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.

A town called ´granate

Pomegranates  banked with roses symbolised the alliance of Spain and England, when Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon and Granada in Spain was renamed after the fruit by the Moors. The Arabs built a pomegranate town? Worcester Pearmain I can understand - but can you imagine a town in South Africa  being named Golden Delicious? The pomegranate is very much a fruit of the old world, a fruit that keeps well without losing its juiciness. I always associate it,not because of Claudia Roden, with North African and Moroccan meals.Blood red seeds garnishing lapis blue bowls abundant with cous cous or as a garnet coloured gravy awash roast pork on plates of enamelled bronze.From late Autumn towards Christmas,they bring an aura of a thousand and one nights, making a cameo appearance in the greengrocers of the dullest towns of remote rural England.

I have to confess to passing the pomegranate by when I lived in England.Who bought them? I though they were they just for seasonal decoration like their cousins twice removed,the gourds. How changed is my opinion now, being confronted with a mass of savoury and sweet Iberian solutions to how to deal with this precious fruit. My latest discovery is a pairing of pomegranate with pork fillet.( sorry no picture, the thespian´s camera just could not do justice to this one, no matter how hard we tried)

Solomillo con salsa de granadas is originally a Mallorcan Pork dish with a gravy made of ruby pomegranate seeds served with a side dish of thickly sliced potatoes fried gently in Banha de porco( Pork dripping ).

Solomillo con salsa de granadas

serves 4

2 pomegranates

50g( 13/4 oz) lard

4 solomillos ( pork fillets)

1 onion chopped

100ml( 31/2 oz) fino or dry sherry

100ml( 31/2 oz) meat stock

salt and pepper

Cut the pomegranates in quarters and with a knife loosen the seeds from the membrane.Reserve a handful of seeds for garnish.Heat the lard in a pan and brown the pork fillets with the chopped onion.Add the pomegranate seeds to the meat with the sherry,stock,salt and pepper.Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the meat and keep warm. Continue cooking the sauce for a further 15 minutes until reduced.Strain the sauce and serve it over the meat.Garnish with the reserved pomegranate seeds.Serve with fried potatoes

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.

with love from Portugal...

Claus Porto sampler pack of guest soaps

.... or from anywhere else for that matter. Us expats scatter the globe, and in the season of goodwill we need to think about the folks back home, now is the time to think about two way family favourites.Things the family have enjoyed when they visited the country you are now resident in.Send them packing and here´s hoping they will be reciprocating with care packages of well timed expat cravings.

Sturdy packaging is a must at this time of year if you have friends and family scattered all over the world. Lightweight, non-breakable gifts make the most sense, but bubble wrap, foam containers and boxes designed for posting everything from bottles of wine and posters to CD´s are available from your local Correio or post office.Papelaria and art shops are another good source of different sized and coloured or patterned cartons,too. Food is always popular with those living away from their family, but not all foodstuffs will resist the rigours and time of travel, no matter how well wrapped they are. Instead of sending fragile individual packets of biscuits to cousin Maud living in France, look for sturdy tins of quality biscuits or buy a stainless steel tin and fill it with fun-sized packs of her favourite Chocolates and biscuits.Tea and coffee weigh next to nothing and more often than not. particularly at this time of the year,come in decorative tins and soft packaging which is perfect for posting.Seeds of thought sown, here are some more specific suggestions for lightweight presents.

Muxama- Dry cured tuna. So lean and full of flavour, like Serrano ham, it is no wonder it sometimes gets called ham of the sea. Just served as tapas with a drizzle of olive oil chopped tomatoes and rocket.As done for a summer starter and tapa at Casa Rosada, its concentrated taste can overwhelm at first and make your beer taste of tuna - not a good thing, but persevere and before long you will have an "Atum heart mother"well maybe she will be after she´s enjoyed this delicacy,

Atum Damaso in Vila Real de Santo Antonio will cut, slice and hermetically seal the quantity you need  with use by date and date of packing.


Pata negra, Belota. Top of the range quality cured hams from Iberia. Acorn fed in field to gold star in store. Wouldn´t you just want to wake up on Christmas morning and have this treat to accompany scrambled eggs and a glass of Buck´s fizz for your Christmas day breakfast. Suppliers in Ayamonte will slice and hermetically seal your order while you pootle off for a Pedro Ximenez and plancha of Manchego tapa. Can´t be bad.

