"twas the night before Christmas"

The Christmas Eve page from my kitchen scrapbook

Christmas dinner on Christmas eve is a tradition that is fast catching on,on all sides of the globe-and for good reason.To detach this huge performance from the present unwrapping mayhem makes perfect sense.Tonight it was time to get my "bible" out and cook our traditional Casa Rosada Christmas Eve dinner of salmon and prawn fish pie.

Inside or out ? - Get stuffing

Times were when cooks used to do the stuffing inside of the turkeys. The theory was that the stuffing flavoured the turkey. OK, I  accept that, but I was too young back then to do it myself. But my mother´s stuffing always turned out well, was cooked through and very yummy. I was always one for following mother´s method but I wouldn't do it her way now.
I have been watching a lot of TV cooks recently in the run up to Christmas showing great ways to cook the stuffing outside.Whats more, if stuffing is cooked on its own it can become the side attraction to many main dishes other than the turkey, or a dish in its own write.So what better than a Sierra Rica chestnut, fig and sausage stuffing. In an ideal world this recipe uses Organic chestnuts from a farm in Aracena not far from Seville in southwestern Andalucia.

This is a deliciously different stuffing for Christmas.It can be cooked on its own in a dish.If you want to cook it inside the bird, stuff the neck end(not the cavity and roast at 190C/fan170C/gas 5 for 20 minutes per 500g.

225 g Pork sausage meat
3 large shallots chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
Vegetable or chicken stock
170g dried figs,chopped
3 tbsp brandy
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
400g Sierra Rica cooked organic chestnuts or near substitute
cut into quarters
160g coarse breadcrumbs
To cook in its own dish....
Heat the oven to 180C7fan 160C/gas 4 and oil or butter a medium baking tin or dish.
Cook the sausage meat in a large frying pan over a medium heat for 5 minutes until browned and cooked through, breaking it into small pieces with a fork.Add the shallots and celery and cook for a further 5 minutes.Make up 150ml of stock. Add half to the pan with the figs, brandy and thyme. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, and cook for 5 minutes until the figs are tender.Combine the chestnuts, breadcrumbs and sausage mixture in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the remaining stock and season with salt and pepper.Transfer the stuffing to the baking tin and cover with foil.bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for a further 5-10 minutes, until the top of the stuffing begins to brown.Serves 6

Juggling birds.potatoes and stuffing in the oven can be difficult, but here is a solution where you have your stuffing and the added bonus of an extra side dish, and........ you can make these up to two days before then re-heat them when you want them.

Sausage,fig and chestnut stuffed baked onions, 
with tangerine

6 red onions peeled but kept whole
Juice of 5 tangerines, clementines or mandarins
stuffing as above


Heat the oven to 190C/ fan 170C/gas 5. Stand the onions in a roasting tin, pour around the citrus juice, season, cover with foil and bake for 1 hour or until just tender.
Turn the oven up to 200C/fan 180C/Gas 6 Remove the cores from the onions, save the cores and use for gravy.Pack the hollowed onions with the stuffing.dab each with butter or a little olive oil and roast uncovered for 30 minutes until crisped on top. They´ll keep for up to two days and re-heat when you want them.

Brussell Hearty

Eat your greens was mother´s mantra- Oh how we hated Brussel sprouts when we were kids.Tables have turned and I have become a Brussel sprout fanatic. I am having a sprout epiphany, bit previous I know.

I was scarred by a childhood in which the same named bitter tasting vegetables were boiled to within an inch of their lives, leaving them as discoloured corpses and discharging putrid water when prodded. Tables have turned and I now love these couvinhos, miniaturised cabbages. Its simply amazing what you can do with a cabbagette.

Finely shred them as you would a cabbage, toss in hot butter with pancetta and chilli, or shred in salad with carrots and chinese leaf or toss them in a nutmeg butter.For more ideas see Brussels takes centre stage

It´s my party....

Polenta with fig and caramelised onion jam and goats cheese

 “There are certain shades of limelight that can wreck a girl's complexion.”- be warned.....

Breakfast at Tiffanys or Cocktails at home.You don´t have to be Holly Golightly but it´s your party so you must enjoy yourself. Forget fiddly finicky food and go for anything that can be prepared with very little effort, preferably in advance, and replenished with ease. Puttting  out dishes of food that can be assembled by your guests is always a good wheeze. Polenta is always a good bet as it can be prepared well in advance, taken from the fridge, warmed through and then topped with with various chutneys, relishes and marmalades and finished off with fresh or melted goats cheese, pequillo peppers or such like. Dips are simple to prepare and even easier to serve. Place trays wherever guests are likely to linger. These can be as exotic or as simple as you want them to be and if you make sufficiently large quantities there will always be plentiful refills for the stragglers like Ginny Comelately.You don´t want to be the one in the kitchen garnishing canapés or assembling fiddly hors  d´ oeuvres when everyone else is having fun sharing the hot gossip and relishing another reputation gone.....

