Portuguese Kitchen

Quay Restaurant

2011-09-12T18:00:00.000+10:00

Wow, how long has it been since I last posted. This wasn't intentional, but life has become incredibly busy and I just haven't had time to sit and write a post.
I'll try to keep going but if it proves too much then I'll have to retire I'm afraid.

So after a very long absence I'm not going to write about Portuguese food, I know outrages isn't it, but truth be told I haven't been taking photos of the food that I make, again time restraints.

A very dear friend of mine was going back to her homeland, so we decided to splurge and go to Quay.
What an experience! We went on a very cold winters day when it was pouring outside, but the rain did not dampen our mood. We were excited!

What can I say about the food, fantastic! I went several months ago and since then the menu has changed, so I haven't got the name of every dish, sorry guys.

We decided to go for the four course menu. Check out their website.

Sashimi of sea scallops,

smoked eel flowers, apple, organic crosnes, horseradish, sorrel shoots, virgin pine kernel oil

Mud crab congee, fresh palm heart,

Hand shelled mud crab, Chinese inspired split rice porridge

Crayfish with a beautiful sauce. (Sorry guys I forgot)

Pigeon Breast with liver puree

Lamb & Pork

Sea Bass

Guava & custard apple snow egg (the famous dessert featured on Masterchef)

Quay's

Eight texture chocolate cake

A very over cast day. The rain stopped enough for me to take this photo.

Chorizo and Proscuitto Brioche Loaf - Folar de Chaves

2011-04-25T18:22:00.000+10:00

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

2011-04-10T23:03:00.001+10:00

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.

Bairro Portuguese - Petersham Food & Wine Fair

2011-03-13T17:22:00.003+11:00

Every year in March, Marrickville council hosts the Bairro Portuguese - Petersham Food & Wine fair.
It's held on Audley and Fisher Streets, Petersham. This one was on Sunday 13 March 2011.
I've attended these before in previous years but never as a blogger.
I arrived early as I know in previous years it gets pretty crowded & it's generally hot.
The festival feature food & drink from some of the businesses in the area. The food isn't just from Portugal but also from the Portuguese colonies, such as Goa, Brazil.
Walking through the crowd I bumped into family and friends I hadn't seen in a while.
There was one disappointment, this year there wasn't any Filhos which are fluffy dougnuts. I was eagerly anticipating trying these again. Hopefully next year they'll be there.

A stall selling Portuguese memorabilia.

Prawn Rissole - Rissole de Camerao

These are a dough that's filled with prawn mixture, crumbed & fried.

I loved these when I was younger. You serve these at special occasions.

Orange roll - Torta de Laranga

These are sweet & light

Chorizo bread - Pao de Chorizo

These are filled with chorizo.

I'll have to admit that these weren't as good as other one's I've tried before. The dough was heavy & really doughy.

Portuguese dancers called Rancho. It's very traditional dancing. When I was a child I wanted to join this dance club. For me it felt really exciting to be able to dance in this way. It never happened unfortunately.

Watch these videos it features traditional Portuguese dancing. The group is called O Rancho.

Calamari filled with Rice, prosciutto and chorizo - Lulas Recheadas

2011-02-28T08:10:00.006+11:00

I know I know, seafood again. I think I should have named this blog Portuguese seafood kitchen.
I guess you all know by now that my heritage is from the Algarve, so I do love my seafood. It may seem as though my family and I eat nothing but seafood but I promise we don't. Usually just once per week. Seafood I find is really easy and quick to cook. I know some people out there are afraid of seafood, thinking it's really hard to cook and very time consuming.
A lot of the dishes I feature are traditional fare and so the majority of recipes were made up by peasants who had little money, time and culinary skills to design anything very complicated. This is not to say the food isn't tasty, on the contrary it's delicious. Simple I feel doesn't mean it lacks flavour or depth.
These recipes are very simple and easy to prepare, with a hectic life I have little time to spend slaving over a hot stove especially in this 30+ degree weather.

RECIPE

1 medium brown onion, chopped small dice
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 red capsicum, diced small
6 slices, prosciutto, chopped
1 chorizo, skin removed,chopped small pieces
2 rashes bacon, rind removed, chopped
3 bay leaves
150ml olive oil
1 cup long grain rice
1 tea paprika
1 bunch parsley, chopped, keeping stalk part aside
300ml white wine
800g tinned tomato pulp
1 lt water
3 tea salt
2 kg calamari fresh, medium size

Holding the calamari firmly, grasp the head and pull gently, twisting if necessary, to pull the head away from the body without breaking the ink sac. The internal body and tentacles will come with it.
Cut the tentacles from the head just below the eyes.
Set aside the the tentacles and the wings to use (they're edible and tasty).Keep the ink sack, if desired.
At the top of the body, there is a clear piece of cartilage. Pull it out and discard.
If the squid has an outer spotted membrane-type skin, pull it off.
Under cold water, wash the tube carefully, inside and out, to get rid of any sand or other remaining tissues, and wash the tentacles carefully as well, making sure you don't break the tube.
Keep the tentacles and wings on the side, cutting them into small bite size pieces.

On a medium heat place a fry pan and heat the olive oil. Add the onion and garlic saute for 1 min then add the capsicum, and bay leaves, saute a further 3 min until the ingredients are soft. Then add chorizo, prosciutto and bacon and fry for 4 min. Add the tentacles and the wings of the calamari.

Add the rice stir for 3 min adding paprika and the stalks of parsley. Coat the rice well with all the ingredients, then add the white wine, tomato pulp, chopped parsley, water and salt. Bring to the boil then turn off the heat immediately (the rice will at this stage still be raw, this is what you want).

With a large sieve drain the rice mixture, into a bowl keeping the liquid. Transfer the rice to separate bowl.

Once the rice mixture is a bit cool, fill each calamari tube with some rice with a teaspoon. Secure the end of the calamari tube with a toothpick so that none of the mixture falls out. Place each filled calamari tube onto a plate.

In a baking dish place some rice if any is left. Then place calamari tubes on top of the rice. Then place the reserved liquid on top and cover the calamari tubes. Place a drizzle of virgin olive oil on top of the calamari. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes on 180 degrees.

NOTE

I always separate stalk and leaf. I then fry the stalk part, as this add extra flavour to the food.
Try to get medium size fresh calamari. I find that the frozen calamari is usually too large and only good to be used for deep fried calamari.
Bring the rice to a boil then switch off heat immediately otherwise the rice will over cook. The rice finishes cooking in the calamari.

Roast Pork - Porco Assado

2011-02-15T23:00:00.004+11:00

I thought I'd post something a bit different, instead of my usual seafood dishes. The Portuguese love roasts believe it or not. Typically meat dishes are from the North of Portugal. The north is beautiful country, that has lush green hills & so much history. I hadn't ever been to the north until I married my husband whose family is from this region.

The famous Bom Jesus. I've been here several times, the baroque stairs are a sight to be seen.

An old building. I just had to take this photo, as is was just around the corner where my father in law grew up. This was a typical house 50-100 years ago.

Northern country side, taken from the car window

Recipe

2kg rolled pork shoulder
200ml olive oil
1 tab paprika
1 tab mixed dried herbs
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tab salt
8 potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks
1/4 piece (or 3 cups) pumpkin, deseed & cut into chunky pieces
2 medium brown onions, cut into thick rounds
1/2 cup white wine

1. In a bowl add all the dry ingredients, then add the olive oil. Rub some of the mixture onto the meat & rub all over. Let stand while you cut the vegetables.

2. Peel the potatoes & cut into chunks, then leave aside. De seed the pumpkin & cut into chunks, leave the skin on if you like, add it to the potatoes. Peel the onions & cut them into round chunks, set aside.

3. Add the potatoes & pumpkin to the rest of the marinade mixture & toss the vegetables.

4. In a roasting tray add the pork shoulder then add the vegetables scattering them around the pork. Place into a medium heat oven 170- 180 degrees for 40 minutes.

5. After this time add the onions, placing them around the tray. Turn the vegetables over, add the white wine & cook a further 30 min.

6. Remove the pork from the tray & let it stand for a few minutes. Remove the string from the meat. Then remove the skin & cut the crackle.

7. Cut the pork into slices. Place the vegetables onto a platter, add the pork slices.
Serve with the pan juices.

Tips

Check after 50 minutes to see if the pork is cooked, if it is remove it & place covered in a warm place.
The reason I add the onions at a later time instead of straight away is that it takes less time to cook.
If the meat is cooked & the vegetables aren't, remove the pork & keep cooking the vegetables.

1 year anniversary - Friands ( Toucinho do Ceu)

2011-01-31T23:56:00.001+11:00

Portuguese Kitchen turns 1 year old today. It was started in the wee hours of the 31st at 12.30am when this new blogger couldn't sleep due to glandular fever. When I'd started the blog I'd been home bound for 5 months. I was very bored & restless, & thought it would be a brilliant idea to pass away some of the time by sharing the food I grew up with. Little did I know it would take another year for me to fully recover.
To commemorate the occasion I've got a new header, thanks to my sister in law for designing it. I hope you like it.

In 2008 I took a trip to Portugal & found that my passion for Portuguese food grew, it is as I've said many times before, it's more than just Portuguese chicken & custard tarts. I think I've proven that in this blog.
With my new found health my life this year is going in a very different direction, I plan to be very busy so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post, whether it'll be every week or every month. Whatever it's going to be I'm happy this blog has grown, at last count several thousand read this blog every week, from countries such as the US, UK, Australia, & Portugal being 4th on the list. It has surely surpassed my expectations, I really had expected only a handful of people reading this blog.

I hope you've enjoyed reading & learning about Portugal.
Today as it's celebration time, I've posted a friand cake, which is french, the Portuguese have a very similar cake called Toucinho do Ceu.
This recipe is slightly different to the original Portuguese one, I think it's much lighter.
Almond trees grow all over the Algarve & each winter for 3 weeks they flower producing an explosion of colour that blankets the landscape with white or pink blossoms. It's a site to be hold really. There are lot's & lot's of sweets made in Portugal using almonds.
The recipe I've provided is from the Women's Weekly More Cakes & Slices, it's a great recipe which I've used for years.

Recipe

185g butter, melted
1 cup almond meal
6 egg whites, beaten
240g icing sugar
75g plain flour
100g frozen or fresh mixed berries

1. Weigh the dry ingredients in a bowl

2. Whip the egg white lightly

3. Melt the butter add it to the dry ingredients & then fold in the egg whites gently.

4. Spray the muffin tins with baking spray. Add the friand mixture into each tin. Bake for 10 min at 170 degrees. After 10 min add the mixed berries & bake a further 10 min.

Note

If you add the frozen berries straight to the mixture I find that they sink to the bottom, so cooking the friand slightly allows them to stay on top.

Cuttlefish in black ink - Chocos com tinta

2011-01-20T22:52:00.000+11:00

Happy New Year everyone.
Blogger has introduced a new section that shows your stats & I was blown away by how many people are reading my blog a week,several thousand, which totally surprised me as I only have 10 followers, it's great to know people are enjoying something I love.
So I encourage you to either leave a comment or sign up to become a follower, we bloggers love to know what you think of what is posted as a lot of work goes into a post.

During the holidays I had a family member visit from the UK & they requested seafood, as the part of the UK they live doesn't have the quantity or quality that we Australians enjoy.
I made all the favorites, octopus, mussels with garlic,wine & parsley, garlic prawns, cuttlefish in black ink.

I have memories of eating this dish as a small child & remember very vividly watching my mother clean the cuttlefish.
I can't tell you how delicious this dish is, the black ink has the intense flavour of the sea.

Ingredients

100ml olive oil

1 kg cuttlefish

6 garlic cloves chopped

4 bay leaves

1/2 tea salt

100ml white wine

1 tab parsley, chopped

1. Hold the cuttlefish in your hand & pull the tentacles out being very careful to not break the ink sac.
Once the tentacles are removed, remove the ink sac by cutting it away from the intestines & placing it aside in a bowl.
Pull out the cuttle bone & under cold running water pull the skin off.
Cut the cuttle fish into bit size pieces.

