Farm chicken with polenta

Another traditional recipe from my region. I had a huge craving this week and had to make it. The family loved and although I cooked a lot of food, there's nothing left.

This recipe asks for farm chicken or cock. Since I didn't have any of those at home and my craving wouldn't allow me to wait for the next day, I cooked a regular chicken, but instead of using a pressure cooker, I cooked it for 2 hours in low heat.
The chicken/cock:

1 big pan
2 onions, finnely chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 cubes of chicken stock
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbspoons of soy sayce
1 tspoon of cumin
1 tspoon of pepper
1 tspoon of ground nut meg
1/2 tspoon of safron
1 lime, squeezed
3 chilli peppers, chopped
parsley and chives (as much as you want)
salt
the chicken: dismembered
Put all the ingredients on a pressure cook (if using farm chicken or cock) for 20 minutes. Don't add water or oil.

Polenta

2 cubes of chicken stock
500g of cornmeal
1 onion, finnely chopped
1 tomato, choppoed
2 chilli, chopped
200mL of coconut milk
parsely, chives and spring onions (as much as you want)
salt

Mix all the ingredients with 1/2 littre of  water to boil the 2 chicken stock cubes, 1 tbspoon of butter and 1 tspoon of salt. Add the cornmeal little by little until it is dissolved. Lastely, add the coconut milk and mix it up until it's time to serve (30 min of mixing at least). This polenta tastes very differently because of the coconut flavour. The other ingredients you use to top the polenta and decorate the dish.

Okra and corn stu

6 corn cobs - remove the corn from the cobs
1 tbspoon of oil
250g of chopped okra (about 1cm each piece)
1 onion, chopped
2 cups of water
1 tspoon of paprika
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
parsley, chives and spring onions (chopped)
salt

Cook everything for 15 min. I tend to add a lot of ground pepper for it releases the flavour of the fresh corn.
Serve it all with white rice
 
Pic: http://stat.correioweb.com.br/arquivos/divirta/materias2007/dondurica_interna_menorrr.jpg

Navarin de mouton

I found this recipe here and cooked it yesterday, for lunch. Really delicious

Long, slow cooking ensures that the stewing lamb or chump chops become very tender in this lamb stew.


ingredients

serves 4

Dripping or lard for frying

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed with 1/2 tsp salt

1 - 1 1/4 kg (2 - 2 1/2 lb). stewing lamb or 4 chump chops, trimmed of fat

Flour for coating

Freshly ground black pepper

396 g (14 oz) can tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato puree

2 large carrots, peeled and sliced

2 turnips or approx. 1/4 kg (1/2 lb) swede, peeled and chopped

1 bouquet garni

1 tsp spoon sugar

Freshly chopped parsley to finish



method

1. Melt a knob of dripping or lard in a flameproof casserole. Add the onion and garlic and fry gently for 5 minutes or until golden.



2. Coat the lamb in flour seasoned with black pepper. Add to the casserole and brown quickly on all sides. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato puree, then add the remaining ingredients except the parsley.



3. Bring just to the boil, then cover with a lid and transfer to a warm oven (160‚°C/325‚°F or Gas Mark 3). Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours depending on the cut of lamb used (stewing lamb will take longer) or until the meat is tender and almost falling off the bones.



4. Taste for seasoning, discard the bouquet garni and sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.



5. Serve with creamed or jacket baked potatoes with soured cream and snipped chives.

American apple pie

Dough:

2 cups of flour
2 tbspoons of sugar
150g of butter
4-6 tbspoons of water


Mix the flour, sugar and butter with 2 forks or a potato masher. Add the water little by little until you get a soft, homogeneous dough.

Filling

4-5 acid apples, cut in thin slices
cinnamon
1 cup of sugar
butter
1/2 lime

Put the slices on a bowl and squeeze the lime on them (to prevent them getting brown). Add the sugar, cinnamon and butter mix it all very well.

