Title: Bacalao a la Viscaina
Categories: Fish Mexican Basque
Yield: 6 Servings
| 1 | lb | Potatoes; small new scrubbed, boiled, peeled cut into 3/4" c |
| 1/4 | c | Olive Oil |
| 2 | | White Onions; peeled, chop fine, makes 2 cups |
| 3 | | Garlic Cloves; minced |
| 4 | md | Tomatoes; coarsely chopped about 2 lbs, or two 14.4oz cans o |
| 1/4 | lb | Ham; chopped |
| 1/4 | c | Parsley; Italian, chopped |
| 1 | ts | Black Pepper |
| 1/8 | ts | Cinnamon; ground |
| | pn | Ground Cloves; pinch |
| 1 | lb | Salt Cod; seenote |
| 4 | | Pickled chiles Jalapeno sliced into thin rings |
| 4 | tb | Liquid from pickled chiles |
| 12 | | Pimento-stuffed Green Olives sliced in half |
MikeNote; Salt Cod, soak for 24 hours and Gently rinse, to remove most but
not all of the salt. Do not break up fish. Put the potatoes in a large pan
of cold, salted water, cutting any large potatoes in half or quarters
first. Bring the water to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are just
tender when pierced with a fork, 15-20 minutes. Drain and when cool enough
to handle,, peel away the skin. Set aside. In a heavy pan such as a Dutch
oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, reduce the heat
to very low and slowly saute about one hour. Stir occasionally, watching
that the onion doesn't burn. A few dribbles more of oil may be necessary.
Pre-heat oven to 300F degrees. Turn up the heat, add the garlic and tomato
and cook, stirring constantly until the mixture becomes thick and the
liquid is substantially reduced, about 10-15 minutes. Add the ham, parsley,
pepper, cinnamon and cloves, then gently stir the cod, potatoes, jalapenos
and their juice into the tomato mixture. Transfer to a 1 to 2 quart
casserole, preferably clay, sprinkle with the olives and bake for 30
minutes. Bacalao a la Viscaina can be made ahead and re-heated in a 300F
oven for 20 minutes or until thoroughly hot.