Bob came home for lunch on Wednesday without much notice. I had just opened a can of tuna fish to make myself a nicoisse salad with, but I didn't have enough ingredients to turn that into two servings. So instead I remembered a delicious chunky brandade that Bill Spohn made and went about producing same out of leftover mashed potatoes and canned cannellini beans.
Tonight our neighborhood wine tasting is going to be about Roses. I've secured 18 different roses from around the world, but of course over half of them are from pink wine ground zero, France, and at least half of the Frenchies are from Provence. I have to take an appetizer to share, and after lunch on Wednesday I realized that this easy version of the French classic brandade (typically made with salt cod) would be perfect: great looking, great tasting and easy/inexpensive to do for a crowd.
I picked up the canned tuna (packed in olive oil) yesterday at Trader Joe's. Bought both the yellowfin and white tunas to compare side by side, which I hadn't done before. For regular eating I'd prefer the white tuna, but the stronger taste of the yellowfin made a strong case for the brandade, so that's what I chose for my brandade, and I left out Wednesday's white beans for a smoother, more refined texture.
Here's my recipe. Note this is a party quantity--I'm making about 70 pieces.
Brandade
2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
3-4 garlic cloves, crushed and finely minced
1 generous tsp herbs d'Provence
3 tablespoons small capers and 1 tblsp caper juice
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 cans tuna packed in olive oil (do NOT drain)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp coarse ground black pepper
1/4 c additional olive oil, divided
Crostini:
1 long baguette loaf
Garnish:
Olive oil
finely chopped parsley
Finishing salt
Slice baguette loaf into thin slices no more than 1/4". Place on cookie sheets and bake at 400F for about ten minutes, until dry and lightly toasted.
Make the brandade: In a non-reactive bowl mix mashed potatoes, garlic and tuna (with oil) together. Whip around with a fork until fairly homogenously blended. Then add remaining ingredients.
For service, scoop brandade onto crostini slices and arrange in a single layer on a platter. Sprinkle with a finishing salt like Maldon, then dust with a slight sprinkle of parsley and drizzle with olive oil.