On a pie tray (better if it has removable bottom), spread the dough with your fingers (remember to leave some behind to make the cover). On a clean counter, sprinkle flour and open the left over dough, in the shape of a circle, big enough to cover the pie.

Fill the pie tray with the apple slices, putting them all in the same direction until you fill the bottom. Procede in the same maner until you are out of slices. Spread the juice that is left behind in the bowl on top of the apple slices. Cover with the dough circle and merge the edges of the pie in the tray and the cover. With a knife, cut little incisions in a radial fashion (about 5 to 7 will do) so the vapour can escape. To make it look better, you can spread some egg yolk on the cover, to give it a brown look after it's baked

Bake it in medium heat (170C) for about 45 min or until golden

As an alternative, you can use bananas and walnuts for the filling and serve it with squirty cream.

Pic: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8OjlgwDpYONTe6I_7oWGCmxV2XdqXYTG61jBEc8lGDlgz4o3QHG2X58zy3mKfj2jNB5R-p635cZiH9FYZrCQaJHyFDwaI4G3G1dSmNgGJDUhr_FLiU5HRBACPnUjSF37cE3q2ug3Psim/s400/torta+de+ma%C3%A7%C3%A3.jpg

Spaghetti carbonara

20 min
Serves 2

250g of spaghetti
butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
6 rashers of streaky bacon, chopped
2 eggs
140ml single cream
25g of parmesan, grated

Boil the pasta following the instructions in the bag. Heat a knob of butter in a small frying pan and cook the onion, garlic and bacon for 5-7 minutes, until golden. Turn off the heat and add the cream.

On a bowl, crack the eggs and stir it with a fork. When the pasta is done, drain it and put it on top of the eggs, while hot. Stirr it with a fork so the eggs mix with the pasta and cook. Add the cream with garlic, bacon and onion, stirr it and finish with the parmesan and some black pepper on top.

Pic: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6-eJrtHpJ1WYCsDt2nLywrZidgC7j_MwApzu_y2BRL_1-zJQUmpo7Xkv7Svux5uzfufMk_YLpkzALYYA3Gqba91EHeMXZjYKJXTp_kCWF_wsJUlE7TbobKvhBufnQg-BHKO4p1UbHOYI/s320/carbonara+prato.JPG

super crunchy roast chicken wings

As I said in a previous post, I always buy a whole chicken and cut it myself. Which means I tend to cook my favourite parts and end up with lots of chicken wings in my freezer. I've tried loads of different ways of preparing it but the reception was always lukewarm. Until I decided to roast them as I describe below, which hit a spot here in my house. Ever since then, we look forward to have enough chicken wings to prepare this.

At least 8 chicken wings
soy sauce
1 lime or lemon (I prefer lime)
rock salt

This is as easy as it gets:

Defrost the chicken wings over night and before preparation (while you get the other things in the cupboards), spray them with a lime (or half a lemon). This is to dehidrate the skin and make it crunchier. Put them on a roasting tray and put some soy sauce on them. The sauce is NOT for flavour but to give them a brown irresistible look when roasted. I use one drop on each wing and spread it on the top surface.
Sprinkle them with rock salt.
Roast for 45 min in 180C.

That's it. It should be so crunchy that you can actually eat the tips of the wings, the bones just fall apart.

It's finger food and kids love it (and it's healthier than the fried version). I generally serve it with coleslaw, salad, bread... things like that

Creamy ladyfingers pudding or "triffle", brazilian style

My mother makes a perfect one and I've been craving this for some time now. Like all puddings in Brazil, it's very sweet and british palates might not like it (although my family loved it)

For this one you'll need

custard:
1 can of condensed milk (save the can, you'll need it to measure other ingredients)
2 cans of milk
3 yolks
1 tbspoon of corn flour

Filling:
1 or 2 packs of ladyfingers (the crunchy ones)
1 can of milk
2-3 tbspoons of cocoa (depends on how much you like chocolate)
1 tspoon of corn flour

Cover:
3 egg whites,
1 can of double cream

How to prepare:

Custard:
Mix the cornflour with a bit of milk and put it aside. In a pan, mix the yolks, the milk with the corn flour, the rest of the milk and the condensed milk. Let it boil and thicken. You want sort of a runny custard, not too thick but not too runny either. A thick cream when cold is what you are aiming for.
Put it in a lasagna dish sort of tray (we use one that is square, about 15cm each side) and let it cool down.

