Whisked away

My batterie  of trusted  hand beaters

One can not live in Portugal without adopting baking as a serious kitchen activity. The massive legacy of cake and confectionery recipes that are available can not be avoided at any cost.So electric hand-whisks at the ready!!!  NO . Every time I have tried to follow an instruction like this...

"Using an electric hand whisk or stand in mixer, cream together the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, adding a little flour with each addition to keep the mixture smooth". 

...my kitchen instantly turns into something reminiscent of a war zone, dough up the walls, egg white all over  my face and a sugary yellow mastic all over the ceiling.Don´t get me wrong, I bake and beat a lot. I am no Nigella, so for me hand whisks and beaters - so much quicker and more efficient and obviously better than using just a fork! - Handle choice is everything in a whisk or masher - choose the one that feels right for you and take the strain out of whipping cream and whisking meringues. Why? Simply because it works, it works well and is lovely to hold (the whisk, not Nigella).But for me I always go for hands on and power off.

I will admit to being a tad sceptical when chef personalities launch their range of branded kitchenware. Once again take Nigella for example– she has an incessant urge to make life in the kitchen easier - implements all soft, round and sensual, not unlike the cook herself.  Nigella's extensive range of kitchenware enjoys a lot of support: "solved my wrist problems" "trendy" and "sleek".Well I can´t deny that with all those years of experience under her Armani belt and Pringle angora cardigan that she should know what she is doing. House of Ramsay has not been received so favourably, neither t´Oliver.I can´t wait for the House of Blumenthal endorsed appliance of science.

I pitted the poor olive

Where oh where would I be without this gadget? Like podding peas,there is something so reassuring and therapeutic about pitting your own olives, as opposed to buying a jar of the pre-pitted variety. When you purchase olives in the market they are ladled out of tins or  lovely ceramic bowls into plastic bags and then some of their brine is also ladled into the bag to preserve the flavour. At home one can then, with the help of this faithful work mate remove the stones and either make a marinade for them or add them to a salad or a cooked dish.Marinated olives are a popular Iberian snack and petisco. They make a great addition to any Portuguese  Spanish,or Moroccan meal.

North African Mslalla
Use oil-cured black olives with lemon juice.Stir in cumin seeds, coriander seeds, lemon and orange zest and crushed chilli flakes.


Aceitunas aliñadas Espanol
Use paprika, cumin seeds and peppercorns. 
If you like you can use all green or all black olives.

These are some of the more poular herbs and seasonings you can mix with marinated olives.Mix and match to suit your own taste.

• Bay leaves
• Cardamom seed
• Cracked black pepper
• Crushed red chilli
• Cumin seed
• Fennel seed
• Lavender
• Lemon, lime or orange zest
• Oregano
• Paprika
• Rosemary
• Parsley
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Thyme 
• Do not used canned olives for this recipe! (Unless you have no shame.)
• Marinated olives will stay fresh for 1-2 months if stored in the refrigerator.

Culinary artistry

My loyal garlic press manufactured in Eastern Europe and given to me many 
years ago by dear friend and New York´s  Hippest Hostess Ellen Swandiak

There is a proverb " a poor workman blames his tool´s.Good workmanship doesnt depend on the quality of the tools but on the way in which they are used, so to blame the tools for bad workmanship is to attempt to excuse one’s own lack of skill.In former times, a blacksmith for instance would have made his own tools, so the act of blaming one’s tools would rebound on oneself.The wording of this proverb also has a double meaning, in that a workman will remain poor without improving his skills, regardless of the quality of his tools, and thus never be able to afford better tools.The moral of the story: There are poor tools, but if you blame the tool you aren't necessarily a poor workman. If you're a good workman, you won't accept a bad tool, you'll strive to find a better one
In all my 15 years of kitchen duties I´ve never mastered the art of the knife. After all these years I still suffer from knife envy when I watch the speed and skill with which chefs chop, slice, julienne and dice.I don´t envy chefs their ability to julienne peppers or mince fresh herbs- its what they can do with garlic that gets me. They can smash a clove with the side of a broad knife and chop it to a purée, pressing the sides of the blade over the garlic to mash it with the ease of a child spreading melted chocolate all over its face. The purée is perfect of course  but it only takes them seconds to produce it.If I practiced every day I might get the hang of it. Because most of us don´t have enough time to become expert garlic mashers, the god of kitchen equipment invented the garlic press.