It is of course quite normal to be getting yourself into a bit of a pickle this time of year, so pickle yourself pink with a relish you will soon realise, you cant do without this season of entertaining.

Red onion marmalade with thyme

It looks a lot like Christmas it tastes a lot like Christmas.It smells a lot like Christmas and its even the colour of Christmas.A great accompaniment to roast beef and many a cold cut the day after, and the days after that.

350g (12 oz)red onions very finely chopped
25g (1/2 oz ) butter

1Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped thyme

1cup (250ml) red wine vinegar

1/2 cup golden granulated sugar
Melt the butter and olive oil in a pan.Stir in the chopped onions and thyme.Allow them to soften on a low heat for 10-15 minutes.Add the vinegar and sugar.Bring to the boil then turn the heat down to lowest.Cook Slowly uncovered for 50 minutes  to 1 hour.

by invitation only...

As the festive season beckons like a glittering prize, the invitations have been sent sent out and accepted with glee.Turn up the music and revel in the party spirit. Drink champagne,eat with relish and bring joy to the world.Most of all, enjoy the fruits of all your weeks of preparation.It would be a shame to be unduly insular in your Christmas celebrations, that  doesn´t mean you have to abandon family tradition. Instead, tap into the increasingly eclectic, international character of modern culture by picking and mixing seasonal treats from all over Europe and beyond.  
Casa Rosada is ready and this Christmas we are  "doing the continental."
Breakfast, Classic American - Eggs Benedict
In the "Talk of the Town" column of The New Yorker in 1942,Lemuel Benedict,a retired Wall Street stock broker,claimed that he had wandered into the Waldorf  in 1894 to find a cure for his morning hangover,ordered "buttered toast poached eggs,crisp bacon, and a hooker of hollandaise. "OscarTschirky, famed maître d´hotel, was so impressed with the dish that he put it on the breakfast and brunch menus but substituted ham for the bacon and a toasted English muffin for the toast.For Casa Rosada  Iberican jamon and muffin salgados.

Pre-lunch aperitif 
Croft pink port on ice with tonic


Lunch
 
Starter: Fusion
Potted prawns with ginger and coriander

Main course

I´m normally a stuffing and potatoes chappy, but this year we will be giving a beautiful cut of traditionally reared Portuguese belly pork the Italian treatment, along with some modern takes on Yule Britannia side orders.The pork is rolled and stuffed so no worries about the stuffing, and of course roast potatoes will be part of the accompaniments.

porchétta [por'ketta] n. roasted pork with crispy skin, highly seasoned with aromatic herbs and spices, garlic, sage, rosemary and wild fennel seeds. Typical plate of the Roman cuisine. Slow cooked.Celebratory dish.
Porchetta is a traditional street food of Central Italy. Sold from a cart or a truck, it is a whole roast pig boned out and stuffed a with  mixed with herbs then slow roasted in a wood oven. It is sliced to order and served in a sandwich as a quick treat at the market or at a fair.

5kg/11lb piece of pork belly- ask the butcher to remove the ribs and trim off the excess fat 25g/1oz coarse salt 

2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

2 tbsp fresh rosemary, roughly chopped

large bunch fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped

1 tbsp fennel seeds (if you are lucky enough to find wild fennel, use it

instead, finely chopped - its flavour is unique)

8 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tbsp olive oil 

6 tbsp runny honey 

freshly ground black pepper 

Preheat the oven to 230C/445F/Gas 8. Lay the pork belly skin-side down onto a clean flat surface.Sprinkle the salt and coarsely ground black pepper over it, rubbing them well into the meat with your finger.Leave to rest for ten minutes so the salt and pepper settle well into the meat. Then sprinkle the herbs, fennel seeds and garlic evenly over it.Next tie up the meat. You will need ten pieces of string, each about 30cm/12 inches long. Carefully roll the meat up width-ways and tie it very tightly with string in the middle of the joint. Then tie at either end about 1cm/½ inch from the edge and keep tying along the joint until you have used up all the string. The filling should be well wrapped, if any excess filling escapes from the sides, push it in.With your hands, massage one tablespoon of the olive oil all over the joint. Then rub the remaining salt and some more black pepper over it.Grease a large roasting tin with the remaining olive oil and place the pork in it.Roast for ten minutes, then turn it over. After 15 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 150C/300F/Gas 2 and cover the meat with aluminium foil. (If you like the crackling very crisp, don't bother with the foil, but remember that the porchetta needs to be sliced thinly and crispy crackling will make this difficult.)Roast for three hours.Remove the joint from the oven and coat with honey, drizzling some of the juices from the roasting tin all over it too. Insert a fork in either side of the joint and lift it on to a wooden board. If you are serving the porchetta immediately, place the roasting tin on the hob and stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up all the caramelised bits from the base of the tin, until the juices from the meat reduce and thicken slightly. Slice the joint thinly and serve with the sauce. Alternatively, leave the meat to cool and slice when needed. It will keep for up to a week in the fridge.

