Beef Rice  (Arroz de Carne)

        One of the most versatile leftovers is roasted beef or grilled steak.  With less then half a pound of roast beef left from last nights dinner, my imagination runs wild, steak cheese sandwich? or maybe cheese macaroni beef casserole? No not  this time. I'm going for the beef rice, it does not always come out the same as  I am always tempted to change my version each time. Its like I am in competition with myself.

Here is how I made my Beef Rice:

2 tbsp of canola or olive oil
8 oz of roast beef leftover cut in thin slices
4 oz of chourico or linguica (optional) sliced
4 oz of button mushrooms sliced
1 medium onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic chopped
1 cup of white rice
2 cups of good beef broth
1/2 cup white dry wine
1 tsp of dry oregano
1/2 tsp of rosemary
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp of black pepper
1 tsp of red hot pepper sauce (optional)
2 tbsp of fresh parsley chopped
1/2 tsp of dry thyme
1 tbsp of sea salt

                                             

 In a medium pan add canola and oil let it get hot. Add and cook onions till golden, add linguica, roast beef, garlic, mushrooms  and herbs, cook for about 2 minutes. Now add rice cook additional 2 minutes.
Add the beef broth and wine, black pepper,Worcester sauce, and red hot pepper sauce. Let it cook on low flame for about ten fifteen minutes check for salt and adjust to your taste. This dish is great alone or as accompaniment to any roasted or grilled meat.

                                         

Salted Cod Fish Cakes ( Pasteis de Bacalhau)

                      

Salted cod is the most popular fish used in Portuguese cuisine, but especially in Portugal Continental where Portuguese fisherman went far to fish for the famous Cod as far away as the coast of Newfoundland
for the last several hundred years. Salted Cod became a staple to the Portuguese in the Winter months and of course during religious catholic days where abstinence from meat dishes was a must.
There are many Salted Cod dishes but I will start with Pasteis de Bacalhau one of my husbands favorite.
                                         
                                         

                                 

Here's how I make mine.

600g of salted cod (with no bones)
600 g of white or Yukon potatoes
3 large eggs
1 large onion chopped fine
3 garlic cloves minced
3 garlic cloves smashed  (simmer with cod)
1 tsp of hot red pepper (malagueta) this is optional
3 tbsp of chopped fresh parsley
2 fresh bay leaves  or dry (simmer with the cod)
Sea salt to taste
oil for the skillet to fry the little fish cake.

Procedure:
The day before wash the cod very well  by changing the water 3 times. Add the Cod to a ceramic bowl and cover it with fresh water and plastic wrap and refrigerate till the next day, just remember to change the water a couple of times to remove the salt. The whole Idea here is to reconstitute the fish and remove most of the salt.
                                 

The next day wash the cod again, add to a pan with fresh water and the smashed cloves of garlic, and couple bay leaves and let it simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon into a bowl.  To the water that cooked the cod add the potatoes and boil till tender, once cooked take them of the water and mash them with a potato masher and let them get cooled.
 While the potatoes and the cod are cooling, chop the onion fine and the garlic, add the onions and garlic to the hot skillet with couple tbsp of olive oil till soft, add to the cooked onion the cooled cooked Cod and let cook another 5 to 10 minutes as this helps to brake the cod into smaller pieces keep stirring till well mixed and cod has broken down to very small pieces, add this mixture to a larger bowl and also add the mashed potatoes, mix all very well, now start mixing one egg at the time until well incorporated, add the parsley and hot pepper, once all mixed put his mixture in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or even till next day  to get it cold.

                                                   

Once the mixture is cold take 2 tablespoons and shape the cod cake as it shows in the picture and fry
them in hot oil for a couple of minutes each side making sure to watch as they can burn very quickly, at this time sometimes I just make enough for the occasion, the rest I shape in to little cakes and freeze for the next time in a plastic container, and fry them still frozen. I  always try to make extras to have them on hand when ever I want an appetizer or a quick meal.

