Mary Queen of Scones

Bolos pequenos com romá e requeijao

Why don´t we have scones in Portugal I cry? My scone song has to be to introduce "Scones" to the Portuguese community. Home made scones, such a delicious treat, not just for afternoon tea. Sweet or savoury scones are so versatile and are so quick and easy to make.There is a scone for almost every occasion. Scones are believed to have originated in Scotland.The origin of the name 'scone' is just as unclear as where it came from. Some say the name comes from where the Kings of Scotland were crowned, the Stone (Scone) of Destiny.So donning my Scottish Toque I take on the role of Mary Queen of scones for an afternoon.
If I was to introduce the scone to Portugal I think this would be what I would bake.....

Pomegranate scones with requeijao

makes 8 large scones 

2 1/4 cups plain flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2/3 cup butter, chilled and cut up
2 eggs
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
pot of requeijao cheese to serve
Combine the flour, sugar and baking powder.Cut in the butter until your mixture resembles coarse crumbs.Stir in the egg combined with the cream and vanilla. On a well-floured surface knead in the pomegranate seeds. Roll the dough into eight equal sized balls and press into a 6.5cm pastry cutter. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Repeat with the remaining scone dough. Bake at 200C /400F for 15 minutes or until bottoms of the scones are lightly browned.
Serve with a pot of Requeijao cheese,or if you prefer, a home made Seville orange curd.
 
If you eat all the scones before your guests arrive,I promise not to tell.
I have many more scone recipes up my sleeve so watch out for more ideas between now and Christmas.



 

Which came first the chicken or the egg?

Chouriço scotch eggs, the perfect picnic partner

Last week I posted a recipe for Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall´s home made Chouriço: It proved to be a huge success ( pictured above), so I got my Chef Holmes head on and decided to investigate the development of this perfect mini fry-up and then as a result of my research decided to make an Easter 2011 take on the ubiquitous pub classic that has now raised its game to gastro pub standard.
I am always drawn to recipes that have a historical reference, have travelled, suffered a transition through cultural compromise but survived the journey and kept their true identity. The Scotch egg started its journey in India. The Nargisi Kofta is the classic North Indian Scotch egg and dates back centuries. The Nargisi Kofta is a variation of the more coomon lamb kofta and is made from a combination of game meats -  venison, hare and wild boar. Boiled eggs are encased in a keema mixture and the kofta/kebab which  results is  either deep-fried or put into a gravy and cooked as part of a curry. The combination of keema and egg should not necessarily work but it always does, whether in Scotch eggs or in Indian cooking.Over the years and continents nations have combined a variety of meats to make their own version, depending on what meat they had at their disposal.I am now so happy now to have re-discovered ovos à escocesa here in Portugal.

The mystery has been cracked and the evidence unscrambled so now lets cook shall we....The majority of Portuguese recipes for Scotch eggs, Bolinhos de Carne Moída com Ovo de Codorna,use Quails eggs.Interestingly enough the range of Portuguese recipes I have researched use a wide variety of meats for the shell,beef pork and even minced chicken.I loved Scotch eggs from the first time my mother made me eat one. I was very young and not ready for the surprise of finding an egg inside a meatball.It was like some kind of Kinder experience, the only difference was the surprise was encased in meat not plastic, and there was no chocolate - boo hoo.

These eggs are great to take to a picnic or a buffet and are economic.And now in true new style Nigel Slater- I give you the recipe, the trick and the twist

THE ( Traditional )RECIPE
Makes 12
12 large free range eggs 
5 slices white bread, crusts removed
200ml milk
1kg minced meat of your choice ( 1/2 and 1/2 veal and pork?)
1 free range egg beaten
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Flor de sal
freshly ground black pepper
 Put the eggs in a large pan of hot water, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes from the moment the water starts boiling.Immediately drain and plunge the eggs into ice cold water to stop further cooking and a grey line forming round the yolk. Cool and peel.Soak the bread in the milk for a minute. Drain and squeeze dry. combine the bread and sausage meat in a bowl, using your hands. Add the beaten egg, parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper and mix well.Mix together until well combined. Put the mix in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up. Take it out and divide it onto 4 equal pieces, then divide each piece into 3. Hold one portion in the palm of your hand, flatten it out with the heel of your other hand and sit an egg in the centre. Fold the mince over the egg and squeeze it into a larger egg shape. Repeat with the remaining eggs. If the mince sticks to your hands, moisten them with a little cold water. Roll each scotch egg in a little flour, then in the beaten egg, and finally in the breadcrumbs. Squeeze the eggs gently to ensure the crumbs stick.Heat a deep fryer or saucepan with at least 10cm of cooking oil.When it reaches 170ºC, put in the eggs, a few at a time, and cook for 2-3 minutes, until golden brown. Remove them from the pan and drain on kitchen paper. repeat with the remaining eggs. Cool them completely, then store in the fridge for up to two days.


