One of my most memorable Christmas Eve dinners was at La Peche in NYC, eating the Feast of Seven Fishes prepared by the amazing Chef Tien Ho of Momofuku fame. We sat family style & enjoyed Chef Tien's fantastic menu, unlike anything I had ever had at our Italian family feasts...
It's easily one of the top 10 best meals of my life!
We had lunch earlier at Marea (absolutely fantastic)... I was Culinary VP at Campbells at the time & presenting a short demo on the Today Show on Christmas morning... so my family & I were treated to a few, very special days in NYC before the Christmas show.
Christmas Eve Baccala
I grew up in a Calabrese family, my mother's maiden name was Vigna, celebrating the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve with all of our extended family in Jersey City, NJ ...
The feast is a celebration of the Christmas Eve vigil; it's a fasting day, so no meat. It's ironic that seafood is considered 'fasting' but that abstinence of meat until Christmas Day is the tradition my family has always followed.
In the Roman Catholic Church, we abstain from meat on the eve of feast days and Fridays during Lent.
Dinner always was at my Aunt Flora's home. It always began with fried dough, the Seven Fishes were fried smelts, fried jumbo shrimp, baccala, linguini w clams, fried calamari, lobster tails & baked fillet of flounder. We had beautiful, stuffed artichokes, broccoli rabe, etc... it was always a feast.
Making Baccala
Prep Time: 90 min
Cooking Time: 30 min
Yield: 6 portions
Ingredients
12 oz. Olive oil
3 lbs Salted Cod, soaked in cold water for 3 days (changing the water twice per day)
3 ea. AP Flour
1 Tbsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp Black pepper
1/2 tsp. Onions, Spanish, peeled & sliced thinly
2 pints San Marzano tomato sauce (see recipe in blog)
1 lb. Russet Potatoes, peeled & sliced thinly
note: I like to precook the potatoes by partially baking-cooling and then peeling & slicing so the potatoes cook a little more quickly & absorb the oil, tomato etc... it's optional.
How to Prepare Christmas Eve Baccala
Step 1
Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a sauté pan, add the onions to the oil and sweat until tender & lightly colored (not brown). Transfer the onions to a bowl.
Step 2
Rinse the soaked, salted cod in fresh water, drain and pat the salted cod dry, clean any parts which are not white flesh. Cut into 3 or 4 inch slices/ portions.
Season the cod with pepper, dredge in flour (shake off excess).
Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan. Place the floured cod into the hot oil and fry until lightly browned on both sides, reserve on a plate. Repeat until all of the cod is browned.
When the cod is cool enough to touch, shred into large pieces.
Step 3
Ladle a few ounces of tomato sauce in the bottom of the casserole or tray you will bake the baccala in.
Place 1/3 of the sliced potatoes along the bottom of the casserole (on the tomato sauce).
Place 1/3 of the onions on top and then 1/3 of the shredded cod.
Repeat until all of the ingredients are used.
Add a little sprinkly of breadcrumbs over the top of the baccala casserole and bake in the oven (on a sheet pan to catch any drippings) for 45 minutes at 350°F until bubbling hot and golden brown on top.