                                     

I normally serve these with veggies and tomato rice (arroz de tomate) which I will give the recipe later.
In the Summer I serve them cold with salad or simply I serve them as an appetizer.

Oatmeal Bread



                                         

I make my own bread once in the while but I have not made oatmeal bread  in a long time. I came across this recipe from  a  sweet story about a great grandmother on yummly.com. I had to try it.I have adapted  the  recipe to have some  whole wheat flour to have more fiber.
This bread is chewy, light, and delicious. I like it with jam, toasted with butter,  and as sandwich bread.
                                                                                                 

Breads here risen after one hour

slit with a blade the tops just before it goes in the oven

                                                           

                                                       

Here's how the recipe goes:

Ingredients:

2 cups of boiling milk
1 cup of rolled oats
31/2 cups of bread flour
2 cups of pastry whole wheat flour
4 tbsp of shortening or butter
2 tsp of sea salt
2 packets of fresh yeast
1/2 cup of warm water 105degrees
1 large egg
1/2 cup of honey

Heat the milk to a simmer and add oats and let it sit for one hour. Once milk is cooled add shortening, sea salt, honey, and egg.
Add to a measuring cup 1/2 cup of warm water, a pinch of sugar and the two packs of the fresh yeast let it bloom for 10 minutes.
On a large mixer with  the dough hook add the flours make whole in the center and add the cooled milk and ingredients and yeast to the bowl and mix slowly till you get a soft dough make a ball and let it rise to double, once risen cut dough in two and add two buttered rectangular pans 9x5, and let it rise again for about one hour.
Once breads are risen brush with milk and sprinkle some oats on top. Oven at 350 degrees for about one hour...

Hakurei Turnip and carrot soup (Sopa de Nabo e Cenoura)

While on vacation in Portugal last year visiting with relatives my husband and I ate a soup  that was absolutely delicious, of course I had to find out what was the ingredients, per Lena my sister inlaw it was made of turnip greens and pured carrots and chourico.
Because I get CSA from a local organic farmer, some weeks I  get these not so common veggies that I must find ways to use, this week I have Hakurei Turnip, see pictures below, this was the perfect opportunity to make the turnip soup.

                                                     

You can leave it out the chourico sausage and make it  a vegetarian soup.
This mild soup is great for children without the sausage.
Here's how I made it.

Ingredient's

A bunch of Hakurei Turnip greens and bulbs ( any type of turnip greens will do)
2 large Yukon potatoes pealed left whole
10 carrots pealed left whole
3 1/2-4 quarts of water
1 large onion
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 chourico link (Portuguese sausage) or some other smoked sausage
1/4 cup of olive oil
sea salt to taste
1/2 cup of white rice (optional)
                                             

To a medium pot  I added the water, whole potatoes, whole onion, garlic, chourico, and chopped turnip greens, and let it cook for 30 minutes.
Removed all veggies, except the greens into a food processor with some of the liquid and process that for a couple minutes till you get a creamy texture, also remove the chourico sausage and slice thin and put it aside. Add the puree veggies  back into the pot, add the sea salt, olive oil, and the rice, let cook for 15 minutes, after the 15 minutes add the Hakurei  bulbs cut up to bite size. and let it cook an additional 3 minutes, adjust for salt and olive oil  and add the chourico sliced thin back into the pot let it sit a  few minutes soup is done.

Sweet Rice (Arroz Doce)


Sweet rice is a traditional desert for the Portuguese for special occasions, served with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
I make sweet rice at any time of the year, I usually pour it into individual dishes sprinkle with Cinnamon and cover it with a plastic film and keep it refrigerated, during the week we eat it for snacks,
breakfast or desert with a dollop of whipped cream its fabulous,

Here's how I make mine.


2 cups of regular white rice
4 cups of water
1 tsp sea salt
4 cups of whole milk
1 cup of sugar or to taste
1 lemon rind
2-3 egg yokes
Cinnamon

      If this is the first time you ever made sweet rice. You may want to scale the recipe down to half.                              