THE TRICK

If you dislike or just don´t deep fry, and lets face it it´s had some bad press of late, there is another way to do it. Bake the Scotch eggs in a muffin tray. No crumbing, no deep- frying, no complications. real simple really.Heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 5. Lightly oil a 12 hole muffin tray.Press some meat mix into the bottom of each muffin mould. Add the egg pointed end up, and pack the meat around and over the egg so that it is completely covered.Omit the Flour egg and breadcrumb stage then bake for 20 minutes until nicely browned. leave in the moulds for 10 minutes. Drain off any juices, run a knife carefully around to loosen and serve hot, warm or cold.

THE TWIST

I have added a different twist by introducing some pan-asian flavouring.
Ginger and spring onions, and lemongrass.
Scotch quails eggs with a Thai twist
FOR 12 EGGS

12 quail´s eggs

600g Pork mince

1 thumb of ginger peeled and finely grated

1 tablespoon of soya sauce
1 tablespoon of Nam Pla ( Thai fish sauce )

1 teaspoon Flor de sal

2 small hot chillies, piri piri or birds eye, de-seeded

large handful fresh coriander

1stick of lemongrass, trimmed of its tough outer stalks and finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic peeled and finely chopped
a little flour (100g )
1 egg lightly beaten

200g fresh breadcrumbs

Place the quail´s eggs in a small saucepan and cover them with cold water. Bring to the boil and cook for 4 minutes, then drain and refresh in a bowl of iced water. This stops the tell tale grey line forming around the yolk. Peel them carefully using your nails or a fine pointed sharp knife to dislodge the membrane. One word of warning this is labour intensive and can be frustrating.Put the pork mince in a bowl with the first 8 ingredients.Mix together until well combined. put the mix in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up. Take it out and divide it onto 4 equal pieces, then divide each piece into 3. Hold one portion in the palm of your hand, flatten it out with the heel of your other hand and sit a quail´s egg in the centre. Fold the mince over the egg and squeeze it into a larger egg shape. Repeat with the remaining eggs. If the mince sticks to your hands, moisten them with a little cold water. Roll each scotch egg in a little flour, then in the beaten egg, and finally in the breadcrumbs. Squeeze the eggs gently to ensure the crumbs stick. Heat a deep fryer or saucepan with at least 10cm of cooking oil.When it reaches 170ºC, put in the eggs, a few at a time, and cook for 2-3 minutes, until golden brown. Remove them from the pan and drain on kitchen paper. repeat with the remaining eggs. Cool them completely, then store in the fridge for up to two days.

Suffer fools gladly

Strawberry blueberry banana and apple smoothie

Whatever happened to fool, posset and syllabub. Three classic old English desserts. Hectic lifestyle and easy to prepare dinners have replaced them with the smoothie, an idea thought to have originated from Brazil in the 1930´s. So why hasn´t Portugal followed fashion.I have however noticed the odd smoothie creeping onto the sobremesa menus of smart Algarve restaurants. Bistro o Porto in Tavira for one.Casa Rosada creates its own smoothies, the perfect power breakfast in one glass, so quick and easy to prepare.

Try some of the following combos:

1/2 cup beetroot
1/2 cup cucumber
1 carrot
1/4 cup apple concentrate


1/2 apple
1pomegranate
1/2 banana
30 red grapes de-seeded


also try  
Apple/ginger
banana/pineapple/lemon juice

And now for something more traditional.Fools rush in where smoothies fear to tread.

