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Food + Wine.

Sitting around complaining about a supper club that didn't quite make it off the ground, we decided to try our hand at our own version. Here goes! So far we seem to have the right number of people...anymore, I think we'd have a hard time fitting anywhere. Lets see if its a critical mass.

First some ground rules, then the recipes.
1.First Sunday of every month. 6pm-ish
2.All homemade, no store bought anything
3.Lets try to actually cook the dish together if we can --that means, depending on the recipe, we will meet quite a bit earlier
4. Let's pick a theme and design a menu around it as a group! Blog your ideas!



Last time:
Lets begin with the dinner that (re)started the idea: Bacalhau!

Natasha and Ricardo brought us two Bacalhau Dishes; Portuguese fare that is the stuff of holiday dinners all through their childhood. Think of it as the ultimate Portuguese comfort food.

Bacalhau Espiritual

Ingredients:

• 1lb of Salt Cod (Bacalhau)
• ½ lb carrots
• ½ lb onions
• 4 cloves of garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil
• ½ lb leeks
• Potato chips or fries (thinly cut)
• Salt & pepper

Bechamel sauce

• 2Tsp of butter
• 2Tsp of flour
• 16oz milk
• salt
• pepper
• nutmeg

Soak cod fish overnight.

In a pan, cook fish in unsalted water for about 15min (be careful not to overcook it). Let it seat for a few min, de-bone and flake fish. Set it aside.

Shred the carrots, and cut the onions and leeks in thin slices

In an iron cast add EVOO, garlic, onions, leeks and carrots. Cook it in low heat till golden. Add the cod let it cook for a little longer. Check salt and pepper and adjust seasoning accordingly.

Prepare the béchamel sauce, and add it to the COD mix. Finally, add the potatoes. Bake it for 30min @ 350F in a casserole dish.

Bacalhau a Ze do Pipo

Ingredients

1 lb. of salt cod
5 to 6 large potatoes
2 large onions, sliced
3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
4 cloves of garlic
black olives, those sliced ones are real good
black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of parsley, chopped fine if fresh
1 tablespoon of vinegar or the juice of one lemon

Soak cod fish overnight. Boil the cod fish the next day in unsalted water for 15 min. Flake fish and set aside. Boil potatoes, slice and set aside. Slice onion, crush garlic and sauté in olive oil. In large casserole add a layer as follows, potatoes, then fish, sliced hard-eggs, onion, peppers, garlic. Sprinkle olives and parsley. Pour olive oil over the entire casserole. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for a 1/2 hour in a casserole dish.

Next Up was a Ratatouille by Gabi. Gabi, post the recipe! There was a smokiness to the dish that was outstanding.

Scott brought a really great tapanade: tons of olives, garlic, and my favorite: anchovies. Scott: Post it!

To round it out, (and becuase Ricardo said there wasn't going to be enough food) I cooked a bone in pork loin.