Cod Pieces (because I HAD to go there)

Sometimes I wish I weren't allergic to crustaceans. There are days when I crave crab cakes the way some people crave chocolate doughnuts, but the prospect of anaphylaxis puts a damper on my desires.

This  is not to say I can't eat fish in general – in moderation. With that in mind, I occasionally do my best to cheat the system. I hunt down a simple enough crab cake recipe, and substitute a tender, sweet fish.

This week, I found Cod.

I found it in the freezer at ALDI. I also found I have a superabundance of Old Bay seasoning blend, big scallions growing in a flower pot in the laundry room, some eggs, a mess of almond flour, several jars of Duke's mayonnaise, and a half-pound chunk of Parmesan cheese. Add to that, there are, perhaps, a dozen different recipes for fish cakes and crab cakes in my files (hard copy and digital), none of which was exactly what I was looking for (especially as calls for breading and other fillers), leading me to make stuff up as I went along. Sort of.

To be fair, I've done variations on this theme before, but usually with canned fish of one sort or another, and a mess of lemon juice (and no cheeses). I like it better when there's fresh fish or fresh-frozen fish factored in, for F's sake.

So, let us eat cakes.

Cod Cakes (Big Cod Pieces!)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
2 lbs cod filets, baked or steamed, allowed to cool
2 large eggs
1/3 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup finely chopped scallion greens
2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning blend


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375º F.

Prepare a large well-greased non-stick baking sheet.

In a small bowl, mix together 1 cup Parmesan cheese and all the almond flour. Separate 1 cup to stir into fish mixture, and put the remaining portion of this in a shallow dish.

Break apart cod filets into large chunks.

In a medium bowl, lightly mix together eggs, mayonnaise, scallions, and Old Bay seasoning.

Add in 1 cup of almond flour/Parm mix and all the fish chunks, and gently stir, breaking up larger chunks of fish – be careful to avoid over-mixing (I do this by hand. You get a better sense of how large the chunks will be, and it's also surprisingly therapeutic).

Divide mixture into 12 equal portions, forming each into a ball. Roll in reserved almond flour/Parm mix, place on well-oiled baking sheet, and gently press into flat patties about 1 inch thick.

Sprinkle reserved 1/2 cup grated cheese over top of patties.

Bake 15 minutes, or until top is golden-brown.

Allow to stand & cool about 3-5 minutes before serving.

These can be fried in butter (or a small amount of oil), as well, but that's a more labor-intensive operation, fraught with risk that the cakes will fall apart before you can get them to the plate. Also, there's all that extra grease…