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon tabasco/hot sauce, and minced 4 very small sweet gherkins.
I served the cod cakes on local Portuguese sweet bread rolls that I toasted.
And if that isn't enough carbs, why not have a nice local craft beer with the cod cake burger! This light tasting Rhode Scholar is my favorite.
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| "Rhode Scholar" from the Bucket Brewery, Pawtucket, RI |
Don't want all the carbs (or the lactose from the milk in Portuguese sweet bread)? A cod cake with Remoulade tastes great with these pea greens.