Casa Rosada´s Strawberry and Orange fool
Serves 4

Fools are traditionally prepared with pureed fruit mixed with whipped cream, or egg custard, or a combination of the two. (The term fool probably comes from the French foulé, meaning "pressed or crushed.") They seem to be especially successful when made with sharply flavored garden produce like rhubarb, gooseberries and black currants, which still have enough bite to be interesting when blended with cream,but most of which alas are not grown in The Algarve. But strawberries,and Portuguese mirtillos, which are much easier to find, also work quite nicely. Strawberry fool is best when the fruit is mashed rather than pureed, resulting in a more appealing texture. Serve it with home-made cookies.

• 350g (12-oz) basket of fresh gathered strawberries, hulled, coarsely chopped

• 3/4 cup chilled whipping cream
• 1/3 cup home made yogurt (do not use low-fat or nonfat)
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1 teaspoons grated orange peel
• 1 dessert spoon Casa Rosada Licore de laranja sevillana or other orange liqueur (optional)

• Additional strawberries halved

Place chopped strawberries in medium bowl. Mash coarsely with fork. Place in colander and let drain 15 minutes.

Beat cream in large bowl to stiff peaks. Gently fold in yogurt, sugar, orange juice and peel. Fold in Cointreau, if desired. Gently fold in strawberries. Divide among 4 wine glasses or coupes. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover; chill.)

Garnish fools with additional halved strawberries and serve.

“Who you callin’ a silly bub, and what’s that you’re offering me?” 
Diary of Samuel Pepys 1663

Currry lurrrrrve

A typical Casa Rosada fusion curry

Real men like a curry, and no less than here at Casa Rosada. I cook a wide variety of curries, both for guests and in their absence, ourselves. When it comes to ourselves much depends on leftovers. A Sunday roast or meat dish becomes a Monday supper.I draw from three main influences Goan, Indian and Thai, but for the most part my curries are personalized fusions of this, that and the other.Lets face it, we all like a bit of the other. Curry's popularity in recent decades has spread outward from the Indian subcontinent to figure prominently in international cuisine. Consequently, each culture has adopted spices in its indigenous cooking to suit its own unique tastes and cultural sensibilities. Curry can therefore be called a pan-asian or global  phenomenon, with immense popularity in Thai, British, and Japanese cuisines.

Casa Rosada grows its own piri piri peppers. I use these when they are fresh from the bushes but also dry them and use them where a recipe calls for dried chilli and I also make my own blend of curry powder of which Piri piri peppers are a key component. Piri-piri is the Swahili word for the incendiary red peppers of Africa — primarily those of Angola and Mozambique, former Portuguese colonies. Because of the seafaring nature of the Portuguese, it didn't take long for these bite-size pods of fire to make their way to Lisbon aboard spice ships returning from the East...... And the ship sailed on for Portugal to leave its mark on foreign shores.

The Portuguese introduced a new spice to Thai cooking. It was readily absorbed into their cuisine, to such a degree that Thai food today is inconcievable without the chilli The chilli arrived in Thailand some time after 1511, the year the first Portuguese envoy came to Siam.

O meu po de caril ( my curry powder )

1 tablespoon cominho (cumin seeds )
2 tablespoons coentro (coriander seeds)
18 dried piri piri chillies (pictured)
1 Tablespoon pimenton dulce ( sweet pimento powder)
pinch of açafrao (saffron threads)


Blitz all the above in a food processor or coffee grinder,store in a glass jar or sealed plastic bag within an airtight container. The powder will keep for a couple of months. 




To prepare a typical Curry
Follow the normal process for preparing a curry,
frying onions ginger and garlic. After that adapt the curry to your own personal taste. 
Chicken or any other meat, fish prawns or vegetables.
Curry powder, or individual spices,curry leaves, Lemon grass,kaffir lime leaves, cardamom, fish sauce, soya sauce, the final choice of flavours is yours. Have fun and make your own fusion curry.

"Bah! Hamburg!"-er?

