For over five years now, I’ve been watching videos on the Portuguese culinary. Several of their recipes are exotic to me; and I loved all the ones I cooked.
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb salt cod
1 lb potatoes
2 eggs
1 green bell pepper
1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, split
2 tablespoons apple cider (or white wine) vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red onion, chopped
3/4 cup black olives
1 lemon, sliced
in a large pot, enough cold water to cover the potatoes and eggs
HOW TO MAKE IT:
(You’ll need a lot of water for this cooking experience!) In a big bowl or pot, desalt the cod for at least 24 hours, changing the water from 3-6 times. That’s what I did, and it worked fine–the cod was still pretty salty, but the potatoes helped balance the saltiness. After 24 hours, you can actually really start preparing for cooking–as usual, chopping, crushing, slicing onions, mincing garlic, and cutting lemon!
Let’s take care of the cod: on an oven-proof tray, put the minced garlic, and pour about half the amount of olive oil, and place the cod right on top of it. Pour the rest of the olive oil on the fish, and place the lemon slices on top. Place the tray in the preheated oven at 350F, and let it cook for 25 minutes. The whole pepper goes on the rack in the oven, as well. Twenty-five minutes later, remove the tray and the green pepper, and let them cool down for a few minutes–you don’t want to burn your fingers!
While the fish is in the oven, you can prepare the potatoes and eggs. Which is as simple as the following: place the potatoes and eggs in a pan, and cover them with cold water. Bring the water to a boil–it takes about 10 minutes. When water starts boiling, the eggs are ready to be removed from it–put the eggs in cold water to cool off. After 10 more minutes, the potatoes will have cooked long enough, so remove them from the pan and let them cool off for about 20 minutes. Summing up, this process alone takes about forty minutes, and every ten minutes there’s some action you’ll have to take.
When the fish is cooked, place it on a plate and let it cool, as well as the green pepper. Discard the lemon slices, pour the garlic and oil into a small bowl, and mix it with the vinegar–it’s the salad dressing.
The eggs should be cool by this time, so peel them. Also peel the potatoes. Remove the skin and seeds of the green pepper. Now, here comes a fun thing to do: you’re going to flake the cod. You’ll also slice the green pepper and the potatoes. On a nice platter, start making your salad. Place the potato slices on the bottom of your platter, and pour about half of the dressing on them. Place half of the chopped onions, and then some of the chopped pepper strips. Now place the cod, and the rest of the onions and pepper strips on top of it, and spread the black olives evenly. Pour the rest of the sauce on top of your salad.
Keep in the fridge for a few hours before serving–four hours is ideal to help your salad taste delicious.
COOKING RECIPES by Lucas Eller