                                                   

                                                 

Pour in a medium size pan the first three ingredients and cook on low flame for 15 minutes, after the rice is cooked add the milk and sugar and lemon rind and cook rice for an additional 10 minutes, here watch it carefully as the rice can scorch easy, in mean time mix the yokes with 1/2 cup of cold milk. Add some of the hot rice to the yolk mixture so that they don't curdle, add the yolk mixture slowly to the hot rice and cook for a couple minutes or till its thicker.  Adjust for sugar and thickness, and pour it into the individual dishes let it cool sprinkle with Cinnamon and refrigerate...

Beef Stew (Bife Guizado)
Growing up, my mother use to make this beef stew once a week, we loved it with sour dough bread.
Today I make it for my family  and have added my own touches, black pepper and thyme.
Here is how I make it.


                               

Here the stew has cooled down and is ready to be refrigerated

Ingredients

2lb of beef chuck
1/4 cup of flour
4 large white potatoes peeled and cut up to bite size
5  allspice whole corns
1/2 tsp of black pepper freshly ground
2 tsp of sea salt
1 tsp of red hot pepper sauce (optional)
1 tsp of paprika
2 cups of water

1 cup of white wine
1 tsp chopped fine parsley
3- 5 cloves of garlic crushed
1/2 cup of tomato  sauce or 1/4 of tomato paste
1/4 tsp of thyme
1/4 cup of olive oil
1tbp of lard (optional) see note bellow

Wash and cut the beef to 1-2 inch size pieces and dry with paper towel, dredge with the flour. On stove add to a medium pot  1/4 cup of olive oil  and pork fat to a medium size pot, add the beef, bay leave, black pepper, allspice, and and let cook till it begins to color add the onions, garlic, paprika, thyme, and red pepper sauce, let cook for a few minutes, add the wine the water tomato sauce and parsley and let cook for 1hour or till beef is fork tender. Once the meat is tender, add the cut up potatoes and let them cook for 10 minutes. Adjust the stew for salt and pepper.

  Note: Lard  (Pork fat) is sold in ethnic Portuguese stores, when not available I have used bacon drippings, as this fat is only used for flavor you can omit it out of the  recipe..
                                                           
                                                     

                                                             SPRING VEGGIES

Thank goodness its that time of the year to start collecting the CSA, today I collected my first weekly share of  veggies from my local organic Farmer, they all looked so fresh and delicious, I made a salad with lettuce and tomato with a simple olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing for lunch. I will be steaming  bok choi tomorrow for dinner.

My CSA vegetables

A simple salad with a drizzle of good olive oil and balsamic vinegar

kale soup (caldo verde)

KALE SOUP (caldo verde)

Kale soup is one of those soups that is not only good for you,  it is versatile.  Today I will make the traditional  caldo verde with linguica with my own adaptation of adding carrots, You can omit the linguica and make this soup vegetarian just simply add additional olive oil and garlic for extra flavor..

The measured  ingredients for this soup are not crucial its all more or less. you can adjust to your taste by
adding more potatoes and carrots to make the soup thicker.

kale or collard greens are interchangeable for this soup

Cut collard greens, traditionally they are cut in very thin even  thinner strips then what you see here.

Portuguese sausage (chourico) 

INGREDIENT'S:

1-2 lb of  collard greens or kale.
1 large yellow onion pealed and left whole
3-4 large white potatoes pealed and left whole
3-4 large carrots pealed and left whole, (not used traditionally) optional
3-5 garlic cloves pealed and smashed
1/2 lb-1lb of linguica or chourico (Portuguese sausage)
4 quart of fresh water
2 -3 tbsp sea salt to taste
1/4-1/2 cup of olive oil

                                       

I wash my kale in large bowl and let it sit in the water 5 to 10 minutes to make sure all particles and sand are loosen and removed, and I rinse it a couple of times.
I add to a large pot the fresh water,the whole onion, whole garlic, whole potatoes,the whole carrots, salt and the whole linguica sausage, and let it come to a boil, at this time add the kale chopped in a chiffonade style.
Let all vegetables cook till tender, remove potatoes, carrots onion garlic to a food processor or blender and pure, add this pure back into pot. remove linguica and cut in thin slices leave kale in the pot, add the thinly sliced  linguica to the pot with the olive oil and adjust for salt. let cook only minute or two soup is done. This soup lasts in the refrigerator for up to 6 days.