We enjoy a hamburger here in Portugal, as do the Portuguese. Wherever you are during these challenging economic times, the tried and tested philosophy of Economy Gastronomy will surely help you to overcome the credit squeeze.After a hectic day- Brie burger is the new 1/4 pounder with cheese -Simple supper or TV dinner, this is a dickens of a burger and a whole lotta fun in the bun!!! Home made junk food quick as sticks and satisfying my expat cravings. Right now all the TV food channels are talking cheese burger. I have been getting fat just watching the Food Network channel. The programme in question Diners, Drive-ins and Dives "Triple D"´s Guy Fieri called in at the Black Duck Cafe, Westport Connecticut,* where classically trained chef Tim Miller was cooking a Brie Hamburger. WOW!!!
Another night another channel and this time it was Nigel Slaters take on the cheeseburger. Water buffalo burger in ciabatta with buffalo mozzarella and tomato/ How yum is that. But back to the brie burger and the Black Duck Cafe. I have tried this twice now. The first time I sealed the brie carefully in the middle of the burger and then cooked it on a dry griddle. The verdict/ delicious but not enough cheese. Take two was to make two thin rounds of beef for each burger, spread brie all over one round then sandwich the two rounds together sealing them together securely so no cheese can escape.The second time I used much more cheese.Always use a dry griddle or skillet with no oil. The quality of the beef is the most important consideration, and simple seasoning, just salt and freshly ground black pepper. I used salmarim flor de sal pimentao.500g of good quality beef will give you 4 x 125g burgers. Burger bun, bap or any type of artesan roll or ciabatta. the choice is yours. Your main consideration is that some breads will absorb the juices from the meat more efficently than others.Add whatever garnish/ relish, you like.Any body got any innovative ideas to surpass Brie burger? Lets share.

* HOT TIP  Another great culinary tip can be gleaned from this same programme.Chef Tim Miller also cooked clams. He rinsed his clams in cornmeal water. This not only cleans the clams but, as with mussels, they feed on the flour and it fattens them up. What a neat tip is that. Now you can serve the cleanest fattest clams this side of Connecticut.Back in the Algarve I will now always be fattening up my ameijoas with papas de milho.

Total meltdown

From runny cheese to chestnuts roasting on an open fire - there are plenty of seasonal foods to enliven the dark dankest days of winter. But there is only one seasonal treat to beat the big chill......

Our friends who came to lunch yesterday introduced us to Vacherin Mont d´or. When they lived in England, this seasonal cheese was always part of their christmas spread, and that is exactly what it is made for, spreading. It is impossible however to get it here in the Algarve, so I decided to improvise and give them a nostalgic surprise.After some research,I came up with two possible Portuguese candidates that could take on the ever melting role of Vacherin. Serpa  and Castelo Branco. As it happened, the monthly market was in Castro Marim on Saturday so I could perhaps look for this cheese from what was on offer at one of the two cheese stalls.My luck was in. I found what I was looking for, so.....

Batten down the hatches and turn the oven up high. Ladies and gentlemen can I have a big round of applause for the inimitable Castelo Branco

This is the new fondue- a whole melted cheese brought to the table in a dish and then everybody round the table can spoon, fork or dip crusty bread and bread sticks into this delicious runny stuff. A delicious starter or cheese course.
This is how I did it....
I made made some small slashes with a sharp knife. I then put it in an ovenproof bowl fractionally larger than the cheese and tucked in some very thinly sliced garlic (1 clove), fresh rosemary sprigs,( our consensus of opinion round the table was that Thyme would have worked better).I then drizzled some white wine over it, covered it with foil and baked it in a moderate oven,180C for 25 minutes. The melting moment had arrived  ......Ooohey gooey!!

                  

Pure comfort

Oven fresh

The rain has been pouring down for four days now, and comfort food was the order of the day. Leeks were plentiful in the market, and with a bag of potatoes under my arm and some free range chicken breasts from our independent supermarket in town,I was ready for cooking. Tonight I cooked a home made pie with steaming buttery leeks,melting potatoes, succulent chicken pieces and last, but least in quantity, a surprise ingredient- basil I had dried back in August. I don´t normally put dried herbs in this pie, but I have to say this addition lent a subtle scent-sation to the dish.

Chicken, leek and potato pie
Serves 2

250g ready rolled puff pastry
2 medium sized chicken breasts skinned and baked in the oven

