Portuguese food

The food of Portugal is rich, & has a depth of intensity just like its people.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Dried Cod Fish with potatoes & eggs - Bacalhau a Bras


Merry Christmas everyone.
My apologies for not posting in so long, but now that I'm feeling better I'm less home bound & seem to have less time to blog.
During Christmas the Portuguese generally eat Bacalhau (Codfish,dried), as it's really the national food & is very much loved by the Portuguese.

It's made from shreds of codfish, fried potatoes, caramelised onions, scrambled eggs & garnished with black olives & parsley.This has to be one of my favorite meals ever, I love the saltiness of the codfish & the creaminess of the eggs.

It's a simple & easy dish to prepare, it's usually eaten at lunch or dinner.





INGREDIENTS
SERVES 6

  • 3 medium onions, peeled & sliced thinly
  • 8 garlic cloves,peeled & chopped
  • 200ml olive oil
  • 5 large potatoes, peeled & cut into french fried batons
  • 1lt oil for frying
  • 400g dried codfish
  • 10 eggs large size
  • 100ml milk
  • 3 tea salt
  • 2 tab parsley chopped
  • 1 tab parsley chopped, extra for garnish
  • 15 black olives 



1. Soak the codfish over night in cold water changing the water 2 or 3 times to remove the salt.
One the salt has been removed pull the codfish apart into shreds using your hands.

2.  In a large fry pan heat the olive oil on medium heat add the onions & fry for 3 min then add the garlic cook the onions till there soft but don't have too much colour.
Then add the codfish shreds & the parsley cook for 3 min, once this is done leave it to the side off the heat until the potatoes are fried.




3. Fry the potatoes in small batches  in hot oil till golden brown.As the potatoes cook drain them on absorbent paper.



4. In a bowl break your eggs then mix them with a fork then add the milk & the salt.

5. Put the onion & codfish mix back on the stove on high heat, add the potatoes giving a quick stir, than add the egg mix stirring with a wooden spoon.
Scramble the eggs till there cooked ( I like it slightly runny).
Sprinkle the dish with chopped parsley & garnish with black olives on top.


TIPS
  • Adding a bit of milk makes the eggs mixture lighter
  • No need to over cook the codfish as this will make it dry, so just cook it for the suggested time as it will cook again once you add the egg mixture.
  • I haven't included a lot of salt as codfish can be quite salty so feel free to add extra if you like.