Easy and very portuguese recipe: Caldeirada de Bacalhau

This is a very easy meal to make and only one pot is required, making it so much easier to clean afterwards! I did it yesterday for dinner and I didn't get tired at all, which is quite rare given my 37 weeks of pregnancy!

The challenge lies in finding salted (only, not fresh or smoked) cod fish (bacalhau). Another important thing about this fish: if you buy it salted you have to put it in water for 3 days and change the water 2/3 times per day depending on the thickness of the meat. You can only cook the cod fish AFTER it is desalted. However, in some supermarkets you can already find the "desalted salted cod fish" - kind of a weird phrase, isn't it? For Croatian readers, I found out that in some supermarkets (such as Lidl) and in the fish market near the Zagreb Cathedral you can find salted cod fish at a reasonable price.

You can make this dish with other fish (the best are the strong tasted ones) such as sardines, shark or ray. If the fish has scales (e.g. sardines) you have to ask someone to take them off before you buy them in order to make this meal.

Portions: it really depends on how much you eat. For women I would say 4 portions, for men maybe only 2... ;-)

Ingredients:
2 big onions
3 big potatoes
1 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
3 medium sized red tomatoes
3 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
1/2 Kg salted cod fish (already desalted)
salt and pepper (to taste)
2 tb.sp. paprika (mild or hot, depending on your taste)
5 tb.sp. olive oil
3 tb.sp. any kind of strong brandy

The preparing and cooking process is rather simple. You get a pan (big enough for all of these ingredients) and start cutting the vegetables in 1/2cm slices and laying them down on the bottom in the form of layers. First the onions, then the potatoes, then the peppers (you can cut them in 2x2cm squares) and the tomatoes on top. Don't forget to put salt over the layer of potatoes and the layer of tomatoes. At this point you chop the garlic and spread it over the tomatoes along with the bay leaves cut in half and a pinch of freshly grounded black pepper. Over it you put the cod fish (big or small pieces, it is up to you) and season it with paprika, olive oil and brandy (which will take the paprika to the lower layers of this stew).
To cook this dish simply leave it covered over a medium/low flame for as long as it takes to cook the tomatoes and the cod fish well (you just open the lid from time to time to check it out). It shouldn't take more than an hour. In the end you will serve a delicious stew full of vegetables and some protein, with a wonderful sauce where you can dip a piece of bread during the meal.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did,


Ana