Chorizo and Proscuitto Brioche Loaf - Folar de Chaves

Happy Easter everyone!

Several years ago, Easter for myself was relatively quiet, chocolate wasn't even part of the landscape. A year and a bit ago my 6 year old nephew came to live with me. Suddenly Easter has taken on new meaning, it's filled with chocolate, new and old traditions. It's funny when kids are part of your life you suddenly try to pass on traditions that had no meaning at all or you try to create new ones.
Last year, we had an egg hunt with my friends and their child, then we had breakfast filled with traditional Easter fair. This year we carried on that tradition.

As a child, I remember  having certain foods at a specific time of year. In a world where we can have anything and everything at anytime of year especially when it comes to food, its great to uphold yearly food traditions. I think we have forgotten that in previous decades, people would only  have fruit,vegetables, and sweets at a specific time of year and it was generally followed by a holy day; a celebration of a Saints Day.  In Australia we don't really identify a food with a specific day except for Easter and Christmas. We have Hot Cross Buns for Easter and Christmas pudding for Christmas but this last one can be argued by some to not be part of our modern fair and I'd agree.
For Easter the Portuguese make Folar. Their are two types of Folar, there is the sweet version and the savoury one, which has  preserved meats. Last year I featured the sweet version so this year I made the savoury one.

How can I describe Folar well it's like a brioche.  It's a soft bread and kind of buttery.
The savoury version is called by several names Folar de Chaves or Folar de Tras dos Montes, which just means it's from the North of Portugal. Anything from the north usually features meat, hence the name.
It's so delicious it was eaten in a day.

RECIPE

• 200ml tepid milk
• 10g dry yeast
• 15g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 520g bread flour or plain flour
• 100g soft butter
• 155g chorizo, slices
• 55g pancetta or 4 slices
• 70g prosciutto  4 slices
• 1 egg for brushing the  top of the bread

 1. In a bowl add the tepid milk, sugar and yeast. Leave to stand 15 min until it bubbles and grows.
Whisk the eggs into the yeast mixture.

2. In a mixing bowl add the mixture to the bowl and add the flour. Put the hook attachment on.

3. Beat the mixture till it comes together and beat for 2 minutes. After this time add the soft butter a bit at a time till all of it has gone in. Then beat a further 3 minutes on medium speed.

 4. Transfer the dough onto a floured surface and roll out to 15-20cm, the size of your loaf pan. It should be 10com in depth so not thin.

5. Lay the chorizo first then add the pancetta then the prosciutto.

6. Roll the dough bringing it to form a long roll. Then transform the dough into a loaf pan. Spray the pan so that the bread doesn't stick to the pan.

7.Allow the dough to rest for 30 min or until it has doubled in size. Brush the top of the dough with an egg. Then bake it for 40min at 180 degrees

Chorizo,Scrambled Egg Tortilla Wrap with Tomato Salsa & sour cream

This dish must go under the, 'Not So Portuguese' category which I intend to set up. This dish has all the ingredients the Portuguese love, but I'd say it's probably more Spanish than Portuguese. Never the less it's delicious. You can make this dish for Sunday brunch if you have the energy or for a weekend lunch.
I've made this dish for my family at dinner time when I don't want to slave over a hot stove.



INGREDIENTS (Serves 4 people)

• 1x12  pkt tortilla wrap small/med size
• 8 eggs
• 200ml milk
• 1 tea salt
• 1/2 tea white pepper
• 2 chorizo, sliced
• 1 bunch coriander,chopped
• 2 tea tajine mix or paprika
• 2 large tomato, diced
• 1 bunch shallots(scallion), chopped
• 50g shredded tasty cheese or 1 slice
• 1 pkt (300ml) sour cream
• drizzle of olive oil

1. Crack the eggs into a bowl lightly beating them, then add the milk,  salt and pepper.

2. Dice the tomato into small cubes, then add the shallots, coriander and the tajine mix,add a pinch of salt and pepper.

3. Cut the chorizo into slices, grill or pan fry until crispy, then place to the side.

4.  Heat a fry pan add a drizzle of olive oil then add the eggs and scramble lightly. Don't overcook them, leave them a bit under done.


5. On a work surface place the tortilla down, lay 4 pieces of chorizo slices, a sprinkle of coriander, same scrambled egg(divide the eggs between 4 tortillas), cheese & tajine spice.

6. Wrap the tortilla. Then fry the tortilla in a non stick pan on low/medium heat or place the tortilla in a sandwich press.

7. Once the tortilla is golden brown cut it in half and place it on a plate. Add the tomato salsa and a tablespoon of sour cream. 

TIPS

• You can use parsley instead of coriander.
• Use any type of spice that has a chili & paprika base, such as Moroccan, tajine or anything else.
• The reason you want to under cook your eggs is that when you cook the tortilla the eggs will cook again, therefore you don't want them too dry and rubbery.
• You can add a drizzle of oil to your salsa if you like.