Back to Portugal for
Dessert

Bolo rei gelado

and to curl up on the Spanish sofa with....

Home made

Turron

mmmmzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Breast in show

How many times are people disappointed in the aftermath of their turkey dinner? The biggest grouch is always the fact that the meat was too dry. Secondly the size of the damn bird - it´s too darn big. What are we going to do with the massive amounts of left over meat? Turkey sandwiches, yes then curtains please, lets call it a day.The biggest problem with cooking turkey is that unless it is cooked properly it dries out. Here is the answer to both those problems. Last year in passing I mentioned two factors in my turkey post

"The Portuguese solution to counteract the dry and bland taste is  to steep it in a special marinade, the day before cooking".

"I noticed while shopping in my butchers in the days running up to Christmas that many Portuguese households get their butcher to joint the turkey. They opt just for a quarter joint or breast portions. This is such a great idea and avoids one having to think up the usual "101 ways with left over turkey" for days after the Christmas blow out"

So this year good old Yotam Ottolenghi to the rescue.Marinate 24 hours in advance and then an hour and half´s cooking with 15 minutes resting time and you have the most tender succulent meat with an unusual and piquant sauce. This means the Christmas bird gracing your  table will be juicier and better than Beyonce Knowles. Now that is a star act to follow.

Marinated turkey breast with cumin,coriander,white wine

serves 4-6

4tbsp mint leaves

4 tbsp parsley leaves

4tbsp coriander leaves

1 garlic clove,peeled

60ml lemon juice

60ml olive oil

125ml white wine

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon Flor de sal

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 small organic or free-range turkey breast ( about 1Kg )

Put all the ingredients except the turkey breast in a food processor or blender and process for 1-2 minutes to get a smooth marinade. Put the turkey in a non-metallic container and pour the marinade over it. Massage the marinade into the meat, cover the container and leave in the fridge for 24 hours. Make sure the turkey is completely immersed in the sauce.
Pre-heat the oven to 220ºC/Gas mark 7. Remove the turkey from the marinade,keeping the marinade for later, and put it on a roasting tray.Place in the oven and roast for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 200ºC/Gas mark 6. Continue to cook for another 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature again to 180ºc/Gas mark 4.Cook until the turkey is done- another 30-45 minutes.To check, stick a small knife all the way into the centre;it should come out hot.if the meat goes dark before it is ready, cover it with foil.
To prepare the sauce, heat up the turkey marinade in a small saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes, until reduced by about half.Taste and season with some more salt and pepper.
Remove the Turkey from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes,Slice it thinly and serve with the warm sauce.
To serve cold,leave the meat to cool completely and then slice. Adjust the seasoning of the sauce once it is cold and serve on the side.
If you do not have Turkey for Christmas but love the tradition of turkey sandwiches this is a perfect option.

All I would suggest when I cook it again:

Double the suggested  measure of Cumin

Cook it for half an hour at the starting temperature of 220, skipping the reduction to 200 F. This might help with a better browning.

Bundles of goodness

Roasted vegetables wrapped in bacon

The perfect side order to Christmas Dinner

The main part of this dish can be made well in advance and kept in the fridge overnight.

Roast vegetable and bacon bundles

( Makes 8 bundles )

6 parsnips cut into thick batons

6 carrots cut into thick batons

I tablespoon of honey or maple syrup

4 tablespoons sherry vinegar

small bunch of thyme

8 thin slices Presunto Serrano or streaky bacon

Olive oil

Heat the oven to200C /fan 180C /gas 6.

Simmer the vegetables until al dente about 5 to 6 minutes

Drain, then toss in a pan over a low heat with the honey and sherry vinegar

until glazed and caramelised.Season.

( Up to this stage can be made and stored in the fridge oivernight )

Make up into bundles, add a sprig or two of thyme to each bundle 

and wrap with  the ham or bacon.

Lay the bundles on a baking tray, brush with olive oil and roast for 20 minutes.

Putting on the glitz

At this time of year its all about dressing up. Not just  making yourself look fabulous, but pulling out all the culinary stops to dress up the food.It only takes a few extra special ingredients and very little money to turn the everyday into the out-of-this-world.Bedeck and Bedazzle, your mission is to be the new Carrie Bradshaw of Christmas domesticity - A reyt bobby dazzler. This is a quaint coloquial term from Lancashire in the Northwest of England pertaining to someone who looks good, or is well presented, and is often said to someone who is "dressed to impress" for an event or party. The Christmas table should glitter and sparkle, candles should be lit and the best china brought out.The table certainly requires a cloth and for me family heirloom linen takes some beating. The combination of rough linen with fine china and glass gives a sense of occasion.As an alternative to the more usual starched  cloth,one of our favourite table coverings is an old french linen sheet. It is one of our prized posessions