2. Heat a fry pan on medium heat add the oil then the garlic, 20 seconds later add the cuttlefish, bay leaves & then the ink sacs, stir for 1 min. The ink sacs should release the black ink, add the salt & the white wine & cook a further 3 min.
Transfer the cuttlefish to a serving dish & sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Dried Cod Fish with potatoes & eggs - Bacalhau a Bras

2010-12-25T08:32:00.000+11:00

Merry Christmas everyone.
My apologies for not posting in so long, but now that I'm feeling better I'm less home bound & seem to have less time to blog.
During Christmas the Portuguese generally eat Bacalhau (Codfish,dried), as it's really the national food & is very much loved by the Portuguese.

It's made from shreds of codfish, fried potatoes, caramelised onions, scrambled eggs & garnished with black olives & parsley.This has to be one of my favorite meals ever, I love the saltiness of the codfish & the creaminess of the eggs.

It's a simple & easy dish to prepare, it's usually eaten at lunch or dinner.

INGREDIENTS
SERVES 6

3 medium onions, peeled & sliced thinly
8 garlic cloves,peeled & chopped
200ml olive oil
5 large potatoes, peeled & cut into french fried batons
1lt oil for frying
400g dried codfish
10 eggs large size
100ml milk
3 tea salt
2 tab parsley chopped
1 tab parsley chopped, extra for garnish
15 black olives

1. Soak the codfish over night in cold water changing the water 2 or 3 times to remove the salt.
One the salt has been removed pull the codfish apart into shreds using your hands.

2. In a large fry pan heat the olive oil on medium heat add the onions & fry for 3 min then add the garlic cook the onions till there soft but don't have too much colour.
Then add the codfish shreds & the parsley cook for 3 min, once this is done leave it to the side off the heat until the potatoes are fried.

3. Fry the potatoes in small batches in hot oil till golden brown.As the potatoes cook drain them on absorbent paper.

4. In a bowl break your eggs then mix them with a fork then add the milk & the salt.

5. Put the onion & codfish mix back on the stove on high heat, add the potatoes giving a quick stir, than add the egg mix stirring with a wooden spoon.
Scramble the eggs till there cooked ( I like it slightly runny).
Sprinkle the dish with chopped parsley & garnish with black olives on top.

TIPS

Adding a bit of milk makes the eggs mixture lighter
No need to over cook the codfish as this will make it dry, so just cook it for the suggested time as it will cook again once you add the egg mixture.
I haven't included a lot of salt as codfish can be quite salty so feel free to add extra if you like.

Braised Pork & Chickpeas - Porco com Grao de Bico

2010-11-30T19:12:00.001+11:00

I sometimes sit around trying to deciding what I can make for dinner, like many of you I'm sure. Having this blog makes it twice as hard as I don't want to show case things I've made before, I want to show the best of what Portuguese food has to offer.
So during the week I make lots of different type of food Italian, French, Middle eastern & lots of Asian dishes, but since I started this blog, I try to cook at least 2 Portuguese meals a week.

The food I grew up with, is like most peasant food, the taste is unbelievably good but visually it can sometimes look unappealing especially when you want to take a photo.
Since starting this blog I've learnt to tweak a recipe here & there or totally modernise it, to the Australian palette.
A few are totally original where I've kept it totally authentic, others I've had to reduce the amount of oil or reduce the cooking time, changing cooking methods to bring out the best of the ingredients or omit ingredients that I dislike such as pigs ears, pigs feet, intestines.

This dish falls into the changing category, traditionally this dish has pigs ears, the meat is boiled with aromatics & potatoes.
I changed the dish by using pork scotch as it requires less cooking time & needs to just be lightly braised. The marbling in the meat gives it a rich flavour. I've also added capsicum paste to add depth giving it a robust flavour, as well as making it visually appealing.
It has all the ingredients the Portuguese love pork & chickpeas.

INGREDIENTS
Serves 6- 8 people

MARINADE

1.3kg scotch pork
2 tab capsicum paste
1 cup dry white wine
2 garlic cloves, minced

375g dry chickpeas
200ml olive oil
1 brown onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 chorizo, sliced in half then cut into chunks
1 red capsicum, cut into chunks
1 tea smokey paprika
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
2 tab parsley, chopped
4 bay leaves
2 cups water
1 tab salt
2 tab parsley chopped extra for garnish

1. Cut the meat into cubes, then add the capsicum paste, garlic, stir the ingredients until well combined in a bowl adding the wine at the end. Allow the meat to marinate overnight.
Place the chickpeas in a large bowl, then cover with double the amount of water & soak over night.

2. Drain the chickpeas & place them into a pot covering them in water, then bring to the boil cooking them till there tender, then drain. Put them aside till needed.
In a deep casserole pot, heat oil on a medium heat, add the onions, garlic cook for 3 min then adding the chorizo & cook till the onion is soft & the chorizo brown.Then add the capsicum cook a further 1 min.
Add the paprika cook for 1min then add the tomatoes, white wine, parsley, bay leaves, water, chickpeas, salt. Cook on medium heat for 20min.

3. In a fry pan add more oil to fry pan, heat the pan on high heat then add the pork in small batches, cook for 4 min or until the pork is browned on all sides. Place the pork in bowl until all the meat has been fried.

4. Place all the pork into the stewed chickpeas & simmer on med/high for 10- 12min, sprinkle 1 tab of chopped parsley on top.
Serve the dish with boiled potatoes.

TIPS

Make sure that when you cook the chickpeas no salt is added to the beans otherwise the beans won't become soft
Check to make sure the capsicum is soft before you add the pork
Don't over cook the pork other wise it will become dry & tough, so after 10 minutes check to see if the meat is cooked. It's tender enough that it doesn't need a long cooking time

Shopping Trip to Petersham

2010-11-24T21:19:00.000+11:00

Once every 3 months I take a pilgrimage to Petersham, the home of Portuguese food, restaurants & cafes.
My trip usually starts at Charlie's deli where I pick up imported food from Portugal. I'm a massive believer in buying local & do so very often, but I just can't resist buying good imported food that can't be found here in Australia, especially when it brings back memories of my visits to Portugal over the years.
Then I go to the pastry shops & pick up a few custard tarts & other Portuguese delicacies.
On this day I bought dried codfish that's been de boned (sacrilege to codfish purists), capsicum paste, calamari with ink, peach fruit juice & passion fruit soft drink called Sumol.
I always have a giggle when I buy this drink, I reminisce about the time when I was 8 & was in Portugal for the first time.
We arrived in Lisbon Portugal that day, my father decided to show us Portugal so we disembarked in Lisbon & caught a taxi ( which in those days was cheap) to the south of Portugal, a 5- 6 hour trip in those days, with the new highway it only takes 3 today.
On the way to the Algarve (the south) we stopped at a road side cafe to have some lunch.
My father asked my younger sister & I if we'd like to drink a Sumol (small) & my sister & I said in unison "no, we want a large."

After a day of shopping I decided to use some of these goodies & had a casual dinner.

I bought this coconut cake (Pao de Deus, which translated means bread of God).
My sister in law once told me how much she missed eating this cake or bread so when I saw that it was available at the bakery I snapped it up. It's a bit like a sweet bun with coconut on top. I think it's Portugal's version of a finger bun (sweet bun with pink icing on top).
My sister in law said she used to buy hers at school just as I'm sure a lot of you may have bought your finger bun at.

I bought this doughnut for me at La Patisserie. When I was in Portugal I honestly become addicted to these, they are called Bola de Berlim which when translated means ball of Berlin.
Unfortunately you can't get them exactly like they are in Portugal.
The Portuguese version has a thick yellow custard, delicious. This one featured, unfortunately can't compare to the original.

These are what you get in Portugal. This photo is not from my private collection,I found this photo on the net.

As the weather is warming up here I decided to make us a simple, no fuss dinner.
Delicious garlicky chorizo.

Just a plain omelet made with fried garlic & parsley

Prosciutto (Prosunto) & Italian sopressa

Most Portuguese have a garden where they grow there own fruit & vegetables.
At the moment were growing tomatoes, rocket & several herbs.

Charlie's Deli
37 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham
Ph: 9560 4037

La Patisserie
45 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham
02 9569 1107

Octopus with Potatoes - Polvo Lagareiro

2010-11-19T00:15:00.000+11:00

I think octopus is one of those foods you either love or hate (maybe squirm at).
In Australia as in most western countries,octopus is as foreign & unknown to the Australian palette as Vegemite would be to the Portuguese.
When I was travelling around Portugal, octopus was everywhere & is much loved by the Portuguese.
When I was in Portugal, I had a memorable dish called polvo lagareiro, it was so delicious that I had to try & find the recipe & recreate it.
We found this nice small cafe/restaurant in the middle of Lisbon, it looked like nothing special, in fact it seemed a little bit touristy. Which are the type of places I stay well clear of.That old saying of you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover was definitely true in this situation.

Braising the octopus makes it really really tender.I've heard & read people say that octopus is quite difficult to cook,you need to add a cork to tenderise it or you have to freeze it,then cook it, as fresh is too difficult to work with, but they all couldn't be further from the truth.
The truth is, all that's needed is a bit of TLC.

Lagareiro is a a style of cooking that's usually used on seafood,the dish is baked in the oven with flavors & then is grilled or BBQ then drizzled with large amounts of olive oil.
I think this style of cooking is similar to the french style on confit.
I've modernised the dish slightly, & have used less olive oil to dress the dish.
If you've never tried octopus then I encourage you to try it.It's a dish that can be put in a roasting pan or pot & braised slowly with any ingredients you fancy. It's my version of a pot roast.

RECIPE

2 kg large whole octopus
4 cups olive oil
2 cups whits wine
1 bunch parsley chopped
6 bay leaves
6 large potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks
1 tab salt

1. Clean the octopus by cutting the tentacles into pieces, then remove the eyes.

2. In a large deep baking dish, lay all the octopus on the bottom of the dish, then pour the olive oil, the white wine, bay leaves, half the parsley & salt onto the octopus, cover with foil.
Bake in a medium oven 170 degrees for 45 min.

3. After 45min remove the octopus from the liquid, leaving it to one side.
Make sure the octopus is tender, if not cook a further 20 min or until the octopus is tender.
Add the potatoes to the liquid & bake for 30 min, uncovered or till the potatoes are tender.

4. While the potatoes are cooking, heat a fry pan on medium heat, add add a bit of olive oil to a fry pan.
Once the oil is hot add the octopus & fry the octopus on both sides till they are golden brown & crispy.

5. Once the potatoes are cooked, sprinkle the rest of the chopped parsley over the potatoes. Once the octopus is fried, assemble the dish.
Put 3 pieces of potatoes on a plate the add the octopus placing it on top of the potatoes.
Pour the liquid from the baking dish on top of the octopus & serve.
Serve the dish with either a green salad or cooked green beans.

TIPS

If you find the liquid is going dry add 1/2 a cup of water to the dish
You can either pan fry the octopus or BBQ the pieces.

This is the octopus dish I had in the cafe/restaurant in Portugal. Check out the amount of oil.
The octopus was beautifully tender.

Review of Portuguese Custard Tarts - Pastel de Nata

2010-10-25T15:29:00.000+11:00

Thank you to one of my readers for the suggestion of this blog post, I hope you like it.
When I was in my 20's the humble Portuguese tart wasn't really known outside the Portuguese community, & the only place you could buy them was at the Portuguese bakeries in Petersham, where they cost 0.60c each, yes you heard me right they cost less than a dollar. I can't believe the cost of them these days $3 each.Ok enough winging, I sound like one of those old people talking about the good old days when things where so cheap.
Now the Portuguese tart is everywhere, & most I have to say aren't very good. The only place I'll buy them at is in Petershem, Sydney.

