soxtalsays

Portuguese Bacalao, kinda

I always wanted to learn how to make bacalao. It’s great when it’s cold outside, but not super heavy for being a “meat and potatoes” kind of meal. We used to eat it all the time when I was young when my dad brought us to the Portuguese parties and weddings he would play at. Real bacalao is salted cod, and rehydrating fish doesn’t sound so appetizing to me. Plus, actual bacalao is really salty and fishy tasting, and I wanted to make a less salty, more fresh and flavorful version. So I used the tilapia I had in the fridge, and improvised…

• 2 tilapia fillets
• 4 potatoes
• 3 oz jar sun dried tomatoes in extra virgin olive oil and garlic- chop them up!
• handful of garlic cloves, chopped
• pinch of saffron
• 3 hard boiled eggs
• 1 medium sized yellow onion, chopped
• capers

Every recipe I looked at before starting had you boil everything, then layer it in a caserole dish. So I boiled the filets with maybe a teaspoon kosher salt (sea salt is ok too probably. I don’t much use regular iodized table salt). Peel and cut the potatoes into 1/4 inch slices and boil. Saute the onion, chopped garlic and sundried tomatoes with pinch of saffron in the oil from the tomatoes. Drain all that was boiled. Layer a baking dish with half the potatoes, then half the fish (broken up), then half the onion mixture. Another layer of each, then top with sliced up hard boiled eggs and capers (though it’s supposed to be olives, sliced.) Put it in a 400 degree oven until it gets a little browned on top.

x, cristalle