Makes 6 to 8 servings
I created this dish out of a longing for traditional brandade but a reluctance to make it. A blend of very creamy mashed potatoes and salt cod, brandade is rich, filling and deeply satisfying — but not the kind of dish I’d do at home. Salt cod needs to be soaked in several changes of water over several hours or even days before you can start cooking it — and I rarely plan that far in advance.
My version keeps everything that I love about brandade but swaps smoked salmon for the salt cod. The milk and smoked salmon are boiled together, left to steep and then used to make the mashed potatoes. I’ve also channeled the goodness of shepherd’s pie and added a surprise underlayer, a mix of quickly cooked fresh salmon, onions, herbs and more smoked salmon. This brandade celebrates everything that’s warm and comforting about the original while adding a touch of luxe — it’s brandade for dinner parties. Serve with a salad and white wine. Maybe even Champagne.
a word on the smoked salmon
This is not the time to buy the most expensive smoked salmon you can find; this is the time for scraps and ends. Since you’ll be chopping the salmon to bits and then cooking it, it needn’t come from the coveted center of the salmon or be hand-sliced by a master.
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.
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.
Put the potatoes in a tall pot (I use a pasta cooker 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.
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 them in a large bowl and then, 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.)
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.
Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Toss in the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onion is soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Season with sea 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. 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.)
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 onion and salmon are bubbling and the top is golden brown. If you want more color, you can run the brandade under the broiler.
Serve immediately — brandade is meant to be so hot that you’ve got to blow on every forkful.
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.