There are 3 Portuguese bakerie shops in Petersham, they all offer coffee & a variation of Portuguese & Australian sweets.
I had the help of my husband & sister in law who where both taste testers & gave me their opinion on each tart.

The first place is Honeymoon, we all agreed the custard tarts here where nice.
The pastry was crispy, the custard was nice, not too sweet & not bland.
I know it may seem strange to say you don't want a sweet tart, but if they are too sweet the flavour of the custard can be spoilt. What your looking for is a tart that has just the right balance.
Price was $1.70 each

Honeymoon Patisserie
45 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham
02 9564 2389

The 2nd patisserie was La Patisserie.
The tarts here I found to be not very good.
The pastry we all found to be stale & rubbery, not very pleasant to eat.
The custard was too sweet & floury, which made the custard thick & dense.

Price: $2 each

La Patisserie
45 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham
02 9569 1107

The 3rd was Sweet Belem.
The pasrty on these tarts were the crispiest & the flakiest out of all of the tarts we tried.
The custard was very nice, & was just right in sweetness. It was velvety, creamy & soft, not too thich & not runny.
The tarts here come with cinnamon which I really like. They are also very similar to the tarts you can get in the Belem distict of Portugal.
They are the most expensive out of the 3, but also different to what is out there.
Price:$3 each

Sweet Belem
35B New Canterbury Rd, Petersham
02 9572 6685

Overall I found Sweet Belem's tart to be the best, their pastry was the best, very very crispy. I don't think there is any where in Sydney that has the cripiest pastry.At $3 ea they are the most expensive out of the 3, but when you compare what's to out there, these are worth it. Most cafe's aroundSydney sell them at $3 & aren't as good.

My second pick is Honeymoon
The pastry was nice & the custard was great as well. At $1.70 they are probably the cheapest tarts in Sydney, & well worth it.

Pork with Clams,potatoes & coriander - Porco a Alentejana

2010-10-14T17:04:00.001+11:00

As you all know after a very long illness, I am slowly coming out of it, for the first time in over a year I entertained, something I love doing.
Friends were invited over, the special plates come out & the Portuguese food was on show.
The dish I made was my friends favorite dish as well as mine, something he orders at every Portuguese restaurant.

Porco à Alentejana is one of the most traditional and popular pork dishes of Portuguese cuisine. It is typical from the Alentejo region, in Portugal, hence the word Alentejana (from Alentejo) in its name. It is a combination of pork and clams with fried potatoes and coriander.

Recipe
Serves 4 - 6

1 kg pork shoulder or loin, cut into cubes
4 garlic cloves cut into slivers
2 tab massa de pimenta ( capsicum paste )
1 tab sweet paprika
1 tea chili paste (optional)
500ml dry white wine
1 tab salt
1 tea white pepper
4 bay leaves
1300 kg diced potato
100ml olive oil
1 kg clams
1 bunch coriander,chopped ( leave 1 tab for decoration)
deep frying oil

1. Cut the pork shoulder into cubes. In a bowl add the garlic, capsicum paste, salt, bay leaves,paprika, chili paste & combine thoroughly, then add the white wine & leave to marinate a minimum 2 hours or over night.

2. Once the meat has marinated, drain the meat in a colander, keeping a bowl under neath so
the liquid is reserved.

3. Fry the potatoes in clean hot oil. Fry the potatoes in batches. Leave the potatoes to the side, until your ready to finish them off.

4. In a fry pan heat a bit of oil. Once the oil is hot add the pork in batches, adding the garlic, & fry for 3 min, stirring the pork, half way through add a bit of the reserved liquid allowing it to reduce for 3 min.
Remove the pork from the pan & set it aside in a bowl.
Then repeat the process until all the pork is cooked & the liquid is used up.

5. Reheat the deep frying oil & recook the potatoes, until crispy.

6. Add all the pork back into the pan, & on high heat add the clams, tossing them threw the meat.
Once the clams are opened add the coriander & half the the potatoes, tossing it all together.Taste for seasoning, add extra salt if it needs it.

7. Place the dish into a large serving platter & add the rest of the crispy potatoes on top, sprinkle a bit of extra coriander on top & serve.

Serve with a garden salad.

Tips

I used the imported capsicum paste, but you can use any, I blogged about capsicum paste last month, so look it up.
Fry the meat in batches, leaving it slightly pink so as no to over cook it & dry it out. Once you reheat it, cook it a bit longer to cook it through.
The reason I recook the potatoes is so that they crisp up & don't go soggy. It's called blanching.
Any clams that don't open throw them out & don't eat them.
Fry the meat in small batches otherwise the meat will stew & become tough.

Creme Brulee - Tijelada

2010-09-29T17:16:00.000+10:00

I love all things custard ever since I went to Portugal 2 years ago. Custards are everywhere in Portugal, first there's Leite de creme ( which translated means milk cream), Tigelada ( Brulee ), creme caramel, & numerous other eggy type custard that are placed in cakes or doughnuts.

For my recent birthday I received two great gifts, 1 was a mini blow torch that I'd been wanting for ages & the other was these great little pots that had the cutest colours.
I decided to make Creme brulee,which in Portugal is called Tijelada.
I used the recipe from the Masterchef site as it looked great, & make one of the best brulee's ever.

Recipe ( Makes 6 large pots )

1,200lt cream
1 vanilla bean, split in half & scraped of seeds or 2 tea vanilla essence
12 egg yolks
1/2 cup caster sugar
240g demarura sugar or caster sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 120 degrees

2. Place cream, vanilla bean & seeds in a saucepan over medium heat & bring to scalding point, then remove from the heat. Remove the vanilla bean & discard.

3. Whisk together the egg yolks & caster sugar in a bowl for 2-3 min until pale in colour.

4. Pour hot cream over the yolks, continuing to whisk until well combined.
Strain mixture into a jug & pour into ramekins.

5. Carefully place ramekins into a deep roasting pan & pour boiling water into the pan, coming half way up the sides of the ramekins.
Cover the ramekins loosely with foil.

Tips

Scalding the cream means just as it's starting to boil.

Strain the mixture so that you remove any shell or bits that haven't mixed through

Be sure not to over cook the custard, when you remove it from the oven it should still be a bit wobbly but not overly wobbly.

Allow it set in the fridge

A brulee should be velvety smooth & slightly thick, never grainy & watery.

6. Bake in the oven for 40 min or until the custard has just set. Remove ramekins from the water bath & set aside to cool. Then refrigerate for 2 hours.

7. Sprinkle with demerura sugar evenly over the surface of the baked custards.
Run a kitchen blow torch over the custards until the sugar bubbles & caramelises.

The perfect brulee, beautiful soft creamy custard & a crunchy toffee topping.

Red Capsicum Paste - Massa de Pimentao

2010-09-22T22:47:00.000+10:00

I've been promising to blog about this paste for months & finely here it is. The main reason being I was waiting till capsicums were in season, I hate using things out of season.
A lot of the recipes I have used in this blog includes capsicum paste & so it was really time to include it.
I used this paste quite extensively in Portugal & become a huge fan of it. I was so disappointed when I got back & couldn't find it anywhere. After one of my Petersham pilgrimages I saw that they'd started to import it.
You can use the paste as a marinate on fish, poultry, meat, add it to stews or add a tablespoon in a stir fry with a bit of white wine & herbs, & you have a delicious sauce.
I'm not sure where this paste originated from, although the Algarve people tend to use it a lot.
It really adds just that extra bit of taste to any bland dish.
I've included 3 different types of capsicum paste, the first is my home made version, the second is a bought one from Petersham deli ( they stock Portuguese products ) & the third is European.

This is my home made version. It's delicious & really easy to make.
Makes 800g

4 large red capsicum
100ml olive oil
10 garlic cloves
1 tab salt

1. Roast capsicums on a tray, until the skin is black & blistered.

2. Once the capsicums are cooked put them into a bowl & cover with cling film.
Once the capsicum are cooled, peel the skin & remove the seeds. Pat dry the capsicums to remove any excess moisture.

3. Add the capsicum, garlic, salt & olive oil to a food processor & blend till smooth.

4. Put the mixture into jar containers, adding a bit of oil on top. This prevents mould growing & keeps the mixture for longer.

This capsicum paste is imported from Portugal & bought from - Charlie's Deli
37 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham, Sydney
Ph: 9560 4037
The paste has a richer flavour than the home made one.

This capsicum paste is from Hungry or Croatian ( I'm not really sure ) & is similar to the home made version. It can be found at any supermarket in Sydney. I do find this paste a bit oily, so I use half the amount. I used to use this product before I could get the imported Portuguese paste.

So there you go, all 3 versions of a great paste.
There are lots of recipes in this blog that use this paste, so feel free to browse & try some out if you like.

Codfish,potatoes & onion casserole - Bacalhau a Gomes de Sa

2010-09-08T20:23:00.000+10:00

Dried cod fish ( bacalhau) as I've mentioned on this post before, is the most popular fish eaten in Portugal & there are literally hundreds of ways of preparing bacalhau.
One of the most popular ways of preparing bacalhau in Portugal is this dish Bacalhau a Gomes de Sa, this dish is a casserole, of dried codfish, potatoes, onions.
The dish was created by Gomes de Sá who was the son of a rich nineteenth century merchant (apparently he dealt in cod) in Porto.The family lost it's fortune and so the son had to find a job at the famous restaurant Restaurante Lisbonense in downtown Porto. It was there that he created the now well known & famous recipe.

This dish was made by my friends mother for her grandsons birthday party.
It just looked so lovely that I decided to take a photo & share it with everyone.

Ingredients

600 - 8oog dried codfish (soaked for 24 hours)
8 medium size potatoes, waxy
4 large brown onions, sliced thin rounds
8 garlic cloves, crushed
250ml olive oil
4 hard boiled eggs, shell removed & sliced
100g black olives
2 tea salt
1 tea white pepper
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
150ml extra olive oil

1. Soak the dried cod over night, changing the water twice.

2. Simmer a pot of water & add the cod to the water & simmer on a gentle heat for 5- 8 minutes, then drain the cod & leave to cool.

3. Put the potatoes (whole with the skin on) into a large pot & bring the potatoes to the boil.
Once the potatoes are cooked drain & set aside to cool. Add the eggs to the potatoes & cook for 10 min, till the eggs are hard boiled, then set aside.
Once the potatoes are cooled, cut in 1/4 inch thick slices.

4. In a fry pan add the oil then heat the pan adding the onions & garlic.Cook on medium heat till the onions are soft & slightly caramelised. This may take 15 - 20 min.
Once the onions are cooked set aside.

5. Once the ingredients are all cooked & prepared, start to assemble the dish.

6. Grease an oven proof dish ( a shallow lasagna dish is good for this) with some oil & spread half of the potatoes over the bottom of the prepared dish, then sprinkle half of the salt cod over the potatoes. Then spread half the onions on top of the potatoes,sprinkle a teaspoon salt & pepper.

6. Repeat the process till all the ingredients are gone.
Garnish with hard boiled egg slices, black olives, & chopped parsley.
Drizzle the extra olive oil on top & bake at 180 degrees for 25min or till golden.

Note

I buy packets of dried codfish that have been removed of skin & bone, so the weight that I've mentioned is for this type. If you buy it in pieces with the skin & bones then weigh the amount after it's been cooked with the skin & bones removed.

You can buy codfish at any good deli. If your in Sydney you can buy the packet Codfish from:
Charlie's Deli
37 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham
Ph: 9560 4037

Chickpea, Pumpkin & Spinach Soup - Sopa de Abobora, Grao e Espinafre

2010-08-30T11:55:00.001+10:00

As winter draws to a close, I thought I'd get in the last of the winter soups.
This is one of my nephews favorite soups, the other one being Vietnamese chicken noodle soup.
When I tell him were having soup he asks eagerly if it's this soup.
This soup was made by my mother on a very regular basis.