Sweet Bread (Massa Sovada)

From the time I can remember sweet bread was part of most of our holidays. Weather it was my mother, a family member or  the neighbor next door, we knew it was time to celebrate some religious occasion, like the holy spirit festivities. or Christmas and of course Easter with eggs decorating on top,  these sweet bread recipes are passed down from generation to generation, people take great pride, and keeping their recipes a closely guarded secret.
Here is my simplified recipe, it is a large recipe as I always share with my family and friends, you may want to cut it in half.

 Sweet Bread   (Massa Sovada)

 

Free form sweet breads

                                             

Ingredient's:

 3 Cups milk
 1 Lemon or lime rind
 2 1/2  Sticks of butter
 6 Tsp fresh yeast
 5 Tsp salt
 5 Lb unbleached white flour
 12 Large beaten eggs
 3 Cups sugar
 1/2  Cups warm water  about 115°F
 2 Sticks cinnamon  (Optional)
1/2 Stick of butter to butter the sweet breads after they have baked while hot out of the oven.
1 egg white beat with tbsp of water. (egg wash)

In a Saucepan add milk, lemon peal, and let come to simmer,
 and take off stove add the butter, Let cool.
On a small  bowl add warm water and yeast and let it bloom.
On another large bowl add the  4.1/2lb of flour  if you need the remainder last 1/2 lb you can add it towards the end, make a whole in center and add the beaten eggs with sugar,salt and the infused flavored milk, mix a bit and then add the bloomed yeast and mix everything well. (this will be messy) gather the dough a few
times. Start needing and punching the dough for about 15-30 minutes or so, and make
a nice smooth ball, cover and let it rest and rise double its size it may take anywhere from 2-5 hours. After its risen devide dough in about 5-6 breads and add them to generously buttered pans, or make them free form, and let it rise for 3 to 5 hours. Rising times varies Check see if ready for the oven by poking with your finger on the dough. if an indentation stays. for more then 1 minute  it means its ready to bake if indentation comes
right back to its original state it could wait longer.
Heat oven at 200 degrees, add sweet breads brushed with egg wash and bake for 10 minutes increase  to 300 bake 35-40  minutes more or less according to size of the sweet breads.The size of the sweet bread is up to you I normally get 5-6 large sweet breads or 30 individual small bolos, for the small sweet breads the oven time has to be adjusted to 12-18 minutes at 300 degrees  more or less this all depends on your oven. if your sweet breads are getting too dark cover them with a sheet of foil paper while finishing to bake.

Hello Friends!

    

 Influenced by my family and friends, who have been encouraging me to write a food blog for sometime, I have decided it is time to start one now.
     Let me start by letting you know a little bit about myself. I was born in Portugal on the beautiful Island of Terceira in the Azores and lived there until my early teens. I grew up surrounded by old cobble stone streets, red tile roofs, kitchens with large stone ovens where women would bake their own sour dough bread each week and huge sweet breads for the holidays. Lets not forget the bull fights which  are the craze for one week each year. Most important is the local cuisine which is rich  and with strong Mediterranean influence. 
I love cooking and baking traditional Portuguese dishes, but I also love French cuisine like traditional   dishes:  such as onion soup, Bouef Bourguignon, and many others as well  as french pastries cakes and cookies.

I will try to post some photos of the dishes I prepare along the way. I also hope you get inspired to try some of my recipes and let me know how they turned out. Thank you so much for stopping by.