In these hard times of Merkhelozy austerity we can´t deny we are all short of a penny, a euro, a dollar or a pound, so mixing sparkly vintage with modern chic is the crise way to celebrate Christmas. Christmas is a lovely time to bring out any china or glass passed down your family which might be lurking in the backs of cupboards.It may seem rather dated or unfashionable to you, but please take another look.Fashion changes so regularly that without it journalists would be devoid of any new products for their "shopping pages". What seems old-ladyish one year can look great the next.Of course its all about how you use it. Old pieces need to be mixed with modern in order for Victoria to meet the Noughties.If you´re lucky enough to have inherited or acquired older pieces,mix and match them. It all reflects the sentiment of Christmas past and present.The Casa Rosada Christmas table will represent my grandmother´s china, and Peking Glass that my mother bartered for in a Shanghai market while stopping off while travelling on a troop ship in World War Two. It will sit alongside some modern trinkets we have picked up while on our own travels in more recent years.The Casa Rosada lunch will be a more intimate affair.No guests just the two of us.The whole Christmas thing is s geared towards the large family gathering that lunch for two can easily get forgotten, or even worse looked upon as being a trifle sad.Well Bah humbug it is quite the opposite.The smaller the party the more luxurious it can afford to be and perhaps more civilised.You can do precisely as you like, Drink more expensive wine and indulge in delicacies that would have been beyond budget were you entertaining on a larger scale. For putting on more Glitz.... Glasses are good to use for several reasons, they are small, which makes them easy to make arrangements in,even for the most cack-handed. They can play host to a scented tea light, but be careful not to crack the glass.You can see over them which is important when dressing a table.What´s more they dont take many flowers so are cheap. So you want your guests to be saying about you things like "Ohh arn't you a bobby dazzler" or or about your turkey "My, that bird's a reet bobby dazzler!" Candles make everything sparkly and jewelley, especially Joe Malone,  sorry Portugal she´s not here yet. Smart tumblers can double up as vases for the Christmas table.  Try mimosa flowers in a purple vase.

Its gonna be a cold cold Christmas

 Bolo Rei ice cream cake

Bolo Rei, the King's Cake, is a traditional Portuguese sweet bread with nuts and crystallized (candied) fruit, eaten at Christmas time and especially on 6 January, Kings' Day.The Bolo Rei must not be missing from the Portuguese Christmas.There used to be a tradition of placing a broad bean and a coin (or small trinket) in the Bolo Rei but this was banned in cakes sold commercially some years ago due to incidents of choking! Legend has it that the Three Kings, as they followed the Star of Bethlehem on their way to greet baby Jesus, could not agree amongst themselves which would be the first to give their gift to Jesus. On their travels they met a baker who gave them a loaf of bread with a broad bean hidden inside it. He told them that the one who ended up with the slice of bread with the bean should give baby Jesus the present first and they accepted this idea as a means of resolving their dispute.This tradition survives today and the coin or trinket in the cake represents good luck.
I´ve taken roughly the same ingredients of a traditional Bolo Rei but deconstructed it,and created an ice cream cake.I have kept its distinctive shape, baked in the shape of a crown or ring but given it a lighter taste and more modern look that is still in keeping with the overall feel of the original.The traditional cake usually contains small trinkets (a little heart, a tiny porcelain baby Jesus, an owl, or something wrapped up in paper or even a one euro coin or the dried broad bean.

My recipe is easier to make than the cake, which is very time consuming.I had to take several issues into account before I found my final solution.The first impression of a dish is always created by its visual appeal.An ice cream is a very different texture to a baked cake. The flavours and the texture of the food on the plate had to be considered in the creative mix to produce the overall look of the dish.I had to think about how it was going to be served.

Its gonna be a cold cold Christmas but this Bolo Rei is going to be your star turn,and whoever finds the bean is crowned King of the party and must promise to make the cake the following year. At adult parties, the person who finds the bean is expected to pay for the King´s cake for the following year.

Bolo Rei Gelado

500ml (2 cups ) cream

170g icing sugar

55g toasted almonds

55g glace cherries

55g candied peel

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup sultanas

1 Desertspoon Maciera (Portuguese brandy)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1teaspoon almond essence

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1 large tablespoon cocoa powder

2-3 tablespoons hot water

2 egg whites

Chop all the dried fruit and add the mixed spice. Pour over the brandy and leave to stand overnight.Whip the cream and add half the icing sugar. In another bowl, beat the egg whites and add the rest of the sugar.Beat again. Gently blend the cream and egg white mixtures together.Add the fruit and almonds followed by the cocoa powder dissolved in the hot water.Line a ring mould or small bundt pan with foil.Pour in the mixture and press flat. Cover with foil and freeze.Turn out onto a plate and decorate with candied fruit garnish.

A piece of cake

This is for those of you that missed Stir-up Sunday and didn´t get to make the wish.Don´t worry, all is not lost and you still shall have Christmas cake and go to the ball.Going all-out is going to be a piece of cake this festive season.If you have not made the cake yet and you don´t want a huge cake to the tune of Martha Stewart catering proportions then here is your solution...... individual Christmas cakes in bite size portions, into the oven and out of the oven in a matter of minutes.The downside of this particular recipe is that the prep work is more labour intensive due to the fact that it is necessary to chop all the ingredients smaller in order to get a happy balance of all the ingredients in each little cake.Here is your last call to stir it, and make little muffin type Christmas cakes.