Pumpkins are very popular in the Algarve, surprisingly though the Algarvians don't roast them like we do here in Australia, they are either used in soups, desserts( yes, desserts) or boiled with other vegetables & meat.
Chickpeas are also a staple throughout Portugal, & are usually an accompaniment with meat dishes.

A great soup for vegans.
I love the creaminess of the chickpeas, the sweetness of the pumpkin & the silkiness of the spinach.
I like using baby spinach, you can use English spinach as well. I like to use these two in the soup as the soup has a delicate quality which is a perfect matching for the type of spinach that's used.

Recipe ( Serves 8 )

2kg pumpkin, peeled, deseeded,chopped into chunks
2 onions,chopped
6 garlic cloves,minced
2 potatoes,peeled & cut into chunks
200ml olive oil
12 cups water
2 tab salt
375g chickpeas tinned
500g baby spinach

1. Peel & deseeded the pumpkin. Cutting the pumpkin into chunks.

2. Peel the onions & garlic & chop.

3. Peel the potatoes & cut into chunks.

4. In a large pot heat the oil on medium heat, add the onions & garlic, saute with no colour.

5. Then add the pumpkin & potato, saute for 1 min.

6. Add the water & salt, turn up the heat on high till it boils then turn down the heat & cook for 40 min.

7. Once the potatoes are cooked blend the soup with a hand blender.

8. After the soup is blended add the chickpea & cook a further 15min on low heat.

9. At this stage if the soup is a bit thin keep cooking to reduce the liquid, if it's too thick add a bit more water.

10. Just before serving add the baby spinach.

Chocolate Cake with Praline

2010-08-19T17:32:00.002+10:00

My birthday & my friends son's birthday are only 3 days apart. I wanted to make a cake for myself this year & decided that I'd make it for his birthday party, as I wasn't having one this year, turning 41 isn't anything to celebrate, & it's been a terrible year.
Two days after turning 40, which I did celebrate, I came down with glandular fever & well I've been sick ever since, so it wasn't the best year I've ever had.

It was meant to start out as just a small chocolate cake, but for those of you that know me, know I don't do anything small, even when I try it just goes out of control, this cake grew to gigantic, humongous proportions. This 1 cake grew to 2 cakes & both had 4 layers each.
I showed up to the party with with two cakes in toe, & huge they were.

One cake was for the kiddies, chocolate cake with ganache throughout the layers as well as the icing & then decorated with strawberries. The other one was for the adults & it was the same chocolate cake & ganache but I added peanut praline & topped off with strawberries.

CAKE RECIPE

2 cups water
3 cups caster sugar
250g butter,softened
4 tab cocoa powder
3 cups self raising flour
4 eggs

Grease 2 deep 22cm round cake pan, line base & side with baking paper.
Beat the butter & sugar with an electric mixer until pale, then add the eggs one at a time.
Then fold in the cocoa & flour. Once combined add the warm water & vanilla essence.

Pour the batter into the 2 prepared cake tins & bake for 40 min at 180 degrees.
Once the cakes have cooked let the cake sit in the pan for 10 min then turn the cake onto a wire rack to further cool.

GANACHE ( FILLING & FROSTING) This recipe is from Donna Hay's book Modern Classics 2

750g dark chocolate
1 1/2 cup cream
210g unsalted butter

Place chocolate bits in a bowl add the butter & cream & place on a pot of simmering water.
Stir until melted & smooth.Set aside to cool completely then beat with electric beaters until thick & fluffy.Spread over chilled cake.

PRALINE

1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup salted peanuts

Line a tray with grease proof paper & add the peanuts. In a pan place sugar & water & dissolve over high heat cook until a golden brown colour.
Remove from heat & pour the caramel over the peanuts.
When set, break into pieces & place in a food processor till it's a fine powder.

GARNISH

1 punnet strawberries
100g chocolate

ASSEMBLY

Have all the above ingredients ready.

Once the cake has cooled, slice each cake in half. Spread 1/2 a cup of ganach onto each layer & sprinkle some praline on top. Sandwich the layers, there should be 4 layers with 3 layers of ganach & praline filling.

Then cover the cake with the frosting, using a flat spatula. Start at the top, placing 2 cups of frosting on the top of the cake & then work the frosting around the cake pushing the frosting down wards. Place a bit extra around the sides & work the spatula around the sides.
To get a better finish on the cake it's best to work top down, meaning place lots of frosting on the top of a cake & work it down.

Once the cake is covered, fill some ganach mixture into a piping bag with a star nozzle & pipe rosettes around the cake.Place strawberries on top of the rosettes & sprinkle praline mixture in the center of the cake.
Melt 100g of chocolate & place in a small piping bag, pipe onto the strawberries.

This cake has no praline (kiddies safe)

Spinach & Potato Soup - Caldo Verde

2010-08-06T21:49:00.000+10:00

As winter is drawing to a close & spring is on the horizon I thought I'd get in as many soups into the blog as possible.
What can I say about this soup, it's THE most popular soup in all of Portugal, the soup that says, yes I'm Portuguese!
Literally translated this soup means Green broth,which doesn't sound that appealing, it's more of a thick hearty potato, spinach & chorizo soup, fantastic for winter.
This soup originated in the north of Portugal, the Minho province, the weather here is cold during winter & potatoes are a staple of this area.
I have a theory that the soup pays homage to it's country of origin, the soup looks very much like the green hills of this area & also has the colour of the deep green of the Atlantic ocean.

I'm always featuring the food of the Algarve, which as many of you know is where my parents are from, so it's great that I can feature a northern dish, my husbands family is in the next province over which is still part of the north.
This area is beautiful with it's lush vegetation & historic cities.

Traditionally this soup is accompanied with the bread of this region which is Broa a kind of cornbread, a very filling & hearty bread.
In Portugal Kale is used but here is Australia we don't have kale so I always use Silverbeet spinach.

Recipe
Serves 6 people

3 medium brown onions,chopped in small dice
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
850g potatoes, peeled & chopped
2 lt water
1 tab salt
2 chorizo ( weighing 30g ea) skin removed & added whole
2 bunches silverbeet spinach, washed thoroughly

1. In a deep heavy set pot add olive oil on a medium heat & saute the onions & garlic, cook till translucent with no colour.

2. Add the sliced potatoes , water, salt & the whole chorizo.
Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a low/medium heat, till the potatoes are cooked, 40 min.

Silverbeet Spinach

3. While the soup is cooking clean the silverbeet well removing any dirt.
Remove the stalk from the leaf, discard the stalk.
Roll 2 leaves together into a cigar shape & with a sharp knife shred the leaves as thinly as possible.

4. Once the potatoes are cooked, remove the chorizo from the pot & slice into thin slices & set aside. Then blend the soup with a hand mixer or a blender.

5. Once the soup is blended add the silverbeet & the sliced chorizo & cook on a low heat for 20 min. Drizzle a bit of olive oil onto the soup if you like.

Broa (Corn Bread)

14g dried yeast
200ml lukewarm water
1 tab olive oil
1 tea salt
1 cup polenta
3 cups bread flour

1. Sprinkle the yeast into a bowl & add the lukewarm water then add the olive oil, salt & the polenta & bread flour.

2. Combine all the ingredients together, into a large ball.

3. Shape the dough mixture into individual balls, the mix makes 5 med to large rolls.

4. Bake the rolls at 180 degrees for 30 min.

TIPS

When making the soup, I like to add the chorizo to the potato broth as this imparts the flavour of the chorizo & adds extra flavour.

You can add extra water to the soup if it becomes too thick.

No need to knead the corn bread or rest it, you can just basically put it all together, shape it & bake it.

Towns in the Minho province

The beautiful lush vegetation I spoke about

A historic city

Chocolate Mousse - Mousse de Chocolate

2010-07-26T16:57:00.000+10:00

I love Chocolate Mousse, if it's on a menu somewhere I just can't pass it up. I feel like a kid,in a candy shop, it's just so moorish. When travelling around Portugal it was one dessert that was on nearly 90% of menus.
Their was the good the bad & the ugly. On one occasion the ugly reared up it's head in a Lisbon tavern, when I ordered the dessert & found it to be soft & mushy with a runny liquid on the base, it tasted awful, so I just left it. When the waiter enquired why I hadn't eaten it, I explained why, & suggested that it was probably too old & probably had spoilt. He told me it was made from a packet & so wouldn't spoil so quickly. I was dumbfounded, I felt I had been so naive, to expect a restaurant to make their own. I learnt that I had to ask for caseiro (home made) if I wanted it fresh.
I can't imagine who would go to a restaurant & when presented with the choice of home made or packet would choose a packet dessert.
The Portuguese tend to make theirs a bit more denser than the french who make it more light & airy.

Recipe
Serves 6

400g dark chocolate
2 eggs, separated, room temperature
50ml Cointreau, rum or 1 tab coffee granules
2 cups cream

Place the chocolate in a heat proof bowl & set over simmering water (don't allow the bowl to touch the water). Stir the chocolate as it begins to melt, not allowing the chocolate to over heat. Add any liquid at this stage. Once melted set aside.

2. Separate the eggs, placing the yolks in one bowl & the whites in another.
Whisk the egg whites in a clean mixing bowl till peaks form, then set aside.

3. In another bowl whisk the cream till soft peaks form. Set aside.

4. Stir the yolks into the melted chocolate the add a large spoonful of the egg whites, folding it in gently. Then add half of the egg whites & fold into the chocolate mixture, once incorporated add all the egg whites folding them in.

5. Once all the egg whites have been incorporated add the cream a spoonful at a time folding the cream into the mixture gently so as not to remove the air.
Once all the cream has been added transfer to your serving dish.

Note:

I allowed the mix to set then transferred it to a piping bag & them piped the mix out onto my serving dish. The mix will not pipe effectively just after being made.

Make sure the water bath is on a simmer & not on a rapid boil, otherwise the intense heat will burn the chocolate.

Soft peaks mean, if you pick it up it holds a shape but not for too long. A runny egg white & cream will result in a runny mousse. If the peaks are too stiff then you have a hard mousse.

Braised Calamari - Polvo guisado

2010-07-21T16:09:00.000+10:00

I'm very late with my post, I was hoping to have put this up a week ago, I have no excuse really, just poor time management.
As you can see from my blog, I make a lot of seafood, it's the type of food that I grew up with & the type of food I love.
This dish is something I threw together with ingredients I had in the fridge.
You can serve this dish with boiled potatoes, or rice pilaf ( made with onions, garlic)
I'm sorry about the quality of the photos,every hot dish I make is always made for dinner & served up immediately so I'm always scrambling to take a quick photo before it goes cold, so I never have time to style the dish.
Sometimes I put the dish down on the table & won't let anyone touch it till I've got the right photo, this day wasn't one of them.
It's probably the 3rd time I've included a recipe with capsicum paste so I promise I'll include a post about it very very soon.

Ingredients

1.5 kg squid
100ml olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tab red capsicum paste
ink sac
1 tab parsley, chopped

Marinate

3 garlic cloves chopped
100ml white wine
1 tab red capsicum paste
2 tab chili sauce (optional)
1/2 tea paprika sweet
2 tea salt

Holding the body firmly, grasp the head and pull gently, twisting if necessary, to pull the head away from the body without breaking the ink sac. The internal body and tentacles will come with it.
Cut the tentacles from the head just below the eyes.
Set aside the the tentacles to use (they're edible and tasty).Keep the ink sack, if desired.
At the top of the body, there is a clear piece of cartilage. Pull it out and discard.
If the squid has an outer spotted membrane-type skin, pull it off and discard if you like, I don't.
Under cold water, wash the tube carefully, inside and out, to get rid of any sand or other remaining tissues, and wash the tentacles carefully as well, making sure you don't break the tube.
Cut the squid into 2 cm tubes, keeping the wings.

