Salmon Brandade | Everyday Dorie

Brandade is traditionally a blend of creamy mashed potatoes and salted cod. Salted cod needs to be soaked over several hours or days before you can start cooking the brandade. This version substitutes salted cod with smoked salmon and an underlayer mix of quickly cooked fresh salmon, onions and herbs. The effect is one that’s quick, yet warm and comforting. I really like the concept of it all since salmon for dinner is good any day of the week. I need to find more ways to cook salmon.

What does brandade au gratin, duck Parmentier, shepherd pie, chicken pot pie have in common? For one, I have made them all, which I don’t remember until I look them up on this blog. The last one I made was the Mediterranean shepherd’s pie some two years ago, also from Everyday Dorie, which I can hardly remember. All in all, they may have disparate sounding names or cultural origins, but share a common cooking method.

The method is an underlayer of meat, seafood or vegetable fillings topped with mashed potato, then bake. That’s it; there is nothing fancy or more elaborate than that! They are supposed to be rustic comforting one-pan dishes which can take on different personalities with a hodgepodge of ingredients. Moreover, another favorable characteristic of this cooking method is that the filling and the mashed potatoes can be prepared separately — and ahead of time.

THE SALMON FILLING: The filling is a mix of aromatics (onion, garlic), sautéed in a pan and deglazed with wine or vermouth. Remove from heat, stir in the herbs (such as dill, chives, parsley and/or tarragon). Since I like my salmon on the raw side, I add the salmon pieces off the heat.

THE MASHED POTATOES TOPPING: For the mashed potatoes topping, everyone seems to have his/her favorite way to make it. In Dorie’s recipe, she starts with adding chunks of Yukon Gold potatoes (russet works here too) in cold water. Bring them to a boil and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Then drain and cook over medium heat for 1 minute, to remove the excess moisture. Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer. Next, stir in the smoked salmon steeped in milk, followed by some butter and seasoned with salt and pepper. Set aside until you’re ready to assemble the brandade.

VARIATIONS: I prefer to lighten the mashed potatoes topping by adding more vegetables to the salmon filling together with the aromatics. I have used parsnips, turnips (cauliflower works too), cut into small cubes, and add them after I finish sautéing the aromatics. In other words, vegetables are used in place of the potatoes. Ratio-wise, there’s less mashed potatoes topping, more salmon and vegetable fillings. (Visually, you can’t see the substitution since the vegetables are white in color. But you may need to add some flour and water to thicken the filling a tad. Aim for the texture of ragù.)

The end result is a more vegetable forward dish, less heavy than the usual layer of mashed potatoes, and I thoroughly enjoy it. It’s not too early to think: Spring is right around the corner, time to shed some weights.

Print Recipe

Salmon Bandade | Everyday Dorie

By Dorie Greenspan – Serves: 6-8

The salmon brandade substitutes salted cod with smoked salmon milk and an underlayer mix of aromatics, fresh salmon and herb. The traditional mashed potatoes goes on top.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups whole milk
• ½ lb (227 g) smoked salmon (see headnote), finely chopped
• 2-2 ¼ lbs (454-1020 g) Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into medium chunks
• Kosher salt
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces, plus ½ tablespoon cold butter
• Fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 ½ tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped, rinsed and patted dry
• 2 garlic cloves, germ removed and minced
• 6-8 oz (170-227 g) skinless salmon fillet, cut into small cubes
• ¼ cup white wine or dry vermouth
• 2-3 tbsp minced mixed fresh herbs, such as dill, chives, parsley and/or tarragon
• Plain dry bread crumbs, for finishing

Instructions

1

STEEP THE SMOKED SALMON: Bring the milk just to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in half of the smoked salmon, turn off the heat and let steep while you make the potatoes.

2

MAKE THE MASHED POTATOES: Put the potatoes in a tall pot (a pasta cooker Is good for this — it makes draining easy), cover generously with cold water, salt the water copiously with kosher salt and bring to a boil. Cook the potatoes until they’re so tender that you can easily crush them against the side of the pot with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain well.

3

The potatoes must be mashed, a job best (and most elegantly) done with a food mill or ricer, which produces fluffier potatoes than you get with a fork or masher. Mash the potatoes in a large bowl.

4

COMBINE THE MASHED POTATOES WITH THE SALMON-MILK MIXTURE: Using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the salmon-milk mixture, followed by the 6 pieces of butter. The potatoes will be softer and looser than you might be used to. Season with sea salt and pepper. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the potatoes and set aside while you make the onion-salmon base. (You can cover the potatoes and refrigerate them overnight.)

5

Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch pie plate or gratin pan (preferably one that’s not metal) and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

6

MAKE THE ONION-SALMON BASE: Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Toss in the onions and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper — go light on the salt — and stir in the cubed fresh salmon. Increase the heat to medium- high and cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the wine or vermouth and cook, stirring, until the wine almost evaporates, then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the herbs and the remaining smoked salmon. Taste for salt and pepper and scrape the mixture into the buttered pan.

7

ASSEMBLE THE BRANDADE: The onion-salmon layer forms the base. Top with the mashed potatoes, spreading them all the way to the edges of the pan. Dot with bits of the cold butter and sprinkle over the bread crumbs. (At this point, you can cover the dish and refrigerate it for as long as 1 day.)

8

BAKE: Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are hot all the way through (poke a knife into them and then touch the knife to test for heat), the juices from the onions and salmon are bubbling and the top is golden brown. If you want more color, you can run the brandade under the broiler.

9

Serve immediately — brandade is meant to be so hot that you’ve got to blow on every forkful.

10

WORKING AHEAD: You can make the salmon mashed potatoes up to 1 day ahead and keep them covered in the refrigerator. You can even assemble the brandade and hold it covered in the fridge for a day.

11

STORING: The brandade is best as soon as it’s made, but if you’ve got leftovers, they’ll be good reheated the next day.

Notes

Adapted from https://www.cbc.ca/life/food/yes-to-this-creamy-brandade-all-the-mashed-potatoes-but-made-simpler-with-smoked-salmon-1.5080399