Flor de sal

Cork caddy 300g card packag

The best the Algarve can produce, and not yet available outside Portugal or online so this present is extra special and will leave recipients asking questions and gagging for more. But be careful, otherwise you will have friends relations and cousin Maud from France begging you for a holiday in your Algarve home. well maybe not Cousin Maud because she will be snotty about claiming that Flor de sal should be of the French variety.Oh well who cares, she needs a gift.


Guest soaps - Perfect for the entertainer.Mama would love to add a dash of elegance and charm to every room in her house, just like she experienced when she stayed with you on her summer holidays.She´ll love this set of pretty pastel soaps wrapped in a sweet little gifty-boo box.With over 20 years experience in manufacturing soap and smellies, Claus Porto sure know their stuff.This sampler box of their best soap tablets make the perfect host / hostess gift.3 pastilles of each fragrance: Cerina (brise marine),Lilane (Lavender),Deco(lime Basil),Aguia(Veytiver)and Condessa(wild pansy)

Some of these suppliers have online ordering and delivery and others have Overseas outlet,so check online for shipping details and delivery charges and times, before you shop and post.

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

An inspired combination

Since bread is such an important part of life in Portugal, it seems only natural to team it up with sweet ingredients as well as savoury ones. Bread and chocolate is a time honoured tradition, so why not give it an added dimension by toasting the bread under the grill and then adding olive oil followed by chocolate.What have you got?- a cracking Christmassy crostini to accompany your morning bica or a sinful late night snack.Its all about fun and fancy so don´t take it too seriously.The marriage of warm,crispy-edged bread and the contrasting flavours of peppery olive oil,bittersweet chocolate and briny sea salt - temptation on toast. The point where they merge- the barely sweet chocolate, strong as black coffee,melting into the warm bread is sublime. These dainty little morsels are amazingly simple to prepare and taste absolutely extraordinary,but budget is of the essence if you are going to do this justice.The chocolate must be very dark, bittersweet, and world-class. Look for names like Green and Blacks, Valronha or Gourmet Godiva and even names you can´t pronounce. Labels with percentage symbols are always a good sign (the higher %, the better for this).For the bread, you're going to want to find your own favourite baker´s baguette. The extra virgin olive oil should be robust, peppery, and of the highest quality. Lastly, the salt must absolutely be the crystallized, flaky Castro Marim Flor de sal.Once all these ingredients are assembled, the actual procedure is quite simple, and produces an impressive result.

Pao com Chocolate e Sal citrina
1 baguette sliced on the diagonal in equal thicknesses
bittersweet chocolate
extra virgin olive oil
Coarse Flor de sal, Salmarim

Zest of 1 orange

Cut a large top quality baguette on the diagonal into slices of equal thickness. Put on a baking tray and toast under the grill until lightly toasted and golden around the edges. Turn over the slices and repeat.

Take the tray from under the grill and turn the grill off. Drizzle the slices well with the olive oil. place a piece of chocolate into the middle of each slice and return to the oven until the chocolate is molten.Sprinkle each crostini with Lemon flor de sal and orange zest.

Two warnings

1. wait until the crostini cools a little, or the chocolate,hot as molten lava,will burn your tongue.

2. you may well have become addicted.

The quantities of the chocolate and olive oil and salt are an approximation.This is a spontaneous urge to satisfy a craving, so exactness should not be a worry.

"Where would we be without salt" James Beard

`Twas three weeks before Christmas....

......and people all around are wondering what to get their foodie friend this Christmas
what would you like to receive.....? here is Casa Rosada´s sometimes tongue in cheek selection of 12 last minute gift ideas from Portugal and Spain for foodie peeps in your life.

For the rich list

Thermomix also called "the Bimby"

The present for the cook with more money than sense

who wants to kill real cooking and hand it over to a robot.

The ultimate present for the supergirl who has everything.
prices from around €1,500

Noe Pedro Ximenez  Muy viejo
For the Oenophile in your life

Nectar of the gods from Gonzalez Byass
Prices vary but average around €55

When Its the thought that counts.....