8. Once the squid has been cut, place the squid in a bowl & marinate with the marinate ingredients for at least 2 hours.

9. Drain the squid in a colander keeping the marinate.

10. On a high heat, heat the fry pan, add the oil then add small batches of the squid, fry for 2 min, tossing the squid with a spoon,
Once cooked reserve the squid in a bowl & set aside in a warm place till the rest is cooked.

11. Clean the pan with a paper towel & continue the process of frying the squid or wash the pan if it's to dirty.

12. Once all the squid is cooked add a bit more oil (100ml) fry the garlic, add the capsicum paste fry for 1 min, add the ink sac if you like, then add the marinate & reduce for 2 min.
Add the squid tossing it in the sauce, add the chopped parsley to finish.

TIPS

If the ink sac breaks, just rinse the squid under cold running water to clear away
Cook the squid on high heat, it must be fast & quick
If you over cook the squid it will become tough & rubbery

Mini Cupcakes

2010-07-07T12:30:00.001+10:00

It's been a very hectic few weeks, firstly we are renovating our house, we moved our bedroom furniture out & were sleeping in the living room. Secondly during the renovations, we planned my nephews 6th birthday party. My husband had to quickly finish the area he was renovating for the party, & so we ( myself, husband & sister in law) worked frantically to get it all cleaned up.

My nephew & sister in law moved back to Australia in November after living in the UK for the past 5 1/2 years, it's been a difficult time for my nephew who missed England & all his friends & so we thought a party would help, he wanted a Ben 10 theme,colors where green & black, as many boys his age like Ben 10.

The party went well, more kids showed up than we'd thought would, & so the house was full of screaming kids, jumping & climbing everything.
I made these mini cup cakes as I know kids will generally eat the icing & take a bite of the cake & leave the rest.
I had a butter cream recipe, but after seeing Masterchef ( a cooking programme) I decided to use the recipe they had shown on the show, as it looked great.

I made chicken breast nuggets, home made sausage rolls, home made pizza, hot dogs made with mini beef sausages, jelly with snakes, chocolate mousse, creme caramel, mini cupcakes & few other dishes.

It's been a weird year, firstly I contracted glandular fever 11 months ago, a few days after my 40th birthday, a time that left me unable to work or leave the house for months, one of the reasons I decided to start this blog.
During this time my sister in law & nephew arrived & my life has changed, for the better.
I have a little boy that I treat as my own & he is such a joy to have around, he loves food & eats everything I cook. I love cooking for him & teaching him about food.
I was so happy that I'm 70 percent recovered & was able to give him the party he wanted & deserved.

The party had a green & black theme, as half the children were girls, I decided to make pink one's for them.

Cute little cupcakes

Mini Cupcakes

115g butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
5 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
2 cups self raising flour
1 cup milk

Vanilla Butter cream

300g caster sugar
5 egg yolks
2 tea vanilla essence
500g unsalted butter, softened

1. In an electric mixer or a hand held mixer, cream the butter & sugar together, till fluffy & a pale creamy colour, this may take 5 minutes.

2. Add the eggs to the butter 1 at a time, making sure each egg is incorporated to the mix before you add each one.

3. Once all the eggs are incorporated add the vanilla essence & the flour, mixing gently so that the flour does not fly everywhere.

4. Then add the milk mixing till the milk is all mixed in.

5. Line small patty tins with mini cupcakes & pour a small amount into the liners.
Fill only 1/2 the liners with the mix, & bake at 180 degrees for 12- 15 minutes or until they are cooked all the way through.

For the butter cream

1. Moisten the sugar with the water in a saucepan, place on the stove, brushing down the edges with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystallisation.

2. Bring the syrup to soft ball stage (121 degrees). Then cool slightly.

3. Whisk the egg yolk in a mixer until light & fluffy on high speed.

4. Once the sugar cools add it to the yolks in a slow thin stream, whisking continuously until all has been added. Keep whisking on low speed until the mixture cools & then add gradually add the butter a piece at a time till it's all incorporated.

5. Add the vanilla essence

Assembling the cupcakes

1. Divide the butter cream into separate bowls, how many will depend on how many colors you want. Add the food colour to your desired colour.

2. Fill a piping bag with a star nozzle.

3 Pipe rosette shapes onto cooled cupcakes

Kids picking up lollies from the pinata

My gorgeous nephew

Portuguese Function

2010-06-25T10:41:00.005+10:00

As I was winding down my career as a chef to pursue other interests, I took a job in a beautiful little cafe in Glebe. The cafe is Yuga Cafe & Gallery, a cafe that combines art & food, featuring art work by different artists every month.

The owners are Ben Crisafulli & Setsuko Yanagisawa who both have a passion for good food.

The cafe combines a floral service & has beautiful flowers in an area of the cafe that stimulates the senses visually & provides a wonderful perfume, check out Setsuko's designs here. It is also a floral design school run by Setsuko, teaching some of the skills she has gained over the years.

The cafe is opened 7 days a week & features a variety of Italian inspired food with a hint of Japanese flair.
The cafe set up the Sapore Club to feature the best of what the world has to offer. Since the club was set up, some of the functions that have been featured in recent years is Tuscan, Venice, Japanese, & Portuguese evening to just name a few.

Several years ago, I decided to do a Portuguese evening to feature the food of my childhood, to a packed group of 45 people (which is about the amount of people the club can fit into the cafe).
At that time, I'd wanted to show case the best of what Portuguese cuisine has to offer & to show that it's more than just burgers(which in Portugal doesn't exist) & custard tarts.
The food came out on large plates & were shared.

Grilled Sardines with garlic, parsley & olive oil dressing

Again I featured the best of what Portugal has to offer.Sardines are so Portuguese.
These were grilled & served with a garlic & parsley dressing, & is very potent.

Spinach & Potato Soup ( Caldo Verde)

This Soup is made with potato & Spinach, served with slices of chorizo.
This is a soup from the northern region, it's a hearty & robust type of soup. In Portugal it's made with kale, in Australia you can use silver beet or swiss chard.

Codfish Cakes ( Pasteis de Bacalhau)

I've made these on this blog before, it's one of the most famous Portuguese starters

Dried codfish with potato, very simple & delicious.

Squid Stew with potatoes, garlic, white wine (Caldeirada de Lulas)

This dish comes from the Algarve region, a dish that was made on a very regular basis in my home
as a child. It's simple to make, the fresh ingredients are really the highlight

   Pipis with Chorizo & coriander

This dish has a wonderful flavour of garlic, chorizo & an earthy flavour of coriander. The Portuguese   are masters at pairing meat & seafood together.

Chicken Pieces with Piri Piri

In this dish chicken thigh pieces where marinated over night in piri piri sauce & then pan fried

Roast Capsicum & Tomato Salad

This salad is a regional dish from the Algarve region, usually served at BBQ's as the capsicum & tomato is put on the BBQ. The skin is peeled on both & served with a olive oil, cider vinegar, garlic, Spanish onion & parsley dressing.

Custard Tart & Chocolate Mousse

This is the dish that many people know, custard tarts, these were bought at a pastry in Petersham, the Portuguese suburb in Sydney.

The chocolate mousse was made by me.

Table setting

Yuga Cafe & Gallery
172 St Johns Rd
Glebe NSW 2037
(02) 9692 8604

Berlotti Bean Soup - Sopa de Feijao

2010-06-18T15:50:00.000+10:00

I've discovered soup in the last several years. I love chunky hearty soups, an all in one meal.
Soup wasn't my favorite meal as a child actually I hated it.
This soup is a favorite in many Portuguese house holds.
With the weather cool outside it's something that I make at least once a week.
Soup is one of those dishes that you can basically use any vegetables you have in your fridge.
The quantity for this soup is pretty large it feeds 6-8 people, but that's how I make my soups, in large batches so that I can have extra in the fridge during the week or it can be frozen.

Ingredients

375g dry borlotti beans
250ml olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
3 carrots, diced small
1/4 cabbage savoy, chopped
1 sweet potato medium, diced
14 cups water
1 cup cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 cup pumpkin, diced 2cm dice
1/2 cup green beans, cut into 2cm pieces
1 chorizo whole, skin removed
2 bay leaves
1 bunch thyme leaves
380g speck or bacon bones
1x 400g tomatoes tinned, chopped
4 tab parsley, chopped
salt & pepper to taste

1. Place the borlotti beans in a large bowl & cover completely with water, cover them with cling film & leave to soak 8-10 hours or over night.

2. Drain the soaked beans & place them in a separate pot covered with water & cook on high heat for 40 minutes. Once cooked drain & refresh in cold water. DO NOT ADD ANY SALT OR THE BEANS WON'T COOK.

3. In a deep pot saute the onions & garlic, with oil on medium heat, till soft, then add the carrots, sweet potato & cook for 1 minute.

4. Then add the chorizo, speck, bay leaves, tomatoes, thyme, water & cook for 1 1/2 hour on medium to low heat.

5. Then add the beans into the pot & cook a further 1 hour.

6. After the hour remove the chorizo, speck,bay leaves (discard these) & cut the meat into pieces, discarding any fatty bits if you like.

7. With a hand blender pulse the soup for 15 seconds, this thickens the soup, don't over pulse, you still want chunky bits.

8. Return the chorizo, speck & the rest of the vegetables, & cook a further 30 min on low heat stirring the soup once in a while.
At this stage you can add salt & pepper.

You may need to add extra water midway through out cooking so you have a good amount of liquid, without it being watery.

Finish off by adding chopped parsley & olive oil (optional).

Tips

Use any type of vegetables you like
You don't have to pulverize the soup I just find that it adds a texture I like
You can use canned borlotti beans instead
You can replace bacon bones for speck
When cooking any type of dried legumes add the salt only after it's cooked otherwise the skin hardens & they'll never soften & cook.
If you like you can substitute sweet potato with white potato

Pipis in Wine & Coriander - Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato

2010-06-10T11:18:00.001+10:00

My parents came from the Algarve in Portugal, an area synonymous with beaches, sun & seafood.
Seafood played a huge roll in our family usually eaten fresh & simply.

My grandfather was a fisherman who sold his catch at the local market in the town, Loule, where he had a small stall. So my dad new lots about seafood, a fisherman in his own right.
When he came to live in Australia he headed for the sea,with a small boat he bought, to catch a lot of the food we ate, pipis caught in Woolongong, shark, snapper & yellow tail , at Kurnell.
I remember being taken to Watsons Bay with my brother & sisters & while my dad was out on his small boat with a friend, we were on the sand playing, it must have been 4am. We loved it, the beach at this time was beautiful, so quiet & still, it felt magical.

This is a dish that's eaten all over Portugal, you'll find it on every Algarve menu & a dish I grew up with.
Whenever I see Pipis I quickly snap them up. This is one of my favorite ways to eat them.

TIPS
When buying pipis (clams) make sure they are closed or close when you tap them on the shell, if they remain open then they are dead & not very fresh. My mum refuses to eat any that are dead, they can still be eaten but if you want quality then fresh is best. If they are dead than you won't know how long they've been dead.
Cook them that day, & store them in the warmest part of your refrigerator the crisper.
Ask your fishmonger if they've been purged of sand. If not than soak them in sea water overnight.

Recipe
Serves 4

1.5 kg pipis
10 garlic cloves, sliced
150ml olive oil
50g butter
300ml white wine
1 bunch coriander, chopped, separate stalk & leaves
4 tea salt
pepper to taste

1. In a saucepan heat the oil than quickly add the garlic, coriander leaves & quickly stir.
You want it toasted slightly, not burned.

2.Then add the pipis, wine, salt & cover. Cook 2 min. Then remove the lid & add the coriander leaves.

Serve with bread.

