We are all admirers of the holiday tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes, with its festive reminder that the flavors of the sea are satisfying not just in summer, but also through the depths of winter. Thinking forward to the many weeks of winter after the holidays, six Pittsburgh chefs took us on a deep dive into seafood-powered dishes that will brighten the season of chill and gloom with their memorable flavors. In keeping with this issue’s focus on Lake Erie wines, TABLE Magazine’s wine expert Adam Knoerzer pairs each dish with wine from the region.

Please don’t tell Mediterra Cafe’s Chef Aniceto Sousa, but across several days after this photo was taken, we enjoyed his chowder for lunch, and we were very sorry when it was gone. The mild heat from the jalapeños sparks up the soup’s creamy coconut milk base, itself enriched with peppers, celery, garlic, and onions. Cod adds its salty profile, and a splash of fresh lime at the end makes it bright. Like us, you will never tire of this nourishing and warming dish.

COD & POTATO CHOWDER WITH COCONUT MILK, LIME & CILANTRO RECIPE

Makes 2 ½  quarts

INGREDIENTS

4  tbsp EVOO

1 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup celery, diced

1/2 cup carrot, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup red bell peppers, diced

1/2 cup yellow bell peppers, diced

2 tbsp chopped jalapeño

1 tbsp + 1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 cups diced fresh tomatoes

2 tbsp Old Bay seasoning

2 cans clam juice or fish broth (13.5 oz each)

2 cans unsweetened coconut milk (13.5 oz each)

2 cups diced potatoes

1 cup corn, frozen or fresh (optional)

2 lb cod fillet, diced (can also use haddock, halibut, or shrimp)

2 tbsp white rice

1/4 tsp black lime or substitute fresh lime zest

1 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup sliced scallion

Hot sauce to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1.     Heat a 4-quart pot over medium heat.

2.     Add olive oil  to the pot and sweat onions, celery, carrots, garlic, peppers, and jalapeño.

3.     Add half of the salt and season with black pepper. Cook for 5-6minutes stirring often until vegetables are softened.

4.     Add tomatoes and Old Bay, cooking 4-5 minutes, stirring often.

5.     Add clam juice, coconut milk, and potatoes, (corn-optional). Cook until potatoes are tender.

6.     Add fish, rice, lime, and remaining salt; turn down heat and simmer slowly until fish and rice are cooked. Rice acts as a thickener. Stir occasionally.

7.     Add cilantro, scallion, and hot sauce to taste. Serve with baguette or grilled bread.

SUGGESTED WINE PAIRING

Mazza Riesling: The green apple and citrus notes of the wine help cut the richness of the coconut milk while accentuating the jalapeño, cilantro, and lime that highlight the soup.

RECIPE BY CHEF ANICETO SOUSA, MEDITERRA CAFÉ / STYLING BY ANNA CALABRESE / PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE BRYCE

TRY THESE OTHER WINTER SEAFOOD RECIPES:

Grilled Pumpkin Swordfish with Aleppo Pepper Oscar

Sopa de Mariscos

Seared Salmon with Borscht Risotto & Horseradish Crème Fraîche

Steamed Striped Bass with Ginger & Scallions

Roasted Oysters with Cornbread, Leek & Banana Pepper Crumble

A Pittsburgh native, I’m fiercely proud of our city and its not-heralded-enough cuisine. And yet, when my boyfriend, Will, suggested we move to his hometown of Rio de Janeiro, it was hard to resist. He whispered such sweet nothings in my ear: I love you, he said, and things are open after eight. And so I bid a tearful tchau to the 24-Hour Eat’n Park and headed south.

Read the full article here.

COXINHA DE FRANGO RECIPE

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

5 cloves of garlic, minced

½ medium onion, finely chopped

2¼ cups chicken breast, cooked and shredded

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp butter

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup milk

2 cups all purpose flour

1 egg

1 cup panko

2-3 cups vegetable oil

Instructions

For the chicken filling, heat the olive oil in a large pot and sauté garlic and onion until soft and brown. Add shredded chicken and salt and pepper and cook until chicken is brown. Reserve.

For the dough, in the same pot add butter, chicken broth, and milk and bring to a boil. Stir in flour until dough is formed. Knead the dough while it is warm but not hot.

Pinch off a piece of dough about the size of an egg and roll into a ball. Using your hands, flatten the dough. Spoon fill with chicken into the center. Wrap the dough into a pear shape and make sure there aren’t are holes.

While heating a pot of vegetable oil to 350°, dredge the dough in egg and then panko, then deep fry a few at a time until golden brown and cooked through.

STORY AND RECIPE BY RAMSEY DANIELS / STYLING BY LAURA GOBLE / PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSIAH HULL

Don’t miss a single delicious thing.

Subscribe to TABLE Magazine here.

A Pittsburgh native, I’m fiercely proud of our city and its not-heralded-enough cuisine. And yet, when my boyfriend, Will, suggested we move to his hometown of Rio de Janeiro, it was hard to resist. He whispered such sweet nothings in my ear: I love you, he said, and things are open after eight. And so I bid a tearful tchau to the 24-Hour Eat’n Park and headed south.

Read the full article here.

PUDIM DE LEITE CONDENSADO RECIPE

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup whole milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 345 degrees.

In a nonstick saucepan, melt the sugar over low heat. Do not stir the sugar while it is melting. After about 10 minutes, the sugar should turn into a golden caramel. Immediately pour the caramel into a round baking cake tin or springform pan. Let it cool.

