Comfort Fish Chowder from Portugal

You’re right, Max. It’s always interesting to run across a recipe you think is your own that turns up in a culture far removed from yours. Stuffed Green Peppers were a summer Sunday dinner in my great-grandmother’s house. As soon as freezers came along, my family put up dozens of packages of the stuffed peppers so we could enjoy them all winter long too.

You know my dislike of fish in general, so when I recommend a fish recipe, you know it must be exceptional. This one is.

This dish was a staple of a neighbor back in Chicago. Her family were Portuguese fishermen who worked the ocean off Cape Cod and she said that this dish appeared often on the table. Her mother used whatever fish didn’t sell off the boat. I suppose it is the dill seed, bay leaf and cloves that make this Portuguese. Juana said the vermouth was often whatever was in the house, and the baking time and temperature depended on what her mother was doing at the time. Like most soup/stews, the longer and slower it cooks, the better.

Portuguese Oven Fish Chowder:

2 pounds haddock or cod fillets
4 potatoes
1 bay leaf
2 ½ teaspoons salt
2 cups boiling water
4 whole cloves
3 onions
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon dried dill seed
½ cup butter
½ cup vermouth or dry white wine
2 cups light cream

Peel and slice the potatoes and onions. Into a large, heavy casserole, place the fish, potatoes, onions, bay leaf, salt, cloves, pepper, dill seed, butter, wine and boiling water. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for about one hour. Break up the fish into large chunks. Heat the cream to scalding and add to chowder just before serving.

Old Norwegian Fish and Apple Recipe

You are right, Max, we have been heavy on the apple desserts the last few weeks, and apples can be used in every course of the meal. Now here is a really old and unusual Norwegian fish and apple recipe. Tell me, Max, when was the last time you saw a recipe that included Celeriac in the ingredients? Just use some celery instead.

I know you are thinking, “Erma doesn’t really like fish, so why does she have a Norwegian cod recipe around?” Because, my dear, this is one of the few ways you can cook cod that doesn’t taste like fish. The Norwegians must tire of cod too, as my cookbook has dozens of ways to dress up the fish so it doesn’t taste like fish.

Baked Cod with Apples and Celeriac from Norway:

1 ½ pound cod fillet
½ a celeriac, or 1 stalk celery
4 apples, peeled
1 onion
4 tablespoons tomato puree
¼ pint rich milk
salt and pepper to taste

Place celeriac, apples and onion in food processor and chop finely. Spread vegetables in bottom of a shallow, buttered oven dish casserole with lid. Wash and dry the cod and place on top of the veggies. Season with salt and pepper. Mix milk and puree and pour over the fish. Bake in a hot (400 degree) oven for about 30 minutes.

Serves 4.

Kool Kitchen Ideas

Erma, I wondered how long it would be before you would insert one of your infamous booze recipes. Are you sure the Shakers really used sherry, or any forms of alcohol? Isn’t this the group that practiced celibacy, and food reforms?

Fishing was always a big sport during the summer, and Fish Fry’s were a summer staple. Unfortunately, frying fish meant big cast iron frying pans filled with grease, and standing over that sizzling grease. Not a very cool activity. So someone came up with this oven substitute.

Now, I will be the first to admit, that this fish is not as crunchy as the pan-fried version, but it is not quite as calorie laden as the original, and who wants, even today, to stand over a skillet of hot grease?

Oven Fried Fish:

1/2 cup butter
2 pounds fish fillets
1 egg
1 cup cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
dash of black pepper

Use a blender to crush crackers to fine crumbs. Add the seasoned salt and pepper. Whip the egg in the blender, or use a hand whip.

Melt the butter in a 15 X 10 baking pan, such as jelly roll pan, in a 375 degree oven.

Dip the fillets in egg, and then in cracker crumbs. Place each fillet in pan, carefully turning with a pancake turner so both sides are coated with butter.

Bake at 375 for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on thickness of fillets. They should be a light golden brown.

Serves 8.

P.S. Don’t forget a nice, cold Tarter Sauce and cold Coleslaw. You could even Oven Fry some potatoes while the fish is baking.