Provincetown Portuguese Cookbook

Peixe

Spicy Salt Cod Cakes with Chouriço and Stewed Fava Beans | Essence - Rustic Rub | Cod Fish Cakes | Boiled Codfish Dinner | Codfish Casserole | Cod Fish Salad | Brazilian Fish Stew | Marinated Fish Steaks in Spicy Wine Sauce | Tim's Portuguese Codfish | Amêijoas Na Cataplana | Amêijoas Bulho Pato | Sea Clam Casserole | Portuguese Clams and Rice | Moon's Mussels | Shrimp Cake | Catfish Vinho D'Alhos | Joyce's Stuffed Flounder | Clara's Flounder | Stuffed Squid | Madeira Squid Stew with Couscous | Tillie's Mackerel | Portuguese Fish Bake

Peixe com Molho Tomate à Moda Clara

Tina Cook Wheeler

The legendary Clara Cook was the source of all the wonderful food for which the former Cookie's Tap was so rightly famous. A tiny woman with twinkling eyes, Clara made her Portuguese delicacies at home in her kitchen next door to Cookie's. She delivered her food personally, bringing it across the back yard into Cookie's kitchen. Clara never came into the bar. Her flounder in tomato sauce was one of the restaurant's most popular dishes. Thanks to her granddaughter, Tina, we have it for this cookbook.

11/2 lb. flounder fillets

1 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup red vermouth

1-16 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 large onion, chopped

Crushed red pepper flakes

Cayenne pepper

2 cups grated mozzarella

Lay the fish in a baking dish, taking care not to overlap. Mix the white wine and vermouth with the tomatoes and onions, squishing the mixture together with your hands. Season with a dash of cayenne pepper and the crushed red pepper. Clara liked red peppers, but you can moderate it downwards if you like. Blanket the fish with the sauce and sprinkle the cheese on top.

Bake at 350 °for 30 minutes.

Serves 4.