Separate the eggs. Put the egg yolks in a blender and mix at medium speed for 5 minutes. Add sweetened condensed milk, whole milk, and egg whites. Blend again until the mixture is homogeneous. Pour the mixture into the baking pan.

Place baking pan on a towel inside a roasting pan and place roasting pan on oven rack. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water to reach halfway up the side of the baking pan. Close the oven. Constantly check the level of the water bath and add boiling water during baking if necessary.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a skewer inserted an inch from the edges of the pudim comes out clean. Let cool completely before unmolding, then refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.

STORY AND RECIPE BY RAMSEY DANIELS / STYLING BY LAURA GOBLE / PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSIAH HULL

Try these other desserts from TABLE:

Earl of Darkness Chocolate Tart

Saffron Panna Cotta

Polish Honey Cake with Apple Pear Syrup

Don’t miss a single delicious thing.

Subscribe to TABLE Magazine here.

A Pittsburgh native, I’m fiercely proud of our city and its not-heralded-enough cuisine. And yet, when my boyfriend, Will, suggested we move to his hometown of Rio de Janeiro, it was hard to resist. He whispered such sweet nothings in my ear: I love you, he said, and things are open after eight. And so I bid a tearful tchau to the 24-Hour Eat’n Park and headed south.

I began experiencing Brazilian cuisine through its numerous corner cafés. They serve many baked snacks, including coxinha de frango, deep-fried balls of dough filled with seasoned and shredded chicken. The balls come to a crest at the top, looking like teardrops from a god I could believe in.

One night, Will said he was making stroganoff; I prepared to choke down the brown beef and mushroom stew the Russians invented to survive the tundra. I was pleasantly surprised when he brought out Brazilian stroganoff: a more optimistically colored chicken stew seasoned with tomato sauce and garlic and topped with shredded potato chips. This was my kind of country.

My next culinary experience came at a birthday party where the host served feijoada, Brazil’s national dish. Feijoada is a bean-based stew containing several different types of Brazil’s famous salted meats; it’s prepared in a pressure cooker and typically served at family gatherings or special occasions. It was, in a word, delicious.

The feijoada was accompanied by a churrasco, the Brazilian term for barbecue. Brazil is a more advanced society, barbecue-wise, than the States; instead of waiting for all of the meat to be “done,” Brazilians serve a rotating cornucopia throughout the night. As soon as one type of meat was ready, our churrasco-master made a lap of the room with the skewer. Then it was right back to the grill – he’d be back with a new skewer in minutes.

Both feijoada and churrasco are served with farofa, a toasted cassava flour mixture. Farofa is omnipresent in Brazilian culture; I once attended a party titled “Death by Farofa.” It’s divisive in my “Americans in Brazil” Facebook group, where members debate its culinary value and lament this country’s lack of Double Stuf Oreos. I love it because it adds the same saltiness and crunch like the breadcrumbs on my grandma’s mac and cheese.

I’ve also gotten a taste of Brazil through their buffets.  Whereas American buffets tend to be sit-down, all-you-can-eat affairs (again, with gratitude to Eat’ n Park), Rio’s buffets have you pay by weight and offer to-go containers. I invariably make my way to the desserts table, where I’ve become fond of pudim de leite. A Brazilian take on flan, this condensed-milk delicacy rarely makes it back to my apartment.

CHICKEN STROGANOFF RECIPE

Ingredients

1 kg chicken breast, cut in cubes

½ clove of garlic

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp of butter

½ onion

2 cups of tomato sauce

300 g of table cream

Olive oil

Instructions

In a saucepan, combine a drizzle of olive oil with chicken, garlic, salt and pepper. In a large skillet, melt the butter and brown the onion. Add the seasoned chicken until golden. Add the tomato sauce and a bit of water. Add the table cream and remove from the heat before boiling. Serve with white rice and shredded potato chips.

FEIJOADA RECIPE

Ingredients

Olive oil

2 onions, chopped

10 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 bay leaves

100 g smoked bacon, cut into slices

3 calabrese or chorizo sausages

250 g pork shoulder, cut into cubes

500 g black beans, soaked overnight, then drained

Instructions

In a large pressure cooker, over medium heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions and garlic. Crush the bay leaves and add to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté for 5 minutes.

Add all your meats. Continue to cook for 4 to 6 minutes. Add the beans and water. Wait for the pressure cooker to gain pressure, reduce the heat to medium-low and wait 30 to 35 minutes.

Release the pressure from the cooker and add water if necessary to keep the beans covered; wait for it to boil. Re-season with salt and pepper as needed.

Serve with white rice, kale, and farofa.

CHURRASCO (BARBECUE)

Ingredients

A 500 g piece picanha (top sirloin cap)

500 g of chicken thighs

250 g of pork sausages (no seasoning needed)

Salt, black pepper, and garlic to season

2 limes

Instructions

Grill all the meats until cooked to your liking. Serve with white rice, farofa, lettuce salad, and potato salad.

FAROFA RECIPE

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped

½ onion

100 g of bacon, cut finely into small cubes

2 cups of manioc (cassava) flour

2 tbsp of butter, room-temperature

Instructions

Fry the garlic and onion in oil for about 2 minutes. Add the chopped bacon.

Remove from the heat and stir in the manioc flour. Add the butter.

Mix until manioc flour absorbs all the bacon oil and butter.

STORY AND RECIPE BY RAMSEY DANIELS / STYLING BY LAURA GOBLE / PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSIAH HULL

Don’t miss a single delicious thing.

Subscribe to TABLE Magazine here.