One of the things I absolutely loved about Portugal was the food. My goodness. With as much as I felt like I ate all the time because people liked to feed us so much, I'm surprised I didn't come home looking like a balloon. I asked everyone for recipes, but there was one recipe that everyone told me was too hard to make. Bacalhau com natas, literally, "codfish with cream," is a very, very traditional Portuguese dish. You can find it at every restaurant, even some fast food places, it's just the dish of Portugal. And it's so good. The first time I had it I loved it, and I really wanted it whenever I had the opportunity. When I spent a few days in the mission home after my family's car accident, the chef asked me what my favorite Portuguese meal was, and I told her this was it. And she made it for me. So there you have the sentimental factor, added to mission nostalgia, that the only thing I remember eating in the midst of disaster was bacalhau com natas (and chocolate milk, but that's just... a given).
Just trust me. It's good.
So when we decided to have a "mission night" for dinner, where all of Jeremy's siblings and I got together and brought a dish from each mission, depending on who had served and where they had served, to help my sister-in-law get ready for her mission, I just wanted to try to make that recipe that everyone told me was too hard. I found a million recipes that only varied slightly, but I read every one and none of them seemed all that difficult to make. It does take a little bit of time, but otherwise, nothing too crazy.
Well, okay, I lied just a little bit. The first real step is to buy salted cod and soak it for 24 hours and change the water a few times. So maybe people telling me it was hard just meant that it took some time. I used cod fillets that had been breaded and seasoned and just needed to be parboiled. It took about 24 hours off the time estimate...
Ingredients:
- 4 fillets salt cod (about 1 lb.)
- 3 lbs. of potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1 onion
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 5 tbsp of oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 1 c. milk
- 1/2 tsp of nutmeg
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- pepper to taste
- fresh parsley
So in case you do choose to get fillets that haven't been prepared with anything, you should soak them for 24 hours, changing the water twice. Keep the cod in the fridge. After the 24 hours, parboil the cod for about 5 minutes in water. Flake the fillets and remove the bones and skin if the cod requires it (you can buy skinless cod). Set aside.
Peel the potatoes, wash, cut in small cubes, and fry with 3 tbsp of olive oil, just until they look cooked. Don't over fry them. Set aside.
Slice the onion in thin rings, mince the garlic, add a bay leaf, and fry all with 2 tbsp of olive oil until soft and translucent (about 5-8 minutes). Add the cod, saute a little bit and then add the potatoes, mixing it all together. Remove from heat and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350F.
Sauce:
In a medium skillet, melt 2 tbsp of butter and slowly add the corn starch, mixing well. Add the milk and heavy whipping cream and mix until well combined. Add the nutmeg, salt, and pepper and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes or until the sauce has a rich, creamy texture.
Add 2/3 of the sauce to the cod, potatoes, and onion mix and pour into a large baking dish (a 9X13 is about the smallest I would go, it makes a lot!). Cover this mixture with the rest of the sauce and put in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, turn on the broiler and gratin for another 5-8 minutes, keeping an eye on it so it doesn't burn (you want just a golden crust on top).
Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Serve with chopped fresh parsley.
*Note: The first time I made this, I cheated on the amount of potatoes I used. I was in kind of a hurry, and I didn't have 3 lbs. The result was that, even baked, the casserole was a little bit runny. It still tastes really good, but this isn't quite the traditional texture. You might not want to cheat :) all I'm saying.