Christmas cake muffins
230g Muscatel raisins
125g sultanas, halved
230g currants
170g glacé cherries, chopped
110g  dried apricots,chopped
110g stoned dried prunes,chopped
125g candied mixed peel,chopped
170g blanched almonds, chopped
160g chopped dates
11/3 cups (101/2 fl oz) brandy
325g (111/2 oz) unsalted butter
11/4  cups brown sugar 
4 eggs
21/4 cups plain( all purpose) flour 
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda ( baking powder)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 cup (2fl oz) brandy,extra 
Place all the dried fruits and brandy in a saucepan over a low heat.Cook stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes or until all the brandy has been absorbed.Set aside to cool.
Pre-heat the oven to 140C(280F).Place the butter and sugar in a bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy.Add the eggs gradually and beat well.Place the butter mixture,fruit mixture,flour, bicarbonate of soda,cinnamon and allspice in a large mixing bowl and mix well to combine.Spoon the mixture into 12 x 1 cup (8fl oz) capacity greased muffin tins.Do not overfill the muffin tins.Bake for 35 minutes or until firm to the touch.Remove from the oven, pour over the extra brandy and cool completely in the tins.
When the cakes are cool you can apply marzipan followed by icing or you could just ice star shapes or the like onto the tops.Whatever you decide, have fun and enjoy the preparations for the festive fun to come.   
Makes 12.

A shop is for life not just for Christmas

In England we have a saying " A dog is for life not just for Christmas". The inference being that a lot of puppies are given as surprise presents at Christmas only to be abandoned as unwanted on the streets in the New Year. Nowhere are there more stray and abandoned dogs as here on the streets in Portugal. On a quiet Lisbon back street in the very stroll-worthy neighbourhood of Chiado, the fashionable shopping quarter of Lisbon, we found not an abandoned dog but a converted soap factory.What was to greet us when we crossed the threshold was truly a revelation. Stepping back in time from the modern world outside we wandered through a Santa´s grotto of Portuguese retro. One room after another filled with glass panelled cabinets full of gorgeousness. At times you feel as if you are browsing  Portugal´s near equivalent of the Robert Opie Collection. Within five minutes I was speechless. As I passed by one cabinet I was overcome by the heady aroma of soaps by Claus Porto in art deco boxes. I was breathless and ready to Plotz.

Tricana branded canned fish

 I have always loved beautiful packaging and everything retro, and if you covet anything "old fashioned", you'll find it here at A Vida  Portuguesa.Run by Portuguese Journalist Caterina Portas, she opened Lisbon's A Vida Portuguesa shop in 2007. It is as if she has created a museum in which she curates more than 1000 products made by Portuguese manufacturers who've deliberately resisted globalization. In many cases apparently, she had to hunt down brands that were near extinction.Her cornucopia allows you explore display after display of unique items—from tea and toothpaste to fabric and tambourines—that are all handmade, Portuguese-crafted or have been around forever. It successfully celebrates something that small-batch and one -off producers and locavores work to champion.Alongside slow food we now have slow
retail.

Self-adhesive labels

Surprisingly her surname is synonymous with another Portas, Mary, renowned for innovation and make overs on the British high street.This project is absolutely the  opposite of cheaper, faster internet shopping and ship-it-to-your-door retail. This is no abandoned pooch but the most gorgeous and unusual of general stores and is here to stay for ever.I implore you if you haven´t already,to boogie on down there and ensure bygones live on.

A Vida Portuguesa

Rua Anchieta 11

Lisbon, Portugal

map

Tel: 213 465 073

Brussels takes centre stage

Couve-de-bruxelas. you either love them or you hate them. They have become a bit of an understudy these days,waiting in the wings while the other vegetables hog the spotlight but like it or not, this jaded family favourite is here to stay. A sprout is for life not just for Christmas. So whatcha gonna do ´bout it? Re-cast them alongside some upbeat flavours and ingredients, and they´ll take centre stage again. You can steam them, boil them,poach them, roast them or saute them. You can serve them whole, sliced,shredded or even raw. You can add so many things to them to make them interesting and each time you can try something new. You really can't go wrong.Pretty fab sprouts.
Here are my hot tips for Oscar winning Brussels.