The Darth Vader of my gadget drawer, another loyal and trusted companion
this one is of french origins.

It looks like a lemon squeezer with teeth, or a mini meat tenderizer fitted into a nutcrackers handles. Put a peeled or even unpeeled clove of garlic into the box and with the holes on the bottom, then bring down the flat side of the press, squeeze the handles and Hello, Ola garlic presto!!!! Tiny pieces of garlic, soft enough to mash with a fork come
oozing through the other side. Run a knife across the press, and garlic purée is all yours. It´s all very simple that is until you have to extract the stray bits of garlic that didn´t make it to the other side.That is what I am convinced made the garlic press, bad press. It was tedious getting out all that mashed up gunk, and if you didn´t do an impeccable job, you knew it the minute you opened granny´s gadget drawer the next time.
So, for those of you like me with less than perfect knife skills, you can get by with without anyone ever needing to know our limitations.Yes along the way the food fashionistas will have branded us with committing a food fashion faux-pas, but I don´t give a flying foccacia.Having already fooled the world with this magnificent implement, I can leave the kitchen without a soul knowing I have been working with one of nature´s most odorous ingredients.Who says you can´t fool all of the people all of the time.

Cant help lovin´ dat pan

My faithful pancake pan

The secret to making the perfect pancake is the pan and the temperature at which you have it when you tip the batter in. "A bad workman blames his tools", and no wiser word said than when applied to the cook. When it comes to Shrove Tuesday, pancake day, I have a pan that is only used for cooking pancakes. My mother gave it to me as part of a set of six assorted cast iron pans when I left home. It is cast iron and shallow and has never been washed in the 35 odd years I have had it. I have always just rinsed and wiped it. A pancake is for life, not just Shrove Tuesday. I merely grease the pan with a small amount of butter, when it foams I wipe the excess with kitchen paper towel, lower the heat and pour in an amount of batter to create the first pancake. The first pancake is always the test and is then discarded before you continue with the rest of your batch.Once your happy with the quality of what your pan is producing, maintain that heat and regrease the pan before cooking each pancake. I have always found this method foolproof and of course, have never used anything other than my trusted pan.
Since I posted my alternative pancake recipe for carnival on Saturday I have discovered a very popular recipe that originates from Argentina but is ever popular in Spain and Portugal
Dulce de Leche is a rich, milk-based caramel sauce. Now, Dulce de Leche is available packaged in bottles, but nothing compares to the richness and density of homemade Dulce de Leche. 

Even Haagen Daz have been inspired by Latin America's treasured dessert.

Pancakes with Dulce de leche
(dool-say deh lay-chay)
This is easy peasy to make, but keep your eye on the tin while boiling. if the water is allowed to evaporate the tin can explode.
Submerge a can of leite condensao, condensed milk, in a large deep saucepan ( about 6-litre capacity, if possible)full of water. Bring to the boil and and bubble for 2 hours, topping up the water level with boiling water from the kettle. The water must cover the tin at all times.When the cooking time is over make sure not to open the can immediately, else you just might have some hot Dulce de Leche in your face.The dulce de leche should have a rich, deep caramel colour.


I wondered how something as simple as condensed milk could be transformed to such a tasty caramel sauce, with just a little heat and a lot of time. I had read about it being extremely easy to make; simply plonk the can of condensed milk in a vessel of simmering water or microwave it (in a non-metallic bowl, of course) for 10-15 minutes, and there you have it.From being just condensed milk, it undergoes a metamorphosis into a thick, creamy and rich dessert in its own right. Its one of those desserts where you must be careful not to feed your clothes too.  It can be used in cakes, as a topping for muffins and ice creams, spread over bread and cookies, or swirled into brownies but on its own Dulce de Leche sounds pretty darn addictive don´t you think? Once addicted why not try......

Pancakes with Dulce de leche and goats cheese

Bannofee pancakes