Once it has cooled down a bit, prepare the filling:
mix the milk with the cocoa and dunk each ladyfinger on it, let it soak a bit and then put it on top of the custard. Cover the custard with cocoa drenched ladyfingers. When you are done, add the cornflour to the cocoa and let it thicken a bit on a hob (again, aiming for a thick cream) and let it cool down. To speed up things I put the pan in a bit of water. When it's about skin temperature it's good enough and just throw the cream on top of the ladyfingers that have been lined on the custard. Let it cool down while you prepare the cover.

Whisk the egg whites and until they are firm (you turn the bowl upside down and they do not fall). To help, always add a small pich of salt to the egg whites before you start whisking them, for it makes it fluffier. Continue whisking and slowly add the can of double cream and 1 tbspoon of sugar. Try it and check if you think it needs a bit more sugar (remembering that the custard and the ladyfingers layer are already very sweet). If you want more sugar, add only 1 more tbspoon and that's it.

Spread this home made "squirty cream" on top of the ladyfingers layer and put the tray in the fridge. It is better when it spends the night there, to make it firm and keep it there until serving time.

This recipe goes a long way and it's easy to make. You can decorate it (if you want) with chocolate or cinamon on top, but we just serve it simpler, like I described.

If you think it may be too sweet (although children will love it to bits), you can make your own custard without the condensed milk.

Chocolate Lady Finger Cake

Starch (to starch clothes)

I have a thing for cute embroidered table cloths, tea towels, tray covers, etc... Besides cooking I also love cross stitch (I'll probably post some of my craftwork here one day). And nothing better to conserve my beautifully stitched table cloths than starching them. Not only they look better on the table, starching also prevents wine and sauce stains, making it easier to clean.

Here's a recipe, just like grandma used to make it.

For general starch:
1 tbspoon of corn flour
1 tspoon of salt (to prevent bugs getting to fond of chewing your beautiful things)
1 littre of water

Mix it all in a pan, stirring constantly let it boil (it will become more transparent). Mix it up with the rinsing water....
Here's a problem: in Brazil we normally use washing machines that are vertical, allowing us to open the lid and mix it with the rinsing water. In England however, they all have little circular side doors... And there's no way I can open them.

Brazil

England

What I do is, wash it all normally, prepare the starch, put a bit of water in the bath tub (enough to soak everything I need to starch in) and mix a bit of fabric softener and starch on it. It is much more trouble, I agree, so I tend to let all my "to starch" pile accumulate a bit and do it all at once.

For strong starching (when you really want them stiff): instead of 1 tbspoon of corn flour, use 2.

Also, if you want it a bit starched (like men's shirts) but not too stiff, you can prepare the mix, let it cool off and put it into a spray bottle, spraying the shirt or whatever you want while ironing.

Pics http://happyhomemaker88.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/washing-machine.jpg
http://user.img.todaoferta.uol.com.br/R/Q/EM/PY3WI5/1244433346169_bigPhoto_0.jpg

Rice noodles with chicken and veggetables tempura

500g of chicken breast
2 cups of flour
1 can of lager (beer)
garlic, crushed or chopped finnely
2 carrots
4 little caulyflowers
1 onion (chopped lenghtwise, about 0.5 -1 cm wide)
any other veggetable you want to use, like pepper, pumpking, etc...
oil (enough to fry)
cold water
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1 tspoon of mustard (or wasabi - Japanese horseradish)
1 tspoon of grated radish (optional)
1 pack of rice noodles (I buy mine fresh from Tescos)

Wash the chicken breast under tap water and with a bit of lime or vinegar. Cut it in cubes (not too small, around 1-2cm). Season it with the garlic.
 
