Bear with me on this first menu item, because it needs a little explaining. REALLY GOOD TUNA "SALAD" is the best title I can come up with for this one, and part of the issue is that "tuna salad" refers to that mayonnaise-y deli sandwich stuff to most people. I have plenty of love for that version of tuna salad, but the dish I'm preparing here really has nothing to do with it. This week's tuna "salad" is inspired by a wonderful preparation that I had on the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores. That area has a big, very high quality tuna canning plant, and one of the products they produce is filets of tuna AND sweet potato, all packed in quality olive oil. Let me tell you, some quality tuna and sweet potato on a simple cream cracker... that's really good stuff. The flavor combination sounds a little odd at first, but it works so well. I'll be recreating that experience for everyone this week, with quality European oil-packed tuna, roasted sweet potato, cream crackers, and hard-cooked egg to slice and serve on top of each bite. This is really good stuff, and the flavor combination is surprisingly tasty.

As you might already know, one of my favorite parts of traveling is finding regional foods that are so ingrained into the culture that the locals don't even think it's a big deal. Fancy food in fancy restaurants with swoops and dots of fancy sauce is fine and all, but I'm talking about the types of foods that you only miss when you move away. You know what I mean. Oftentimes, the best versions of these dishes are found in the least likely of places. The gas station near where we were staying in Portugal sold these beautiful roasted chickens, and I thought picking one up for dinner was a great idea. After some miming and hand waving, I learned that I could not, in fact, buy one... they had all been reserved since that morning. When you have to call a gas station in the morning to reserve a chicken, you know that's good chicken. Of course, I reserved one for the next day, and it was definitely worth it. My PORTUGUESE GAS-STATION CHICKEN will be a recreation of that hard-to-get chicken, with a flavorful chili marinade and spicy-sour sauce on the side, all served over roasted crushed potatoes. This dish is one of my favorites for a reason.

While the main item this week is great on its own, it's even better with some small contrasting sides. The first of those is ROASTED PORTOBELLO AND FAVA BEANS. Vegetables aren't a huge focus of Portuguese cooking, though some specific ones are quite celebrated. One thing that I saw all over the place during our trip to Portugal was fava beans, cooked low and slow. Think big fluffy white beans, often paired with another simple vegetable (like, oh I don't know, maybe mushrooms?) I'll be keeping things simple and straightforward for this one and let our two vegetables shine. Meaty strips of marinated portobello mushrooms and big tender fava beans, all in a simple tomato gravy with some simple herbs and not much else. You don't need to mess with things too much when the main ingredients speak for themselves.

* every once in a while, proper portobello mushrooms are hard to find... if that happens this week, I'll use cremini mushrooms instead, which are the same mushroom but smaller

As the other side to go along with the main item, we'll be having KALE AND CHOURIÇO. Chouriço is just a Portuguese version of the chorizo that you already know and love, and kale pops up a lot all over the country. There's a kale and chorizo soup that I found on almost every restaurant menu, and I'm going to take the flavors from that and apply them to this dish. Seared kale, chorizo sausage, plenty of garlic, and a splash of white wine to keep things interesting. Greens and tasty sausage is a classic for a reason, and classics never go out of style.

Dessert this week is PASTEL DE NATA, which is about as Portuguese as desserts get. If you've ever been to Portugal, you've probably had one before, because they are everywhere. It's a sweet egg tart with a rich tender crust, and is sold at every single bakery in the whole country. And there are a lot of bakeries. Historically, desserts like this were sold by convents, and those convents used egg whites to starch their clothes. With all those extra egg yolks, the kitchens started using them for desserts and pastries! Turns out that having extra egg yolks is the mother of pastry innovation! It's the most typical dessert in Portugal, and it's delicious.