 

Brussels Sprouts with chestnuts    (serves 8-10)

Best supporting dish

1 kg brussels sprouts (cleaned, trimmed and halved)

 

500g chestnuts

  

100g unsalted butter

 

50g toasted white breadcrumbs

Boil the sprouts in salted water for 10 minutes.(they should retain a little bite) Warm the chestnuts in a pan of hot stock or water.Drain. Melt the butter in a large pan, then toss through the sprouts and chestnuts until they are well coated. Season, then stir through the breadcrumbs and serve.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Cranberries and Pecans    (serves 4)

Best ingredient combination in a supporting role

 2 slices bacon, pancetta or toucinho (cut into 1/2 inch slices)

 

1 shallot (diced)

 

500g brussels sprouts (cleaned, quartered, blanched and drained)

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons dried cranberries

2 tablespoons pecans (chopped)

1. Cook the bacon in a pan and set aside reserving 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat.
2. Add the shallots to the pan and cook in the bacon grease and saute until, tender about 3-5 minutes.
2. Add the brussels sprouts to the pan, season with salt and pepper, toss in the fat and saute for a minute.
3. Remove from heat and mix in the cranberries and pecans.

Brussels Sprouts braised with ginger and orange   (serves 6-8) 

Best new taste sensation

a little dried chilli can be added when you are cooking the garlic and ginger

30g butter

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

500g brussels sprouts washed and trimmed

juice and zest of 1 orange

1tbsp red wine vinegar

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger,and fry gently for 3-4 minutes until pale golden. add the brussels sprouts and cook for 1 minute, stirring to coat them in the melted butter. Add the orange juice, its zest and the red wine vinegar. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes until the sprouts are soft. Remove the sprouts, then reduce the sauce for about 3 minutes, or until syrupy. Pour the sauce over the sprouts and serve.

Brussels Sprouts with Chourico and almonds    (serves 4) 

Perfect casting, my favourite for an oscar nomination 

 

750g brussels sprouts, trimmed

1 garlic clove, crushed

 

70g sliced chourico, cut into strips

  

olive oil 

 

3 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted till golden

1. Steam the sprouts until just tender, about 5 minutes. 
2. Fry the garlic and chorizo in 2 tbsp oil for a few minutes until crisp.
3. Stir through the sprouts then put in a warm dish and sprinkle with the almonds.
   
   
   
   
   Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with toasted almonds and Pecorino 
   makes 6 side servings
   
   
   

   Best adaptation of a recipe

   
   

   750g( 1.5 lb) Brussels sprouts

   
   

   1 grated raw carrot (optional )

   
   

   1 cup flaked almonds (4 oz), lightly toasted 
   
   2 tablespoons finely grated Pecorino Romano 
   
   zest of one large orange
   
   1/4 cup olive oil
   
   3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
   
   
   Holding each Brussels sprout by stem end, cut into very thin shavings.
   

   alternatively grate each sprout on a cheese grater or micro plane.

   Toss in a bowl to separate layers.Add carrot, if using.

   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   Lightly crush almonds with your hands and add to Brussels sprouts along with cheese, oil, and lemon juice, then toss to combine. Scatter the orange zest over the top. Season with a little salt and plentiful pepper.

   
   And don´t forget to bubble and squeak
   if you have left overs.

   
   Finally did you know how Brussels sprouts grow?

   It comes as a surprise to some.

   
   O cozinheiro likes this

   Heston Says: Try separating all the leaves from the sprouts and stir fry them adding whatever extras take your fancy.

   
   
   

   
   

Talking Turkey in portuguese- Peru

You are so bootiful!!

Why Peru? the clue to the origin of the Portuguese name for Turkey came from the Portuguese and Spanish explorers in the sixteenth century, who  brought the first turkeys back to the Iberian peninsula from South America.The turkey in Portugal, as in many countries, now takes an important role in Christmas fare.

Compared to goose, duck and other game birds, turkey lacks flavour and therefore needs all the help it can get to overcome this problem. Its really up to the cook to bring out the best of the flavour. Keeping the turkey moist as it cooks is the sure way to to make it appetizing - so STUFF IT!!Stuffing gives this bland and tasteless bird its flavour. Introduce taste elements to suit yourself. Sweet, sour, salty or bitter. For sweetness use dried fruits such as apricots or prunes, and nuts such as chestnuts, almonds, pistachios or cashews. For sharpness use redcurrants, cranberries, lemon zest and juice, oranges or white wine.For salty and savoury add onion, mushrooms, celery or soya sauce. For more bitterness try mustard or herbs such as sage, thyme or marjoram. Red berries are bittersweet too.

Peru recheado de Natal (stuffed turkey for Christmas)  
Serves 8 to 10

1 medium sized turkey

150ml white wine

1 large orange, very finely sliced

1 large lemon, very finely sliced

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons lard

1 teaspoon paprika

110g fatty bacon, minced

salt and pepper

The Portuguese solution to counteract the dry and bland taste is  to steep it in a special marinade, the day before cooking. Prepare the Turkey, then put it in a large basin or bucket with some cold water to cover it, salt and sliced fruits. Turn it around from time to time. The following day take the turkey out of the marinade and put it somewhere to drain, while you prepare your stuffing.
Portuguese style stuffing