In a deep bowl, add the flour and the beer, little by litthe, mixing it with a fork. You want to obtain a thick cream that will cover the chicken easily. You'll probably use about 80% of the beer can in this. It is important to keep this dough very cold, so if you want you can do it inside a tray with ice.
Dunk every piece of chicken in it, making sure there is a generous cover in each. Fry until golden and put it aside, on top of some 4 layers of paper kitchen towel, to absorb the excess of oil. Keep it warm

Peel the carrots and cut them lenghtwise. Cut all your veggetables. Boil them slightely (2 min). Using the same dough as before, cover them all and fry them for 2-3 min. I prefer to put a big chunk of mixed veggetables in the frying pan, so they fry together and make a little "disk" of fryied veggies. Remove the excess of oil on the kitchen towel.
For the sauce, just mix it all together (the mustard, the soy sauce and the radish)

I serve them like this: on a bowl, I put the rice noodles (about 1-2 handfulls) and heat it on the microwave or the hob. I like to add a little boiling water to them after they are hot, and I add about less than 1/4 cup of boiling water - not enough to cover it, just enough to keep it moist and a bit wet. On top of it I put the chicken, on top of the chicken the veggetables tempura and them the sauce.

Serve it hot and it's far easier to eat with chopsticks.

Frango Xadrez (Chinese chicken)

Time of preparation: 45 min

2tbspoons of olive oil
2 onions, chopped in cubes
2 crushed garlics
500g of chicken breast, chopped in cubes
salt
1 green pepper in cubes
1 red pepper in cubes
1 yellow pepper in cubes
1 cup of canned mushroons, halved
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 tbspoon of corn flour
1/2 cup of water
2 tbspoon of roast peanuts

1. On a big frying pan or wok, add 1tbspoon olive oil, onion and garlic and fry until golden
2. Put it on a plate and put it aside
3. Add 1 tbspoon of olive oil to the same pan and fry the peppers and mushroons for 5 min
4 Put it aside
5. Same pan again, fry the chicken until golden
6. Put all the ingredients back on the pan and mix them constantly with a wooden spoon for 3 minutes
7. Mix the soy sauce, the corn flour and water, stirring it well
8. Add to the chicken mix and stirr it until you get a thick sauce
9. Put it on a serving dish and sprinkle with the peanuts
10. Serve it hot

Pic: http://www.plansol.com.br/vilhena/images/receitas/frango_xadrez.jpg

Chicken, spinach and yellow pepper rice

I was expecting some guests this weekend and I set up my mind to prepare them stuffed orange peppers (at my husband's request). Unfortunatelly they couldn't make it and I'm stuck with a lot of orange peppers in the fridge. Googling around to found a recipe that uses the peppers, I came accross this one. Just cooked it for dinner and it's absolutely delicious. Very subtil in the flavours, so we grated some parmesan on top to give it a bit more body, just before serving.

Ingredients


1 tbsp Olive oil
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and chopped
300 g plump short or medium-grained white rice
150ml white wine or verjus
1-1.2 litres chicken or vegetable stock
125g chicken, cooked
40g spinach leaves
black pepper

Method

1. Place the stock in a small saucepan and bring to simmering point.

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the yellow pepper and fry, stirring often, until the pepper has softened but not browned. Add the rice and continue cooking and stirring for 1-2 minutes, until the rice is translucent and shiny.

3. Pour the wine or verjus into the pan of rice and simmer until it has almost evaporated. Add a ladle of the hot stock to the rice and cook, stirring constantly, over a low heat until the liquid has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock to the rice a little at a time and stirring until the liquid has been absorbed, for about 17 minutes.

4. When the rice is almost done, add the chicken and the spinach leaves and stir to mix evenly. Allow to heat through for 2-3 minutes, then adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper and serve hot.

