Salt Cod Avocado Cucumber Stack is a delicious brunch dish that will serve a large group of family and friends.
Photo Credit: Jasmine of fancifantastic.com
Salt Cod Avocado Cucumber Stack is a really tasty dish, its a combination of stewed salt cod with onions, garlic and tomatoes on top of one slice of bread, topped with an avocado cucumber salad.
I hosted a brunch last week for my niece, Jasmine, brainchild of Fanci Fantastic. It was a small birthday celebration, brunch for eight, and Salt Cod Avocado Cucumber Stack was on the menu.
We had a lot of fun. We ate well, had plenty to drink and then hit the dance floor – also know as my large red circular area rug in my living room.
I had some dietary restrictions to consider:
- 1 guest: no meat;
- 2 guests: no pork; and
- 1 guest: no salmon.
Clearly, I had to come up with dishes that would work for all. Here’s the menu:
♦♥♣♠♦♥♣♠♦♥♣♠♦♥♣♠
Blood Orange Carrot Turmeric Shots
Salt Cod Avocado Cucumber Stack
Potato Zucchini Frittata served with Spinach Arugula Tomato Salad with Beef Bacon
Rum Soaked Fruit Salad with Mango, Pear and Blackberries
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Salt cod is a dried and salted cod and is also known as bacalao. There is some prep work to do when cooking with salted cod. The salt needs to be soaked away and the salt cod should be cooked until tender and easily flaked. Very often, recipes will require soaking the salt cod overnight to remove the salt. For this dish I prefer to do the soaking just before using.
I am a great lover of salt cod and have been eating it most of my life. I have some other recipes using salt cod on the blog that might interest you – Salt Cod Fish Cakes and Thai Green Salt Cod Curry, check them out.
Salt Cod Avocado Cucumber Stack
Ingredients
Stewed Salt Cod
- 2 lb boneless salt cod
- 1/2 lemon
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 onions sliced
- 1 lb grape tomatoes cut in half
- 2 tbsp fresh thyme removed from stalks
- 8-12 slices of bread
- Butter as needed
Avocado & Cucumber Salad
- 2 haas avocados
- 2 large greenhouse cucumbers
- 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Equipment & Utensils
- Large saucepan
- Large deep skillet with cover
Instructions
- Remove salt cod from packaging and rinse off excess salt.
- Place salt cod and lemon in saucepan and cover with water.
- Place saucepan on high heat and once the water arrives at boiling, lower heat so that the water continues at a rumbling state. Do not cover saucepan.
- Allow salt cod to cook for approx. one hour checking regularly to make sure the water doesn't dry out.
- Drain salt cod and repeat instructions 2-4 two more times.
- Once you have completed the process of removing the excess salt, the salt cod should be cooked and flake easily. Pull away and taste a piece to make sure.
- If the salt cod is too salty or tough to the bite, repeat instructions 2-4 and drain salt cod once done.
- Allow salt cod to cool so that you can handle it, then flake into small pieces and set aside.
- Heat oil in skillet on high heat then add garlic, onion and tomatoes and cook until tomatoes begin to soften, lower heat if necessary to medium.
- Add flaked salt cod and thyme and saute for 5 mins to combine.
- Lower heat to medium, if you haven't done so already, and cover to allow ingredients to simmer for 30 minutes.
- While salt cod is cooking, peel and slice avocados and spiralize or julienne cucumbers.
- Place avocados and cucumbers in a bowl.
- Mix together oil and vinegar then add to avocados and cucumbers.
- Season with a little salt and pepper to taste.
- Once salt cod is stewed, and the flavors of the ingredients have combined, place a slice of bread on each plate and spread a little butter on each. Pile salt cod on top of bread until completely covered then top with avocado and cucumber salad.
- Serve immedfiately
Notes