FOR THE BREAST END 

450g lean minced pork and veal

60g lean bacon minced

1 large slice white bread

1 small onion chopped

1tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon lard

2 sprigs parsley chopped

zest of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper

FOR THE TAIL END 

1 medium onion

450g floury potatoes

1 tablespoon butter
1tablespoon lard
turkey giblets
2 medium eggs
2 sprigs parsley chopped
8-10 black olives stoned
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper

For the breast end stuffing, fry the onion in the fats, until transparent. Add to the minced meat, mix in the fresh breadcrumbs, then add the other ingredients. combine this mixture, season and stuff the breast end of the bird and secure with a needle and string if necessary. Now prepare the tail end stuffing. Fry the onion in the fats and add the giblets, well cleaned and cut into quite small pieces. Add a little stock and allow to cook gently until tender.reduce the gravy if too liquid. meanwhile cook and mash the potatoes and combine with the eggs, olives and parsley. When the giblets are ready, mix them with the potato, check the seasoning and stuff the cavity, again securing with string. Make a paste with the lard, butter, bacon, paprika and seasoning and spread all over the turkey.Put in the oven 160C for about 31/2 hours for a 4.5kg turkey. basting every so often with the wine and its juices.

YULE LIKE
I noticed while shopping in my butchers in the days running up to Christmas that many Portuguese households get their butcher to joint the turkey. They opt just for a quarter joint or breast portions. This is such a great idea and avoids one having to think up the usual "101 ways with left over turkey" for days after the Christmas blow out

Christmas cookies

Sugar and spice and all things nice, its never too late to bake a Christmas cake...It has been raining for two days and this has given me some time to do some christmas baking.While cracking eggs, chopping nuts and candied fruits my thoughts turned to the origins of all these delicious cakes and cookies.How come I was cooking all these foreign delicacies in The Algarve.I started to look for a justification. The original Panforte is undisputably Sienese, but its close friend the Florentine could apparently be Austrian or even French.I dont know which panforte I was making,white, black, Margherita or Panpepato(the old name meaning "peppered bread") I was sort of making it up as I went along., but I did use white pepper among my spices? Panforte or Panforte de Sienna is the most usual name meaning “Strong Bread”.The history of panforte is murky, though everyone seems to agree that it is an old recipe, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is said that panforte was carried by soldiers on the crusades.Following my heart, ( O cozinheiro Coeur de Lion ), I reminded myself of the crusades. a subject I have recently been reading about in the late Martin Page´s fascinating book The first Global village. 

Panforte was apparently the crusades siege food, ingredients included honey from Spain and oriental spices, proof of the crusaders trade routes and spice trails across the world.Panpepato is an ancient confection rich with history. Born from the wise hands of apothecaries within monasteries and convents,similar to the monasterial and conventual tradition in Portugal and Spain. It became a delicacy sought after by young damsels and valiant knights.It is not a bread,it is a not overly sweet, very spiced, tender and flat. Is it a cake? is it a pie?- No its the older cousin of the power bar, me thinks.At the time of the Medici it was said, in fact, that the “peppered bread” gave strength and vigor in encounters of arms and love, so there you have it.Next into the oven went Florentines. Chewy chocolate biscuits with a difference, the festive fruits and spices make these a great standby for when friends drop in over Christmas.So why Florentine biscuits?  Some say the biscuits are actually Austrian in origin. Another story has it that a master confectioner created them at Versailles, in the kitchens of King Louis XIV of France, in honour of the Medicis of Florence when they visited.God rest those merry gentlemen,the Florentines were coming.                         

Lorenzo de Medici,anonymous portrait

Florentines

makes 24 biscuits

8oz butter

8oz sugar

8oz plain flour

8 teaspoons honey

6 oz dried mixed fruit,6 oz glace cherries

6oz chopped almonds

200g melted chocolate

Pre-heat oven to 180C / 350F/ gas 4

Melt the butter, sugar and honey in a heavy pan.

Remove from the heat and add the flour, fruit, cherries and almonds. Mix until smooth.

Place "dollops" of the mixture on a non-stick baking tray ( 12 to a tray )and press down lightly with your finger. Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden around the edges. The edges may need pulling in during cooking if they are spreading too much on the tray. Leave for 5 minutes then remove carefully to wire racks to cool.When cold spread melted chocolate thinly on the flat side and leave to set.

Pearl of Christmas wisdom:

Cut the florentines into quarters or eighths for artesan petits fours

How I interpreted Panforte

175g / 6 oz / 1 cup Hazelnuts

75g / 3oz / 1/2 cup whole blanched almonds

225g / 8oz /1.5 cups mixed candied fruits and peel and diced 

1 tablespoon mixed ground spices 

(coriander, cloves, nutmeg, ginger)

3 good pinches ground white pepper

75g / 3oz / 1/2 cup plain flour

6 tablespoons honey

100g / generous cup caster sugar

icing sugar for dusting

1.Pre-heat oven to 180C / 350F/ gas 4. Grease a shallow 20cm round cake tin with butter and line the bottom with non-stick baking parchment.

