Chef Tatiana Rosana of The Envoy Hotel in Boston shares one of her favourite recipes currently on the fall menu, Cuban bacalao.
Inspired by her family-roots from Cuba, these crispy bacalao croquettes are delicious with our favourite cocktail or beer. Chef Tatiana is an awesome female chef everyone should keep an eye out for.
Chef Tatiana Rosana: This is probably the menu item that tugs on my heartstrings the most as I can remember my grandmother frying these up at our family parties.
This recipe will make around 40-50 croquettes. They can be frozen if you don’t want to eat them all right away…but, they don’t usually last that long in my house.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound Skinless Salt Cod
- 4 cups Milk
- 1 pound Yukon Gold Potatoes
- 1 Large Shallot (minced)
- 10 Cloves Garlic (minced)
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 1/4 cup Chives (minced)
- 2 teaspoons Cayenne Pepper
- 1 tablespoon Sweet Paprika
- 1 tablespoon Garlic Powder
- 1 tablespoon Black Pepper
- Salt to taste
- 3 Cups Panko Breadcrumbs
- 4 Eggs (beaten)
- 3 Cups Flour
For the saffron garlic Aioli:
- 1 quart Aioli (we use homemade, you can also use mayonnaise)
- 1/2 teaspoon Saffron
- 1/4 cup Water
- 3 cloves Garlic (microplaned to a paste)
Instructions
- Rinse cod under cold water thoroughly
- In a pot, combine milk, cod, and enough water to cover the cod. Bring to a boil. Boil for 20 minutes. Then refrigerate cod and milk mixture over night (the milk helps to leech out the salt from the cod)
- The following day, drain cod and break apart using your fingers or two forks until you have small chunks. Set aside.
- Saute garlic and onions in a little olive oil until translucent. Set aside.
- Peel and boil potatoes until tender.
- Pass potatoes through a food mill (if you don’t have a food mill mash potatoes until broken up)
- Mix together potatoes, cod, egg yolks, garlic, shallots, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, chives, salt, and pepper (use salt sparingly as the saltiness from the cod might overpower the croquettes)
- Refrigerate for an hour
- Scoop about 1.5 oz of mixture per croquette, rolling to make them round
- Prepare your breading station. One bowl of flour, one bowl of beaten eggs, one bowl of panko.
- Bread croquettes by first rolling in flour, then eggs, then panko. Set aside.
- Refrigerate until cold. Fry at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes or until warmed through.
Aioli
- Bring water to a boil. Add saffron, allow to steep for 10 minutes.
- Mix saffron water, aioli, garlic, and salt to taste.
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Cuban