375g well scrubbed potatoes, peeled if you prefer

2 medium sized leeks

50g butter, flour, milk

1 egg beaten to glaze the pastry

Cut each potato into thick rounds. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Add the potatoes.Bring back to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer the potatoes until tender to a knife point. Drain and set aside. Trim the leeks and discard the very darkest green parts. Slice the white and pale green parts into thick rings. Rinse thoroughly in a colander under hot running water. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the leeks. leaving them to cook over a low heat until they are soft and sweet. Be patient this can take 30 minutes at least. Combine the drained potatoes with the leeks, then add another large knob of butter. Allow this to melt, then sprinkle in some flour and stir to make soft paste, gradually add milk till you have your vegetables coated in a creamy white sauce.Stir in the pre-cooked chicken and season with salt and plentiful fresh ground black peppercorns. Grease and line a 20 x 28cm deep pie dish with two thirds of the pastry then fold in your filling. Fold the edges of the pastry in slightly over the filling and then brush these edges with egg. Carefully put the other third of the pastry onto the top of the filling and press it slightly onto the egg coated pastry to secure. Brush the top of the pastry with more egg and then carefully score three or four slashes widthwise across the pie. Bake in a hot oven at 200C/ gas mark 6 for 45 minutes till golden and crisp, Serve immediately.

Expat cravings part 2- from the stove to the microchip

Computer assisted cooking? What am I on about you say. We all acknowledge how in some ways technology has made our lives easier. Small disagreements over the dinner table can now be resolved by Googling. A recipe can be sourced in a matter of minutes, with 1001 options to choose from, and my latest enlightenment is that I can cook a recipe from a step by step online video and not only that, I can freeze frame it at any stage I want.How fantastic is that? I  put this to the test recently when I had an expat craving for a Melton Mowbray pork pie.I am lucky enough to have our computer located at the end of the kitchen area, so this was going to make the exercise easy.If your main computer is not located in close proximity of your kitchen, and you have wireless,a lappy type top on the kitchen table should suffice. 
I have to say I am obsessive when it comes to pork pies. Back in Blighty a trip to Sainsbury´s was never complete without a crusty bake pork pie. Own label or bespoke didn´t matter, but by the time I arrived at the check out all that remained was the wrapper. The cashier always looked at me askance.I have searched the length and breadth of the Algarve in vain,it seems to be one of the only foreign food products that is not available here.
So I decided to tackle my craving head on with the challenge of making one myself. My starting point was obviously my library of recipe books, but when this didn´t provide an answer I Googled "Melton Mowbray pork pie." This was the answer "Videojug" A ten minute film of how to make a Melton Mowbray pork pie. It was the most authentic recipe I had found, so I decided to give it a whirl. Making something as fiddly as this is really helped by having visual back up, and with the option of being able to print out the recipe too.
Well say no more, tried and tested, and approved. I am not only going to make this again for Christmas but also try some other "Videojug" options. I think " How to massage the female chest part 1" might put me off my Spag bol, but I think a visual lesson in how to make a beef wellington in 3 mins 52 is very tempting.
If you try it, good luck!!!
                              

Steak Lust - occasional expat cravings

Once in a while we lust after a piece of juicy red meat. As expats living in Portugal we´ve weaned ourselves off the red meat habit. We seemed to have replaced beef in our diet with pork, chicken and fish. Every once in a while, however we are overwhelmed by the desire for a succulent steak. One of these rare occasions was my birthday two weeks ago when invited to spend the day with friends. They buy the most beautiful filet mignon steaks from their butcher, and suddenly I was consumed by steak lust - sizzling steak simply seasoned and grilled over hot flames of a barbecue,
backed up by new potato chips and salad.
This kind of meat is a luxury commodity in Portugal and does not come cheap- maybe one reason that contributed to our weaning!!- This brings me to how I started this story in the first place.
I am constantly being put on the spot at parties, over dinner,or with friends. I am posed with the question. What is your favourite dish? up until recently I haven´t been able to give them a satisfactory answer. I now however have decided that wherever one is located globally, a perfectly cooked steak with chips, and I am in hog heaven. I have to say that France takes the lead here, but as long as I have my steak mal passado ( the Portuguese term for rare, literally badly passed through the grill ), and the chips are up to scratch I have my perfect dish in front of me. Today we lunched with friends at "Vela 2", a typical Portuguese restaurant without a menu
( there are many of these) that serve you platters of grilled fish until you say chega ( enough). This is result of our weaning off red meat, and maybe acquiring a preference for fish, but when we passed by our lunch companions home for an "afternoon glass" they proffered us with a Fray Bentos Steak and kidney pie they had brought back from a recent visit to England. My eyes lit up. I haven´t had one of these for 4 years, and I look forward to cooking some mash to soak up its gravy- yum. not at the moment its far too hot for this kind of food, but something to look forward to, the next time the expat stomach craves!!