Morue à la Créole

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •1½-quart oval oven-safe earthenware gratin dish
• •10-inch heavy skillet
• •Medium saucepan
• •Rimmed broiler-safe sheet pan
• •Small pale-lined saucepan for beurre noisette

Instructions

1. 1

   Desalt the morue

   Rinse the morue under cold water, then place it in a nonreactive bowl and cover it generously with fresh cold water. Refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours, changing the water at least four times. Thick pieces may need the full 36 hours. Before cooking, shave off a small piece, poach it for two minutes in plain water, and taste it. If the salt still bites rather than seasons, return the fish to fresh cold water for another two to four hours. Ça se rattrape, but only before the fish enters the dish.

   Keep the fish refrigerated throughout desalting. Warm soaking water encourages spoilage and does nothing useful for the texture.
2. 2

   Broil the capsicums

   Set the capsicum halves skin-side up on a rimmed sheet pan and place them close beneath a hot broiler. Broil for 8 to 12 minutes, until the skins blister and the flesh becomes supple without collapsing. Transfer them to a bowl and cover for 10 minutes, then slip away the loosened skins. If a few skins cling, leave them rather than scraping the flesh to paste. The home broiler is the salamander here, and it does the work perfectly well.

3. 3

   Golden the onion

   Melt 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) of the butter in a 10-inch skillet over low to medium-low heat. Add the minced onion and cook gently for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until soft and evenly golden rather than brown at the edges. If it begins catching before it softens, lower the heat and add a teaspoon of water. Let the water cook away completely; the onion must be sweet and golden, not wet.

4. 4

   Poach and flake

   Put the desalted morue in a saucepan and cover it by 1 inch with fresh cold water. Bring the water slowly to a bare tremble, about 170 to 180°F (77 to 82°C), then hold it there for 8 to 12 minutes, until the thickest part is opaque and separates under gentle pressure. Never let it boil. If the water surges, pull the pan off the heat and add a splash of cold water. Drain the fish as soon as it is ready, then remove every piece of skin and bone while it is still warm enough to handle. Separate it into large, moist flakes without crushing them.

5. 5

   Build the layers

   Set the oven to 400°F (200°C). Spread the golden onion evenly across the bottom of a 1½-quart oval earthenware gratin dish. Arrange the finished Tomates Sautées à la Provençale (No. 2268) over the onion, cut sides up, then lay the drained morue flakes across the tomatoes. Cover the fish with the broiled capsicum halves. Keep the layers distinct and loose. Pressing or stirring them together would turn a composed dish into a wet hash, and the oven cannot undo it.

   If liquid gathers beneath the flaked fish, drain it before assembly. The final oven is for warming, not reduction.
6. 6

   Finish with butter

   Sprinkle the lemon juice over the capsicums. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) butter in a small pale-lined pan and cook gently until the foam subsides, the milk solids turn light hazelnut, and the aroma becomes nutty. This is beurre noisette, browned butter. If it darkens too quickly, pour it immediately into a cool cup so the pan's heat cannot carry it further. Spoon the beurre noisette over the entire dish, then bake for 6 to 10 minutes, just until the layers are very hot and the butter bubbles around the rim. Serve at once, directly from the earthenware dish. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The source names Icelandic or Newfoundland morue, and either is exactly right. Choose thick, pale pieces that smell cleanly of the sea; brittle yellow fish has usually been held too long and will never regain a generous texture.
• •The tomatoes are a finished preparation, not loose raw slices. Reach for Tomates Sautées à la Provençale (No. 2268) exactly as the entry directs, then leave them whole in this recipe. The word carries the technique.
• •This dish needs tomatoes that can hold their halved shape. If the market offers only cottony winter fruit, change the plan rather than the standard and make brandade de Nîmes that week. Canned tomatoes are splendid in a pot, but they cannot perform this particular job.
• •Drain the morue thoroughly and keep its flakes large. Small flakes absorb more butter and collapse into the tomatoes, while broad pieces remain pearly and give the dish its proper structure.
• •Serve with plain boiled potatoes or country bread to catch the butter and tomato juices. A cold, dry Muscadet or Picpoul de Pinet has the acidity for the salt cod and sweet capsicums.
• •Leftovers keep for up to 2 days when covered and refrigerated. Reheat them covered at 325°F (165°C) only until hot; repeated high heat dries salt cod quickly.

Advance Preparation

• •Begin desalting the morue 24 to 36 hours before cooking, changing the cold water at least four times. This passive wait is essential, but the cooking itself fits comfortably into one evening.
• •Prepare the Tomates Sautées à la Provençale (No. 2268) earlier in the same cooking session and hold them as a finished component. Do not dismantle or rework them inside this recipe.
• •The capsicums may be broiled, peeled, covered, and refrigerated one day ahead. Bring them toward room temperature while the morue poaches so the assembled dish warms without drying the fish.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 290g)