Photo courtesy of O + Económico

There are said to be over one thousand ways to cook and enjoy delicious salted cod, or bacalhau. Bacalhau com Broa, or corn meal baked salted cod, is one of the more popular and traditional versions of bacalhau in Portuguese cooking. It utilizes corn meal as a crust for a delicious oven baked bacalhau, and when cooked to perfection, is probably one the best ways to enjoy this fish.

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
2 onions, minced
1.5 pounds salted cod “bacalhau” (you should be able to find some locally, if not you can buy some here on Amazon)
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste
4 onions, finely sliced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 cups corn bread
3 egg yolks

Directions:
1) Cover the bacalhau with water and soak for 24 hours, changing the water 3 times.

2) Drain the fish, place it in a saucepan and cover with milk. Add the onion and garlic. Let it simmer gently for 20 minutes.

3) Heat more olive oil in a large saucepan and fry the sliced onion over high heat until browned. Reduce the heat and cook gently until soft and nearly caramelized.

4) Finely crumble the cornbread into a bowl and mix with the chopped garlic, parsley and egg yolks.

5) Remove the fish from the milk. Remove the skin and bones and break the fish into chunks.

6) Preheat the oven to 390 degrees fahrenheit.

7) Cover the baking dish with the fish chunks, followed by the soft onions and the breadcrumb mixture. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and black pepper to taste.

8) Bake for 20–30 minutes until the top is golden brown. Drizzle the dish with some olive oil before serving.