TIPS

The Algarve people use coriander with there seafood, you can use parsley if you like
Frying the stalk of a herb releases flavour
Discard any pipis that haven't opened they are not any good

Poached Eggs with Roast Potatoe,capsicum,chorizo & coriander

2010-06-03T19:33:00.000+10:00

Eggs, are so versatile, don't you think. You can poach, fry, scramble them. They can be made savory or sweet.
They are what I call, fast food, the original quick meal & so much better for you.
This is the type of food I love,especially for weekend brunch. On this particular day I made this dish for dinner.
I put this dish on the menu at the last cafe I worked at, before I left professional cooking.I'd label this dish as modern Portuguese, it has all the ingredients the Portuguese love, chorizo, potatoes, coriander & eggs.

Ingredients

6 medium potatoes, skin on
2 Spanish onions,chopped chunky
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 chorizo, sliced
1 bunch coriander, chopped
2 capsicum, cut into chunks
2 tea paprika
2 tea mixed herbs, dried or fresh
salt & pepper to taste
200ml olive oil

1. Cut all the ingredients, separating each item into bowls.

2. Place the potatoes in a baking dish & sprinkle with 1 tea paprika, 1 tea herbs, salt & pepper,coriander stalks & coat the potatoes with 100ml olive oil. Bake in the oven for 20 min at 180 degrees, shaking the pan once in a while.

3. In a bowl add the rest of the ingredients, as well as the rest of the spices, herbs & oil.

4. Add the ingredients to the potatoes & bake till a further 20min.

5. Once cooked add the coriander leaves.

6. Leave in a warm place while you poach the eggs.

Poached Eggs

1 or 2 eggs
4 cups water
50ml white vinegar

1. In a deep saucepan add the water & vinegar & then bring the water to a boil, once boiling turn down the heat & simmer.

2. Crack your eggs into the water & cook for 1 1/2 min, your eggs will be soft if you want it harder then cook a further 1 min.

3. Place the potato & chorizo mix on a plate & then top your egg on top.

Sardines Panfried with Tomato & Capsicum Rice

2010-05-22T13:34:00.002+10:00

If there is one food that reminds me of Portugal, it's sardines. Sardines, bring back so many memories of my childhood. The distinct smell wafting in the air as they were barbecuing outside or pan fried & served with a salad of grilled capsicum & tomato in summer & served with tomato rice in the colder months.
The smell of sardines cooking, take me back to our terrace house in Surry Hills sitting around our table eating these small pilchards. I'd enjoy eating these but it wasn't long before I would start chocking on the small bones, without looking up or stopping what she was doing my mum would toss a small piece of bread my way & tell me to eat, this would dislodge the small bones she'd say.
The memory makes me laugh, we definitely weren't molly coddled as kids.

If Bacalhau (dried Cod fish) is the main course in the Portuguese diet then Sardines are the entree.
Sardines are so beloved by the Portuguese, you'll find them on every restaurant menu in Portugal. At home they are cooked simply usually whole as this retains flavor & moisture.

Ingredients

For the Sardines

12 sardines, gutted & scaled
1 cup plain flour
2 tea salt
1 tea white pepper
1 cup oil to fry (

Tomato & Capsicum Rice

1 cup rice
1 large white onion, small dice
4 garlic cloves chopped
100ml olive oil
1/2 capsicum, deseeded, chopped
3 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups tomato passatta (tomato pulp) if you don't have that use diced tomatoes
1 tea paprika
2 tea salt
4 cups water
2 tab parsley flat leaf

1. In a pot (heat should be a medium to hot flame) add the olive oil.
Add the onion, garlic & fry for 1 minute then add the capsicum & bay leaves cooking for another minute.
Add the rice & stir coating the grains with the oil. Then add the paprika & salt.
Add the tomatoes & water. Bring the water to the boil on high heat, then reduce the heat to low & cover. Cook the rice for 20 minutes.

2. Before you cook the rice make sure the sardines are cleaned.

3. Put the flour, salt & pepper on a plate. Coat the sardines with the flour.
Then in a fry pan heat the oil. Then fry the sardines. This should take 3 or 4 minutes on each side.

4. Once the rice is cooked switch off the heat. The rice should be wet. Be aware that the rice absorbs water, so you need to serve immediately otherwise your rice will be dry.

5. The sardines remain juicy & moist.

6. I love eating sardines this way in winter. The rice adds a bit of depth & warmth to the cool weather.

This is a restaurant right on the beach, not near it but right on it. It's location is in the Algarve, Portugal. The restaurant sign says Barbecued Sardines,the restaurant served different types of food which was simple & fresh.

Quince Paste ( Marmelada) & Spaghetti Squash (Doce de Chila)

2010-05-13T20:31:00.000+10:00

I have a confession to make, a little secret I've kept to myself, something that's a bit embarrassing.
I like buying & making preserves, jams, chutneys & preserved fruit.The more unusual the more I want to buy it or make it. The thing is I don't really like eating them that much, if at all.
I know it sounds weird but I have this compulsion, I'm like a magpie who sees something shinny & just has to have it.
I just had to make these 2 preserves, as these are Portugal's most famous preserves. As I don't eat these I decided to give these 2 to my mum, for Mothers Day & sister in law.
Which made them extremely happy.

The Portuguese love sweet preserves, Quince Paste (Marmelada) is a staple in most Portuguese homes, & when I was in Portugal every household I visited brought out their home made version.
It's eaten in the morning for breakfast usually with bread & semi soft cheese.

Spaghetti Squash (Doce de Chila) is used as an ingredient in cakes as well as for decorating them.
Once cooked it resembles threads, a bit like spaghetti, hence the name.
Many people in Portugal grow this vegetable & so make this preserve.
It's not so easy to find in here in Australia, I happened to come across it by accident.

One thing to remember when making the Spaghetti Squash is that the Squash can't be opened with a knife. You can either break it on the floor or you can get a pot & hit the squash with the pan,which is what I did.

Quince Paste (Marmelada)

3 large quinces (weighted 1350)
1kg caster sugar
lemon peel
1 cinnamon quill

1. Cut the quinces leaving the skin & pips on. In a pot add the quinces, lemon peel, cinnamon peel & cover with water. They will oxidise & discolour, don't worry about that, it'll add to the colour.

2. Cook the quince till very soft, this should take 45 min.Once cooked drain the quince in a colander reserving 100ml of the juice.

3. Mash the quinces (skin & pips) in a blender. Then sieve the quince to remove the pips & skin.

4. In a clean pot add the quince puree, 100ml of the reserved juice & the sugar. Then cook it on a low heat stirring every 10 min.

5. Cook until the mixture is thick & has changed colour, into a deep rich mahogany colour.
The low heat will prevent the mixture from burning.

6. Once the quince is cooked scoop it into a bowl or any container.

Spaghetti Squash Preserve (Doce de Chila)

1 spaghetti Squash (weigh the flesh)
sugar equals the weight of the spaghetti squash
400ml water

Spaghetti Squash

1. Hit the squash with a pan so it breaks open. Break it into pieces. Don't use a knife to cut it open. Scoop out the inside flesh using a wooden spoon.

2. Put the pieces of squash (skin & all) into a pot & fill with water & cook the squash till it's soft.

3. Once the squash is cooked scoop out the flesh, discarding the skin.

4. Once all the flesh is removed, weigh the squash. Then weigh out equal amounts of sugar.
In a pan add the sugar & water & cook till it's syrupy,thick with no colour.
Then add the squash & cook for 20min or till thick.

6. Once it's cook add the preserve into a clean preserving jar.

Pears Baked in Port Wine

2010-05-04T12:59:00.003+10:00

We're in May, it’s meant to be autumn, a time when it becomes cooler outside, leaves change, and everything slows down.

This year it’s been an incredibly hot summer & it seems to be never ending. The hot weather has carried on even during autumn. I’m not complaining mind you because I like the hot weather.

Autumn foods are starting to make their way into our supermarket shelves.

One of my favourite cooler months fruits are pears.

I love cooking pears, either stewing them or baking them.

I used Port wine in this recipe but you can use any sweet red wine you like.

Port wine comes from the Portuguese city Porto, & is a sweet wine usually drunk at the end of a meal.

Ingredients

4 pears
1 1/2 cups Port wine
6 tab honey
1 1/2 cups water
2 tea cinnamon, ground

1. Peel & core the pears.

In a roasting pan add the pears & all the ingredients.

Cover the pan with foil.

Cook the pears for 30 min at 180 degrees, then remove the foil & bake a further 20min.

The pears should be cooked & the juice should have reduced & thickened up

Serve with plain yogurt, cream, or ice cream

Algarve Restaurants

2010-05-03T16:37:00.007+10:00

Before I post a recipe, I'd like to share a couple of sites that I follow.
I wanted to share with you my readers both these posts. It's in Portuguese so if you want to know what's been said than just go to google translator & it'll translate the post for you.
Basically the post is about a few bloggers who take a trip to the Algarve, take in some workshops, went market shopping checking out local produce.
They also went to some local restaurants.
We have some nice Portuguese restaurants in Sydney, but there a bit stuck in the 70's with not many fully trained chefs at the helm of many of these kitchens, don't get me wrong there great in a sort of home style sort of way, but their not the fine dining experience you get with many Italian, Japanese restaurant.
The posts show the best of Portuguese cuisine & a testament that food has evolved to a higher level in Portugal.
So great to see.
It's also the area my family is from, so I'm happy to show everyone the great produce this area has.
Here are both links enjoy.

Tavira Food Fairs
Marzipan Workshop
algarve restaurants
Algarve Food Markets
Algarve restaurants2

Algarve, food, & Tours
Algarve restaurants3

Scrambled Eggs with Chorizo

2010-04-27T14:36:00.000+10:00

This is the type of food I enjoy cooking when I'm feeling lazy.

I made this for dinner one night when I didn't feel like cooking. It so easy to make, 10 minutes tops.

Portuguese always have chorizo at hand it's a staple for any Portuguese kitchen.

You can make this for breakfast, brunch, or dinner.

Ingredients

6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
4 tab olive oil
pinch salt & pepper
1/2 medium onion, sliced
100g chorizo
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tab chopped parsley, reserving some to garnish at the end

Crack the eggs into a bowl adding the milk, parsley, salt & pepper.
Heat a pan on medium heat adding the olive oil, then fry the onions & chorizo for 3 min till slightly brown, then add the garlic, cooking till the onions are soft.
Turn the heat up to high & then pour the egg mixture into the pan & stirring the eggs with a wooden spoon till the egg is cooked.
Sprinkle a bit of parsley on top of the cooked eggs.
I served the eggs with an olive & onion bread
Serves 2 people

Codfish Cakes - Pasteis de Bacalhau

2010-04-14T16:51:00.195+10:00

Bacalhau (dried salted codfish) to the Portuguese is what soy sauce is to Asians & what pasta is to the Italians. It plays such a huge part in the Portuguese diet & its psyche & without it, a huge part of its identity would go.
Codfish is almost always used dried and salted; the Portuguese invented this form of preserving the codfish long before refrigeration, a way to bring back their catch.
It's said there is 365 ways to make bacalhau, one for everyday of the year.

As a kid I wasn't keen on bacalhau, especially when it was made in the traditional way of boiling it with potatoes & vegetables & dressing it with olive oil & vinegar.
There is probably only about 4 ways that I like to eat my bacalhau & this dish is of course one of them.

Traditionally these cod cakes are made for special occasions, although you find then all over Portugal at local taverns & cafes, eaten as an entree or snack.
I've seen people use fresh fish for this dish thinking it's nicer or are a bit intimidated using dried codfish but try this version first, the taste is unique & well worth it.
These are addictive, there is no way you'll stop at 1 or 2.
Codfish cakes are eaten at room temperature usually on the same day as their made.

There are two ways to buy your bacalhau here in Australia, the first is in cutlet pieces, this comes with skin & bones, which have to be removed, or in a packet, which has the skin &bones removed.
I recommend the packet as it makes it so much more convenient.
Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the dryed codfish still in the packet before it was hydrated.