 

Croft Pink

Give someone their very own pink Christmas moment.

a refreshing alternative on this years seasonal cocktail trolley. 

Serve with a dash of tonic and ice
€15

Risca grande 

Portugal´s only award winning organic Extra Virgin Olive oil

Try drizzling it over a chocolate crostini, toss it on that seasonal side salad or just dunk some bread in it
€6.95

Bordallo Pinheiro coffee cup and saucer 

from Laranja range   

Bring another dimension to someone´s table with these gorgeous breakfast cups.

Coffee will never taste the same again.
Cup  €17.00 Saucer €15.00 A Vida Portuguesa, Lisboa
Nicola Gourmet Coffee 1kg bag €10.36,Continente

Quinta do encontro bruto 2006

The perfect choice for some Christmas bubbly
Average price €6.50


 










Salmarim Cork tea caddy of flor de sal   

Bring two Portuguese heirlooms, cork and salt to someone this Christmas. This beautiful caddy brimmeth over with "Probably the best Flor de sal in the world" 
Cork container €17.50   cardboard pack €6.95

Stocking Fillers

Alvear Pedro Ximenez Sherry vinegar

A dry sherry-like vinegar made of a product that is a step above the base used for other sherry vinegars.Sherry vinegar is our favorite kind of wine vinegar - tart and mellow, not too acidic but perfectly balanced for most any use.  And having both sweet and dry to choose from...well, that's icing on the cake.  Average €17 -online price

 
Saloio olive - 500ml can 

The "robust" olive oil of Portugal. The Portuguese do not, as is done elsewhere, rush the olives from tree to press. Their December harvests are merry and casual affairs, festas with friends and neighbors gathering in the orchards to beat the branches with sticks and rain the olives down upon the ground, where they are left to age for two to ten days. This intensifies the olive flavor, as does running the pressed oil off into hot water, producing a more delicate oil. 
€6.50 from range A Vida Portuguesa.Lisboa

Elvas plums in syrup     

These are the original sugar plums after which The Nutcracker's sweet fairy was named. They are, in fact, greengages, grown by nuns  in the Elvas region of Alentejo Average price around €5

 



Turron de guirlache

Casa Rosada´s favourite is the brittle Turrón de guirlache.It is now a regional speciality of Aragon,  Catalonia and Valencia.If you have not had time to make your own gift this is as good as  home- made.€1.99

O cozinheiro´s best online buy

'A bendy, silicone, heat-resistant spatula – not the most romantic gift but neither is five euros. And if any of your guests needs a post-pudding spanking, you’re sorted.'

http://www.johnlewis.com/231257005/Product.aspx

Happy Hunting!!!

Leva-me aos fados com sopa lentilhas e toucinho

Hoje esta o Feriado Nacional Restauração de Independência.Cozido a sopa crema bem-estar de lentilhas,legumes e toucinho.Eu sou acompanhado de voz da fadista Ana Moura. Que delicia.Um beijinho a todas e votos de bom feriado.

 Sopa crema de lentilhas,legumes e toucinho

( cream of lentil soup with vegetables and bacon)

serves 4-6

175g (6oz) lentilhas castanhos

85g (3oz) aipo cortado

70g (2.5oz) cenouras cortado

125g(4.5oz) cebola cortado

75g(3oz) Toucinho

140g(5oz) tomatoes, sem pelo,sementes,cortado

2 dentes de alho

1 litro caldo de frango

50ml(2fl oz) nata para batar

10ml (2 c de.chá ) cumino em po

45ml( 3  c de.chá ) azeite

(Se faz favor perdoar o método original em Ingles)

Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the lentils and cook for 20 minutes until just soft. Strain and refresh under running cold water.

Heat a large saucepan until hot then add 30 ml( 2 tablespoons) olive oil, onion and garlic and fry for 3-4 minutes until just softened. Add the vegetables and bacon then cover and simmer for a further 10 minutes. add the cooked lentils and chicken stock and bring to the boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables and lentils are tender. Place in a food processor and purée.

Return to the saucepan, add the cream, remaining olive oil and cumin and heat through. Season with Castro Marim Flor de sal and black pepper. Serve with croutons.