Chilli con Carne

I've been meaning to cook chilli con carne for a while now, but I kept postponing it for spicy food may not be the best idea when pregnant. Besides, the baby doesn't seem to like beans for whenever I eat them I feel terribly sick.

So I was really glad when I found this recipe, from Jamie Oliver which takes chickpeas or cubed potatoes instead of beans. I just cooked it for dinner

Jamie: "What a classic dish this is. Most of my mates love the chickpeas, but butter beans or even cubed potatoes will work well in their place. Feel free to pep up this dish with more chilli depending on your taste. This will make enough for six portions, so simply freeze the extra if you're only cooking for four - it's so damn good the next day, even on a jacket potato!"

Taken from Jamie's Ministry of Food

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 medium onions

2 cloves of garlic

2 medium carrots

2 sticks of celery

2 red peppers

Olive oil

1 heaped teaspoon chilli powder

1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin

1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 x 400g tin of chickpeas

1 x 400g tin of red kidney beans

2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes

500g good-quality minced beef

1 small bunch of fresh coriander

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

400g basmati rice

1 x 500g tub of natural yoghurt

1 x 230g tub of guacamole

1 lime

 
1. Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, carrots and celery - don’t worry about the technique, just chop away until fine.

2. Halve the red peppers, remove the stalks and seeds and roughly chop.
3. Place your largest casserole-type pan on a medium high heat.
4. Add 2 lugs of olive oil and all your chopped vegetables.
5. Add the chilli powder, cumin and cinnamon with a good pinch of salt and pepper.
6. Stir every 30 seconds for around 7 minutes until softened and lightly coloured.
7. Add the drained chickpeas, drained kidney beans and the tinned tomatoes
8. Add the minced beef, breaking any larger chunks up with a wooden spoon.
9. Fill one of the empty tomato tins with water and pour this into the pan.
10. Pick the coriander leaves and place them in the fridge.
11. Finely chop the washed stalks and stir in.
12. Add the balsamic vinegar and season with a good pinch of salt and pepper.
13. Bring to the boil and turn the heat down to a simmer with a lid slightly askew for about an hour, stirring every now and again to stop it catching.

To serve chilli con carne

1. This is fantastic served with fluffy rice.
2. Just divide the rice and chilli into big bowls or serve in the middle of the table and let everyone help themselves.
3. If you don't fancy rice it's equally good with a nice hunk of fresh crusty bread, over a jacket potato or with couscous.
4. Put a small bowl of natural yoghurt, some guacamole and a few wedges of lime on the table, and sprinkle the chilli with the coriander leaves.
5. I love to add a nice green salad to round it off

Hot Chilli Sauce for Gumbo

Goes with the Chicken Gumbo

15 habanero (scotch bonnet) chillies, roughly chopped
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and mashed
240ml English mustard
50g brown sugar
60ml white wine vinegar
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp chilli powder
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together then purée in a blender before funnelling into a bottle. Place in the fridge and allow to stand in the fridge for at least two weeks before using. Store in the fridge (but it will keep for ages).

Creole Seasoning

This is what brings the Gumbo to life!

2 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried thyme leaves
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp white pepper
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp celery seed
5 tbsp sweet paprika

Add all the ingredients to a food processor or coffee grinder and pulse until well-combined. Place in a jar and store in your spice cupboard (this will keep for several months).

Chicken Gumbo Recipe

That's a lot of Gumbo. If you cut the ingredients in half you still get a decent "serves 4" recipe.

2 whole, boned, chicken breasts

6 strips bacon, cut into 2.5cm pieces
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1l chicken stock
6 plum tomatoes chopped
100g sweetcorn (best if from the cob)
300g okra, cut into 1cm pieces
1 large bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 celery sticks, chopped
70g uncooked rice
1.2l water

Hot Chilli Sauce to season
black pepper to season
Creole Seasoning, to season
parsley to garnish

Fry the bacon in a large pan then remove and set aside. Dredge the chicken in the flour and brown on all sides in the pan. Pour the chicken broth over the browned chicken in the pan and bring to a boil. Add all the remaining ingredients (except the seasonings - last 4 itens on the list above) and simmer for 30 minutes. Taste and season before serving (add the bacon back at the end of cooking if you wish).

