Salt Cod Dinner and Butter Crunch

December 18, 2020 Recipes

As is known by most, Maine is famous for its seafood. A salt cod dinner is such a quintessentially Maine meal that it just had to be put here. The cod is served with potatoes and beets, and this recipe makes enough for 6 people! The fish is served on a hot platter with the beautiful red and white arrangement of potatoes.

For a simple and quick dessert, butter crunch is on the menu! Break out the Karo corn syrup, just a few other ingredients for this easy-to-snack-on sweet!

Salt Cod Dinner – Cooking Down East

Ingredients

1 pound salt cod
6 medium-sized potatoes
6 medium-sized beets
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 pound salt pork
2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Soak salt codfish overnight to freshen it. If time is a factor, then place dried salt fish in a kettle, add about 1 quart cold water. Heat this to just about the boiling point, but do not boil. Pour off this water and do it all over again. You probably will want to do this a third time, too. Taste fish to be certain it is not too salty.

After freshening fish by either method, simmer it just below the boiling point, until fish is tender. This will take only a few minutes. Remember, this fish should never be boiled, it makes it tough. The fish is done if it will flake when broken.

Boil the potatoes, boil and dice or slice the beets or use canned beets.

Wash the 1/4 pound salt pork, then dice. Cook salt pork very slowly in a frying pan over low heat. Drain the pork and return about 4 tablespoons of the fat to frying pan.

Add 4 tablespoons flour to the fat and stir. Add pepper. Add milk slowly, stirring constantly so that the gravy will be smooth. Add a little salt if necessary. Keep this gravy hot At this point, the cooked salt cod may be added to this gravy or served in the following manner:

Place freshened, cooked fish on a hot platter. Place the crispy bits of fried salt pork on top of the fish. Make a red border of the diced or sliced beets around the fish. Serve the gravy and the cooked potatoes separately. If you prefer, the gravy may be poured over the fish, then the crispy salt pork sprinkled on top of this.

Butter Crunch – Wendy Smith, MASP

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
2 cups butter
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons Karo syrup
2 cups nuts
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions

Boil sugar, butter, water, and Karo syrup. Stir until sugar dissolves. Continue until it reaches 280 Fahrenheit (137 Celsius) to 290 Fahrenheit (143 Celsius), then stir in nuts. Put into greased cookie sheet and spread out. Melt chocolate chips and spread on each side.