Ingredients

1kg potatoes
600g dryed cod (bacalhau)
2 garlic cloves
1/2 bunch parsley chopped
2 eggs
1/2 white onion,peeled & grated, juice squeezed out
1 teaspoon salt

1. Before you use codfish( bacalhau) you need to soak it to remove the excess salt, for 15-20hrs.
What I do is soak the fish the night before, after dinner I rinse the fish first to remove excess salt & then put it in a large bowl with enough water to completely cover it. Cover the bowl & refrigerate.
Then in the morning I remove the water & refill with fresh water & then leave it too soak a further 4 or 5 hours, changing the water at least another 2 times within this period . The way I know if enough salt has been removed is, I taste a bit of the cod.

2. Peel the potatoes & cook them in water until there soft.
Then strain the water from the cod & put the codfish in side a saucepan with cold water & bring to the boil.
As soon as the water has boiled the fish is cooked, strain the fish.
Put the cooked codfish inside a blender with the garlic cloves, grated onion & blend, till it's pulverised.

3. In a bowl add the pulverised codfish & the chopped parsley.
When the potaotoes are cooked mash them.

4. Add the codfish, potatoes, salt together & then add the eggs, mixing till well combined.

5. With 2 tablespoons shape the mixture into quenelles.

Fry the quenelles in clean medium/hot oil

Tips

Codfish is a firm textured fish, slightly dry, so there is no need to add flour to the mixture to hold it together
Squeezing the water out of the onion is necessary otherwise the extra water will make the mixture more watery
Frying oil must always be fresh otherwise the mixture will absorb the oil & be oily & horrible to eat
Weigh the codfish when it's still salted & not hydrated
Don't oversalt the dish, fry a small piece & taste it fist to see if you have enough salt added
You can buy you dryed codfish at any deli or if your in Sydney you can go to:

Charlie's Deli
37 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham
Ph: 9560 4037

Portuguese supermarkets

2010-04-12T10:40:00.004+10:00

One of the supermarket chains I visited on a regular basis when I was travelling Portugal was the Continente.
The continente sells food, alcohol, clothes, dinnerware, books, there's a coffee shop that sells sweets & where you can take a break & have a coffee, everything & anything you could think of, this store has it all, it's Kmart meets Coles.

This store was huge & was located in a local shopping mall close to where my in-laws lived. The first thing that strikes you when you walk into this mall is the smell of dried codfish, amongst all the fashion boutiques, & of course the locals don't notice, it's a really strong smell, a bit like fish sauce.

This supermarket was a foodies dream for me. Sure they had the normal junk food, like any western country, but they also had such wonderful produce.
I'm a huge fan of outdoor markets & specialty food stores, I just love that a supermarket can also give you the choice of really good produce.

The Portuguese are big on their small goods, cheese, & bread.
These items are bought in large quantities, which only last for a few days or for the week.
It's not uncommon for them to buy 1kg piece of prosciutto (prosunto).
There are several ways to buy youre prosciutto in Portugal, you can buy a whole piece weighting up to 20kg, or you can buy a smaller whole piece weighting 1kg.
Slices can be bought, but it's not the most common or traditional way to buy your prosciutto.
Of course their are many who live in small villages that make their your own prosciutto from the pig that was killed in December.

I just had to take a photo of this trolley. At the time I just thought it was so ingenious, not having to hold my basket but pulling it, it made total sense to me, I don't know why we don't have these here . Ah, the comfort of just rolling your goods around.
How many times have you gone into a supermarket just wanting to pick up a few things then grabbing a few extra things, before you know it you have too much to carry in a basket & too little to grab a trolley. These could solve that dilemma.

These are a variety of packaged smoked meats such as chorizo, dry pork sausage(linguica),& blood sausage (chorizo de sangue)

This is something I had never seen before whole prosciutto (prosunto) just hanging in a supermarket, this is when you know your in Europe.

The cheese variety was unbelievable, most of these where from different regions of Portugal.
Different areas produce a different type of cheese giving a different texture & flavour.
The prices were so cheap between 2 to 12 euros for these peices.

Smaller pieces of prosciutto if you call these small. This would do a Portuguese house hold for a week.
Proscuitto is eaten with bread & fruit & cheese as well as added into cooking.

I get so excited at seeing this quality, especially in a supermarket. This is what you'd expect to see in a specialty cheese shop. The type of cheese more commonly eaten in Portugal is goat & sheep cheese, which is the type of cheese featured in this photo.
Cow cheese is imported & still eaten by the portuguese.

Fantastic wood fired bread. On the left is Broa which is a corn bread from the north & Pao de Centeio which is Barley bread. I loved the barley bread, it has this chewy texture & a nutty flavour, my favourite bread in Portugal.

Food isles where huge, sometimes double the size of what you find here in Australia.
Is that a good thing, not sure, could take twice as long to do your shopping.

Happy Easter - Folar de Pascoa (Sweet Easter Bread)

2010-04-05T15:17:00.011+10:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. It's been a while since I've celebrated Easter, but since my 5 year old nephew has come to live with my husband & I several months ago we seem to celebrate all those holidays that kids love.
When you see easter from a childs perspective it's a time of wonder & magic, a time full of chocolate, as an adult you forget how these days felt.
I awoke on Easter morning to find my nephew eating a chocolate bunny, a smile on his face, as well as chocolate.
I wanted to reprimande him as he's not allowed to eat junk food on a regular basis, but then I thought hey it's easter, if he can't eat chocolate on this day then when, so I left him to it.
My husband & sister in law are happy they tell me, since I started this blog, because they get to taste all their childhood favorites, they devoured this folar.
To be honest I've never made a folar which is a sweet bread, my mum makes them every year, I decided that since easter was here that I had to road test Portugals famous Easter bread, & report back.
Folar is to the Portuguese what hot cross buns are to Australians.
Folar is made differently from region to region, in the north it's made with yeast, like a sweet bread & in the south it's made more like a cake, the similarity are that they all have boiled eggs in them.
Traditionally their made with aniseed but I'm not a fan of this spice so I substituted it for nutmeg.
Because of easter I made the sweet one but there are many types of folar that have different types of meat. I hope to bring you this version in a future post.

Ingredients

520g plain flour
15g yeast
50g sugar
90g butter
2 eggs
200ml milk, tepid
2 tea cinnamon
2 tea nutmeg whole or ground
1/2 tea salt
4 boiled eggs

1. Warm the milk till just tepid. In a bowl add the milk, yeast & sugar, leave in awarm place until the yeast bubbles & grows, about 10 minutes.

2. Measure out the flour, cinnamon,nutmeg,salt & combine all together in a bowl.
When the yeast mixture has doubled in size, mix in the eggs.

3. Combine the eggy yeast mixture to the flour. Combine all together, till a ball forms.

4. Once the dough is combined, knead for 3 min.

5. Put a tea bowl on top of the bowl & leave to rest in a warm place, till it's doubled in size.

6. Once the dough has doubled in size punch it down & knead again for 3 min. Then cut a small piece
of dough, roll 2 rope size pieces.

7. Entwine the 2 pieces together, to make this pattern. Then repeat the process. You will meed 4 of these.

8. Line a cake pan with baking paper, then put the rest of the dough into the pan. With the patterned dough line around the base dough, then add the other two on top to form a cross.
Then place the boiled eggs in the spaces left & brush the top with an egg. Leave for 5 minutes until the dough rises.
Bake at 190 degrees for 40 min.

I've included a photo of my mums version. As my mum gives us one of hers each year I decided to make a folar from the north. My husband & sister in law appreciated this as their parents come from the north.

It was great to have their opinion on my one.

Tips

The milk should be warm, if it's too hot, it will kill the yeast.
You dont have to knead the dough as much as you would normal bread dough
If you dont like eggs you can put apples or pears through the dough mix

Oven Roasted Octopus- Polvo no Forno

2010-03-29T13:44:00.007+11:00

I wanted to do this dish, because it's one of my absolute favorites.

While I was making this dish my 5 year old nephew asked "Tia (untie) what's for dinner", I replyed octopus, "Yum, I love octopus, it's one of my favorite". It made me smile.

At dinner I turned to my sister in law who was commenting on how this is fast becoming one of her favorites as well , & said this dish will be one of those childhood dishes he will look back on & love.

I am pleased be part of his childhood food memories.

When I was in Portugal, I had an octopus dish in a restaurant that blew me away. The octopus was so tender & full of flavor, so when I got back to Australia I decided to re create the dish, it's slightly different to the dish I had, but it's no less wonderful.

The octopus is really tender & the flavore has a depth.

If you like seafood, then you'll love this dish.

Choose large octopus. I get mine from my local fishmonger, so they are pretty easy to get.

Ingredients

2kg large octopus
2 tab capsicum paste (massa de pimentao)
2 1/2 cup white wine
1 cup virgin olive oil
1 cup water
6 fresh or dryed bayleaves
9 garlic cloves
2 medium onions, cut chunky
1/2 bunch fresh coriander, cut stalks & leaves then seperate them
1/2 teaspoon salt

Serves 4

For this recipe I like to use large sized octopus, the baby ones can be used if you like, but I find the larger ones have more flavor, but it's just a personal prefrance on my part.
Clean & cut the octopus. Cut the part just below the head, the beak part, discard this piece. Cut the tenticles. I leave the tenticles whole but cut them into two pieces.

In a roasting pan lay all the octopus down, add the olive oil, white wine, bayleaves, coriander stalks, 1 onion, 4 garlic cloves, capsicum paste, salt, water, cover the pan with foil & bake at 180 degrees for 50 min.
After this time take out the pan, remove the foil & add the rest of the onions & garlic & increase the heat to 200 degrees, cook for a further 40 minutes.
You want the octopus soft & tender & full of juice.

Add the chopped coriander on top as your about to serve.
I served boiled potatoes sprinkled with coriander, with this dish & a garden salad.

Notes

It may seem like a lot of liquid but a lot of it will evaporate during the cooking time.
If the liquid evaporates too quickly add more water & some wine.
If you dont like coriander substitute it for parsley

Sweet Ricotta Fritters - Filhos

2010-03-22T10:25:00.033+11:00

I sometimes adjust recipes to suit my personal taste & availability of ingredients.
I like simple quick recipes, when I cook at home.
I've adjusted this recipe from how they are traditionally made, but not to worry they look like the traditional ones.
That's what I love about cooking, you can change something to suit yourself & put your own personal stamp on it & make it your own.

These doughnut like dumplings are traditionally made with cooked mashed pumpkin.
I like the pumpkin version but sometimes I want to make a quick sweet if someone drops by unexpectedly & don't have time to wait for the pumpkin to cook.
It's much easier to grab some ricotta, which I keep in the fridge on a regular basis.
The ricotta does exactly what the pumpkin would do & that's add moisture making these moist & light.
I know 60 sounds like a lot, you can always 1/2 the recipe. But I warn you, these are addictive.
I have 4 people in my household & these went within 24 hours.

Traditionally these are called filhos & are usually made around Christmas time or for any special
occasion.
Perfect with a cup of tea

Ingredients

500g smooth ricotta
4 (700g) whole eggs
1/2 cup castor sugar
2 1/2 cups self raising flour

For the sugar & cinnamon

1 cup castor sugar
2 tea ground cinnamon

Makes 60

1. In a bowl put the ricotta & eggs

2. Then add the sugar
3. Whisk the ingredients together

4. Then add the flour to the ricotta mixture

5. This will create a batter like mixture.
Then heat a deep frying pan with fresh oil.

6. The temperature should be at a medium heat, if it's too high they will burn & be raw inside, if it's too low they will absorb the oil & be ruined.
Drop a generous size teaspoon of batter into the oil. Not adding more than 6 at a time.

7. Once the fritters are cooked & have a golden color to them. You can take one out & cut it open to see if they are cooked through.
Then drain them onto a paper towel.
While they are draining repeat the process of frying some more fritters.
Then go back to the fritters that are draining on a paper towel & roll them onto the sugar & cinnamon mixture coating them well.