2.Spread the hazelnuts on a baking tray and place in the oven for about 10 minutes until lightly toasted. Remove and set aside.When cool rub the hazelnuts with with a clean tea towel to get the skin off. Coarsely chop all the nuts. 

Lower the oven temperature to 150F /300F gas mark 2.

3.In a large mixing bowl, combine the candied fruits and peel, spices, pepper and flour.

toss together well with a wooden spoon.

4.In a small heavy based pan, stir together the honey and sugar, and bring to the boil.Cook the mixture until it reaches 138C / 280F on a sugar thermometer or when a small ball forms when pressed between the fingertips in iced water. Take care when doing this.

Use a teaspoon to remove a little mixture from the pan for testing.

5.Immediately pour the sugar syrup onto the dry ingredients and stir well until evenly coated.Pour the mixture into the prepared tin.Dip a spoon or spatula into water  and use the back of it to press the mixture flat in the tin.

6.Cut four sheets of newspaper into 25cm / 10in. squares. place the newspaper pad on a baking sheet. This acts as insulation to prevent the base of the Panforte from burning.

Place the cake on the middle of the newspaper and bake for 30-40 minutes.

The cake wont colour or seem very firm after baking. Trust me it will harden as it cools, so don´t be tempted to put it back in the oven.Cool completely in the tin until firm. Remove gently from the tin and remove the baking paper. Store in asealed container for at least a day before eating.Dust with icing sugar before serving.

A toast to Christmas

Is panettone the new fruit cake? Panettone is one of my all time favourite seasonal store cupboard essentials. The aroma of  freshly toasted panettone UMM- HMMMMMMMMMMM!!

Here is a new take for a fast and easy Christmas dessert. My inspiration is  the tradition of the Italian Christmas dinner, at the end of which panettone is served with dried fruit,tangerines and oranges. The same elements are here in this recipe, but I have used  traditional Portuguese ingredients. Ameixas d´ Elvas ( Elvas plums ) tangerines,dried strawberries and dried cranberries.I have taken the orange element and transposed it into a supporting dollop of Mascarpone cream.

Toasted panettone with Elvas plums and orange mascarpone cream

1 Panettone cut into round slices, 1 per guest

2 Tangerines, segmented

Dried crystallised strawberries

1 90g packet Dried cranberries

1 Crystallized Elvas plum per serving

FOR THE CREAM

150g Mascarpone

1tablespoon icing sugar

Juice and zest of 1/2 orange

1 tablespoon Casa Rosada Licore Laranja Sevilha
or any orange flavoured liqueur

In a bowl mix all the ingredients for the orange mascarpone cream

Toast your panettone slices under the grill, top with the fruit leaving 

a small space to finish with a dollop of the cream

Pig on a stick, the perfect petisco

Petisco is to Portugal, what canape is to Christmas with cocktails. Wherever you are celebrating this year, what do you most like thrust in your face foodwise at a festa?

The Iceland Christmas ad this year has to be the strangest marketing ever. What ever were they thinking? "Real nuns", sorry that should read "Mums", dressed up as fin de siecle prostitutes, being wrangled by Jason Donovan prancing around in suspenders as a mustachioed ringmaster (ooh- er Mrs), in a hysterical celebration of beef n Yorkshire pud canapes.I thought my mum was a ´Real Mum`, but we never witnessed any of this malarkey back in the 50´s. A coincidence too, that to star in an Iceland ad, you need to have had an experience of  "cold turkey"?  Well,on with the blog.The other advert that has grabbed my attention is the Marks and Spencer new party food TV ad. In my former life I used to feed the mouths of supermarket food stylists on photo shoots. It was never a season away before word of my salad, soup and sandwich lunch items had got back to a head office somewhere and the odd facsimile appeared on the shelf of chill cabinets.One canape in this advert has inspired me,and with belly pork being so cheap and plentiful here in Portugal its now time for the oven gloves to go on and to get my own back.Tender slow-cooked pork belly squares ´get everyone talking´ says Caroline Quentin, and I want to get my guests tongue wagging about my home made version of this innovative nibble.
And with a little help you CAN be the hostess with the mostest.

Pig on a stick with honey and tomato glaze
makes 24 canapes

500g belly pork in thick rashers (approx. 4 rashers)
onion
1kg tomatoes
bay leaves 
thyme 
soya sauce
honey
Bring  a pan of water to a rolling boil and submerge the belly pork in it.This will get rid of a lot of the fat and soften what is left.Lower the heat and maintain a light simmer for 11/2 - 2 hours. Test for tenderness.Drain the pork and dry on kitchen towel. While the pork is cooking prepare the glaze.Cut your pork into bite sized cubes, not too large to fit on a cocktail stick.Skewer the cubes of pork one cube per stick and paint them all over with the glaze. Preheat your grill.Turn the skewers frequently basting them with more glaze until they have a sticky slightly caramelised coating with some charred patches. Place on little gem leaves and pass them around your guests,providing them with cocktail napkins in case of drips. 
This is a melting moment, that will have your taste buds jingling all the way.