Thursday, March 31, 2011

Kale Soup- Caldo Verde



Here is another one of my favorite Portuguese soup recipes. I made this as a starter dish for my 24x24 meal. Not only is it an easy basic recipe that you can throw together it's also very tasty.

Growing up this was something that my mother would make on a weekly bases, especially on cold winter nights. This soup along with a think slice of crusty bread makes a wonderful meal. I hope you all enjoy it as much as my family and friends have.

Happy Cooking!
Source: My mother's kitchen

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 clove garlic, minced
6 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 quarts cold water
6 ounces chorizo sausage, thinly sliced
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
ground black pepper to taste
1 pound kale, rinsed and thinly julienned

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook garlic in 3 tablespoons olive oil for 3 minutes.

Stir in potatoes and cook, in water, bring to a boil, and let boil gently for 20 minutes, until potatoes are mushy.

Puree the potato mixture in food processor.

Stir the sausage, salt and pepper into the soup and return to medium heat.

Cover soup broth and simmer 5 minutes.

Then stir kale into soup and simmer, 5 minutes, until kale is tender and jade green.

Stir in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and serve at once.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Arroz Doce-Portuguese Rice Pudding



During the month of March I took part in the foodbuzz24x24, I have to admit that is was a lot of fun and I look forward to the opportunity to doing it again one day.

One of the many dishes that I made was Arroz Doce. Azzor Doce translates to sweet rice and is a traditional Portuguese rice pudding, while there are many variations they are all very similar. This particular one is very creamy custardy. If you are looking for a good Arroz Doce recipe this is the way to go.

Like always if you do try this recipe please let me know how it came out. I would love your feedback. Happy Baking!

Source: My Mother;s kitchen...sorry I don't know where she got this recipe from, it's one that she has been making for over 30 years.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
2 cup or white rice (I like Carolina rice, for rice pudding)
8 cups water
half of a lemon's peel, and the other half of the lemon peel finely grated
1 tablespoon butter
A pinch of salt
4 cups hot milk (whole milk makes it creamier)
2 cups sugar
5 egg yolks
Cinnamon for garnish

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil with the lemon peel, butter and pinch of salt.

Add the rice and let it simmer for about 20 minutes and add lemon zest.

Stir occasionally. When most of the water has evaporated, add the very hot milk.

Simmer for 5 more minutes and add the sugar.

In a separate bowl, beat together the egg yolks and add a few spoonfuls of the rice mixture to temperate the egg yolks.

Then add the now warm egg mixture to the saucepan and stir quickly until rice is evenly coated.

Pour arroz doce into a large platter or into individuals servings.

Once rice pudding has settled sprinkle with cinnamon.

Serve cooled.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

FoodBuzz 24x24 A Tribute To My Father-in-Law

I can not begin to tell you all how excited I was when Foodbuzz contacted stating that I was one of the 24 bloggers picked to host in the month of March. Once I got the news I started making lists of everything I wanted to make. As the days passed the list of dishes became longer and longer, and I think at one point I had over 30 recipes that I wanted to make.

My theme was a tribute to my father in law. He is one of most amazing, strong, brave, and caring people I have ever met. About a month ago he informed us that he was sick and needed to undergo some surgery, but before he did, he asked that I make him some real traditional Portuguese food. I was honored by my father in law request, and wanted to make sure that I made him the best Portuguese feast possible. We had my in laws over along with some of my husband's other family members and the night was a huge success. Everyone had a wonderful time and enjoyed the food.

I made so many wonderful dishes, and thought I would share few pictures of the many dishes we had. Over the next few weeks I'll be posting all the recipes. I had a great time doing this and I hope that anyone reading this that has ever consider hosting a 24x24 does it! Because it was a great time.







Sunday, March 20, 2011

Everything Bagels



OMG! I never thought I would ever, ever try to make bagels. Every time I looked for a bagel recipe, I would get intimidated and run in the other way. I am happy to report that this is no longer the case.

A few months ago I post on one of the broads that I frequent and I asked the ladies how hard it really was to make bagels. Foodie lover Cate from http://catesworldkitchen.com assure me that it wasn't as hard I was making it out to be in fact she shared with me her own recipe for raisin bagels. http://catesworldkitchen.com/2010/09/cinnamon-raisin-bagels/ if it weren't for the simple fact that my husband hates raisins, I would be all over this recipe. =)

HAPPY BAKING!

Recipe source: Emeril Lagasse 2002

What YOU'LL NEED:

2 cups warm water, about 110 degrees F
2 (1/4-ounce) packets active dry yeast
3 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
6 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup lightly toasted chopped onions
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 doughnut cutter

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

Combine the water, yeast, and 3 tablespoons of the sugar in the bowl of an upright mixer fitted with a dough hook.

Stir and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Gradually add 4 cups of the flour and the salt, and mix until the mixture comes together.

Add 1 cup OF additional flour at a time to make a stiff dough. This is were you will have to work the dough with your hands.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and no longer sticky.

You might not require the whole 6 cups of flour, just add as much flour as needed so that dough is heavier and stiffer than regular yeast bread.

Grease a large bowl with 1 teaspoon of the oil.

Place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until almost doubled.

Remove dough from bowl and punch down the dough.

Divide into 12 equal pieces, about 2 to 3 ounces each, it should measuring about 4 inches.

Form each piece of dough into a ball and then either roll each ball into a 4 to 6-inch log or you could do it the cheater way like I did and use a doughnut cutter.

Place on a lightly greased surface, cover with a clean cloth, and let rest until risen but not doubled in a draft-free spot, 20 to 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Grease a baking sheet with the remaining teaspoon of oil.

In a large pot, bring 12 cups of water and the remaining tablespoon of sugar to a boil.

In small batches (to avoid over crowding), add bagels to the water and boil, turning, for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Flip bagels onto the prepared sheet pan.

Bake for 5 minutes, turn over Top each bagel with toasted onions, poppy seeds, sesame seeds and salt and cook for another 30 to 35 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Cinnamon Scones



I can't believe that it's been 3 weeks since my last blog update. It seems as if life is rushing by and I'm just trying to keep up. And now that Spring is upon us, it's only going to get worse. Knowing that we will be spending more time rushing around, it's nice to know that I can make these scones on the weekends and when I need something fast I can just take a scone with be when I'm on the run.

This recipe is fantastic, and has become one of our favorites. I hope that it helps all you busy people that are looking for something quick on the weekdays. I hope you all enjoy as much as we have.

Like always, happy baking!

Recipe Source www.food.com/recipe/cinnamon-scones-17366 -

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

1 cup sour cream (I use lite sour cream)
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour (works well with wheat flour)
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (unsalted)
1 egg
4 teaspoons cinnamon
For dusting
sugar
cinnamon


WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray/or line with parchment paper and set aside.

Combine sour cream and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside for later.

In another bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt.

Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Combine egg with sour cream mixture, and add cinnamon.

Gently stir into flour mixture until moistened. make sure not to over mix dough do not mix more than 10 times.

Divide dough into two, place on baking sheet and pat into a 3/4 inch think round.

Cut each round into 6 wedge-shaped pieces, but do not separate, let bake as one large piece

Before placing into oven to bake, dust with sugar and cinnamon.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool for 5 minutes and then break pieces apart. If desired, once completely cooled top with sugar glaze.