Note :

You can add 1 teaspoon of orange zest to the batter if you like.

Use fresh clean oil for best results.

You will have a bit of cinnamon sugar left, not to worry you can seal it in an air tight container & keep it for several months.Use it on french toast or cinnamon toast.

These are so moorish you won't be able to stop at just one.

Portuguese Food Fair in Petersham

2010-03-16T14:27:00.006+11:00

As you all know I've been ill with Glandular fever symptoms, this has kept me unable to do much in the way of physical activities. One of the reasons I started this blog. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to the Bairro Portugues: Petersham Food & Wine Fair that was held on Sunday, 14th March.
It's a fantastic fair, if you know nothing about Portuguese food, than this is the fair to go too & get yourself acquainted with it.
I know that I'll be able to make it next year.
Simon from Simon Food Favourites went to the fair & has written a post about it.
Check out his site, it's great. This man has such an appreciation for good food.

http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com/2010/03/bairro-portugues-petersham-food-wine_14.htm

Baked Fish with tomatoes,capsicum & potatoes - Peixe Assado no Forno

2010-03-11T17:15:00.014+11:00

I adore seafood, I guess it goes back to my childhood . Both my parents were born & raised in the Algarve which is in the south of Portugal.
Seafood, is one of this regions main staple. We ate more seafood than meat as my mother was a vegetarian, who ate small amounts of fish.
The most vivid childhood food memories I have was of eating squid in black ink with boiled potatoes, polenta with pipis, grilled sardines, sea snails cooked in a pot with lots of garlic & white wine & baked fish with tomatoes,capsicum & potatoes.
I guess this dish was my families version of a roast dinner, which is so popular here in Australia. Actually I'd never tasted a roast dinner until I was in my 20's , a Greek friend of mine married an Australian so she'd make it most weekends.

I used spanish mackerel cutlets for this dish,although you can use whole snapper,which is what my mother would use, basically you can use any fish except salmon.

Ingredients

2 large onions,cut into round slices
8 garlic cloves,chopped
8 medium potatoes,cut into slices & par boil
1/2 red capsicum
3 tab massa de pimentao (capsicum paste)
1 bunch parsley,chopped
4 fresh bay leaves
2 cups white wine
1/2 cup olive oil
4x150g spanish mackrel
4 tomatoes, sliced
salt to taste

1. Put your potatoes in a pan, add cold water with some salt & put them on the boil . When the potatoes come to the boil,immediately drain them into a colander.You just want them to be slightly cooked, but not cooked all the way.

2. Heat your pan & add your oil. Then fry your onions, when there a bit soft add the garlic,the capsicum & bay leaves. Adding the parsley stalk at this time is also a good idea as it adds flavour
3. Then add the tomatoes mixing gently so they don't break & then add the massa de pimentao(capsicum paste) & fry for 2 minutes on medium heat
4. Add the white wine,salt & bring to the boil.Just bring it to the boil & take it off, you dont want the tomatoes to brake down & cook too much,you want them to keep there shape.
5. Lay your fish raw on a baking tray, then scatter the potatoes all over the pan on top of the fish & between gaps & then pour the mixture on top. Scatter the parsley on top & a 1/3 cup of olive oil on top for extra moisture & flavour.

6. Bake the fish for 20 - 25 min at 190 degress or till your fish is cooked.
Serve with a green salad

Portuguese Restaurants - Divino Cafe & Restaurant

2010-03-05T15:09:00.011+11:00

On a hot late summers day my friends baptised their first child. They decided to have the function at Divino Cafe & Restaurant in Petersham. My friends,my husband & I had gone to this restaurant several months before after we found it by accident. My friends had wanted to take my husband & I out, a thank you, sort of meal.We decided to check out Petersham, the Portuguese district in Sydney & browse around, not really having having a place in mind.
We came across this place, a fairly new place to us.
The first thing I was struck by was the interior, modern Portuguese,light brown furniture,hand painted pictures on the walls.It's a small place seating around 40 people maximum, which I like.
The restaurant was having a function when we asked if we could come in,they warmly greeted us in, & were very attentive even though they had 30 people to attend to. When I say they I really mean the waitress, who I think is one of the owners.

The menu was typically Portuguese,& the prices were reasonable.
Once our food came out it was beautiful & pretty good portions, so good was this place that my friend decided she'd like to have her sons baptism here.

The food we had at the baptism was a selection of dishes brought out on platters & shared.
Usually I hate that because sometimes there isn't enough to go around, but there was so much food at this function that we had to leave some of it behind,which I found so incredibly hard to do but just couldn't eat anymore.

Grilled chorizo
No complaints with this dish, it was cooked perfectly,& still moist.

Grilled Garlic prawns
One of my favorite things in the world

Ameijoas a Bulhao Pato - pipis with coriander,galic & wine

This dish was so gorgeous to eat, it felt like the ocean was in my mouth. Succulent little morsels.I really like the use of coriander it just lifts the dish & adds a richer depth.

Porco a Alentejana -Pork with clams

This dish is a very classic one it's usually on any Portuguese menu. There was plenty of pork even though it looks like there was more potatoes, they were on the bottom with the juice.

Bacalhau a Bras -Dried Cod,onions, potatoes & scrambled egg

I just have to say this is the best bacalhau a bras I've ever tasted. this dish can sometimes be a bit dry but this one was so moist,the right amount of salt, cod & potatoes, perfect.The best I've eaten anywhere.

Espetada- Beef Kebabs
This dish wasn't overly dry as they can sometimes be.By this stage I have to admit I was so full this dish didn't really interest me as much as the others. I heard from the other guests though that it was very nice.

Creme Caramel- Pudim

I love creme caramels there so morish.This is a very typical one it's a bit heavier than the classical french one with a bit of a crust on top.
There were other selections of desserts chocolate mousse, & rice pudding which I didn't have a chance to get a photo of, as the other guests dug into them so fast, a good sign I guess.

Divino Restaurant

Address Shop 3, 98 Audley St,
Petersham, NSW 2049

Phone (02) 9560 9924

View Larger Map

Clams in a Cataplana

2010-02-25T13:54:00.012+11:00

Selection of Clam at the market

Razor Clams
Clam Stew
This dish was made when I was traveling in Portugal. I was visiting the south which is called the Algarve. My family comes from this region.
My mother has an apartment in a town called Loule. Her apartment is a 5 minute walk to a huge fresh food market.This market sells fresh bread, seafood, fruit & vegetables, as well as meat & poultry. But, it's most famous for it's seafood.
I'd wake up earlier than everyone else & stroll down to the market. On this particular day the clams looked fresh so I decided to make one of the Algarves famous dishes, Ameijoas na Cataplana, which means Clams in a Cataplana.
I was also eager to try razor clams as I'd never tried them before as you can't get them in Australia.
As I was traveling I didn't have my Cataplana so I made it in a normal pan.
I'll write a post soon about what a Cataplana is, but it's not really that necessary to have one as my photos show, just a fantastic way to present this dish.
Make sure you soak your clams in fresh water,how long depends on where you got them from.
Most seafood mongers do this for you, but it's best to ask if you need to soak them.

3 large onions,sliced
6 cloves garlic,chopped
1 large red capsicum,diced in large pieces
4 large tomatoes,chopped
1 bunch coriander,chopped
1 chorizo
1 cup water
2 teaspoons salt
3 tab massa de pimentao (capsicum paste)
2 kg of clams

Saute the onions in olive oil on med to high heat till they start to become soft then add the garlic.
When this mix has a bit of color add the chorizo & stir,then add the capsicum.
Add a bit more oil if the mixture appears a bit dry,then add the stalks of the coriander.Give everything a good stir.Then add the salt, massa de pimentao & cook for 1 min.
Then add the water & allow the mixture to cook for 10 min on a med heat.
Bring the mixture up to the boil & add the clams coating the clams in the mixture.
Immediately cover the clams with a lid & cook for 10 min or till clams are cooked.
When the clams are cooked add the chopped coriander.
Serve with a salad cooked rice or fresh bread.

Lisbon Trams

2010-02-18T11:41:00.012+11:00

One of my favorite sights, while travelling in Portugal was travelling on the yellow tram.
We have trams in Australia but not in Sydney,so it's not something I'm used to seeing. Lisbon trams are a sight to behold.
These distinctive yellow trams are one of the tourist icons of modern Lisbon, and their size is well suited to the steep hills and narrow streets of the city.
Modern Lisbon has invested in newer trams which for the inhabitants of this city is probably much more comfortable to travel on, then the older style ones you see in these pictures.
From the perspective of a tourist these older style ones have charm, they seem to be from a different era. You imagine seeing men in pinstripped suits & hats, women in pinup dress's wearing gloves & hats, stepping out of them
I'd love the sound of the rumble & the clinking sound of a bell as they went past, letting you know they own this old & beautiful city.

Too sick to blog about food

2010-02-18T11:06:00.006+11:00

So I've been away for a while. I guess I should come clean about something.
One of the reasons I started writing this blog was not just because I wanted to share some of my passion for Portuguese food but because I've been unwell.
Several months ago, well actually way back in August 2009, I caught glandular fever & ever since have battled with the symptoms. I become extremely exhausted & sick & so can't even sit in front of a computer at these times. I've been at home ever since & so decided that I'd do a blog about something I love, to overcome a lot of my boredom.
I won't always be able to cook, so, I've devised a plan. Back in 2008 my husband & I took a trip to Portugal after a 12 year absence,we took about 2000 photos because even back then I had plans that I'd share it in a blog one day.
So during the really hard times I'll post about my adventures.
I hope you all enjoy the photos.

Creme Caramel

2010-02-01T16:25:00.002+11:00

Creme Caramel (Pudim) is one of Portugals favorite desserts,you'll always find one on a restaurant menu or at a party.
I made this creme caramel for my friends son's 1st birthday party.
The Portuguese call their creme caramels, Pudim.
My version is a bit lighter than what you would find in Portugal,the Portuguese generally have there's a bit heavier.

Creme Caramel Mix
1/2 cup sugar
6 eggs
3 3/4 cup of hot milk
1 tab vanilla essance

Caramel Sauce

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

In a pot add your sugar & water together & put it on high heat.
Don't touch the caramel with a spoon or fork once it's boiling otherwise the mixture won't turn out,it'll turn into a lumps of watery sugar.
Just allow the mixture to cook swirling it around once in a while.
When it's a deep rich colour take it off the heat & coat a baking pan with the caramel.

For the egg mix, warm your milk up till it's warm.Don't make your milk too hot or it will curdle the egg mixture.
Beat your eggs, sugar & vanilla essance together & then add your milk & whisk together.
Pour the mixture into the pan that's coated with the caramel.
Put the cake pan into a larger baking pan with water cover the mixture & bake at 130 degrees for an hour or till the mixture comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely before you turn it out.

First Post

2010-01-31T00:28:00.000+11:00

So it's 12.30 am in Sydney & I couldn't sleep. So I was viewing one of my favourite blog sites & they were talking about how it was their anniversary & how they got started with their blog. So I thought, hey,I've always wanted to do that, so I gave it a try.And here I am.
So why be a blogger,well it's something I've always wanted to do.
I have around 100 blogs sites I follow. I know it's crazy,but really in my defence I don't follow them every day,just a few a day.
A lot of them are great & very beautiful sites,a great way to express yourself either by the written word, a photogragh or the expression of cooking .
People who love to cook generally are artistic people in some way.

So why Portuguese food,it's because my background is Portuguese, & I am passionate about the food & culture.
I've always loved food & learned to cook at around 7 or 8 years old.
I remember borrowing cookbooks at school & then trying the recipes at home,by the time I left primary school my name was on every cookbook in the library.
I have all these photos of the food I made, not great,some of them look really awful.
This was in the early 80's before it was normal to take photos of food.
So you see I was a blogger in the making.
So I hope you enjoy.