Pic: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB50dpiBNDBg2rCt5qF7U3vdl3zNk3gNCPNGA9smJPa2ASh541H1n3ysXr5qi3P8JMb0is2Q_ItPzqmXSCh_m06U_d1XXHGtcyEvKKwSrKNtahoFfySFhABZdcibYMESjec6L6Q6ZTqbfV/s400/Chicken+Gumbo.jpg

Coleslaw

According to Wikipedia, "The term "cole slaw" arose in the 18th century as a partial translation from the Dutch term "koolsla", a shortening of "koolsalade", which means "cabbage salad".[2]


An old wives-tale for the origins of coleslaw, came from London in the late eighteen hundreds, where stories were told of it being "Coles Law" to combine cabbage, carrot and mayonnaise. This was told in hope that children would eat coleslaw and obey the laws he had put in place. Cole, was a brutal man with a big chest and children were afraid of him"

I found this recipe here and there´s even a video explaining how to do it.

•300 g of white cabbage, thinly sliced

•2 carrots, peeled and grated
•2 spring onions or scallions, thinly sliced
•2 tbsp of mayonnaise
•2 tbsp of sour cream
•1 tsp of mustard
•2 tbsp of vinegar
•1 tsp of sugar
•salt and pepper
•1 large bowl
•1 small bowl
•1 metal spoon
•cling film

20 minutes

Step 2: Make the dressing
The secret to a fantastic coleslaw is in the dressing. To make the dressing put the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, vinegar, sugar and salt and pepper into a small bowl and combine with the large spoon until the mix forms a rich, creamy dressing.

Step 3: Add the dressing to the vegetables
Put the cabbage into the bigger bowl, then the carrots and finally the spring onions or scallions. Mix all the vegetables up and then pour the dressing on top. Mix together again until all the vegetables are smothered in dressing.

Step 4: Cover and chill
Next, cover your coleslaw with cling film or saran wrap and put it in the fridge for an hour to chill slightly. This will allow the vegetables to marinate in the dressing, which will make it taste even better.

Pic from http://farm1.static.flickr.com/101/285977983_17431c3381.jpg

Marrow Ratatouille au Gratin

Found this one here and it´s very very good.


1 Marrow (peeled & deseeded)
4 Tomatoes (peeled & chopped) OR 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 Onion (chopped finely)
2 Garlic cloves (chopped finely)
Generous Handful of Assorted Herbs (parsley, thyme, basil etc)
Grated Cheese

Method

Heat the onion & garlic in some olive oil over a medium heart until they begin to brown. Cube the marrow & add to the pan. Cover & leave to sweat for around five minutes. Add your tomatoes & herbs, cook for around thirty minutes, top with cheese, melt under the grill & serve.

Créme Caramel (Pudim de leite condensado)

This is the easiest possible thing to cook, if you are just starting. It is also good to know in case you have people coming and are short on time.

1 can of condensed milk
same amount of milk (1 can's worth)
3 eggs

Syrup (Caramel)

1 cup of water
2 cups of sugar

Mix the sugar with the water in a hob. Heat in medium heat, without stirring, until it becomes a dark colour (about the colour of whisky or rum).

Put it in your oven proof tray and wooble it around, until you get the caramel all over. Let it cool down. This is the trick. If you mix the cream with hot caramel, it will cook the first and ruin it.
Cream

Mix it all in the blender and put it in the tray. Bake it in medium heat (180C) in bain marie (put the tray inside a bigger tray, with water) for about 30-40 min. The top will change colour and look dark. Check it it's done by sticking a toothpick in the middle of the cream: it's done when it comes off clean. Let it cool down, take it off the tray and keep it in the fridge until serving time.

Stuffed peper

I'm not much of a fan of pepper, but my hubby loved it!

200g of mince
1 cup of rice
2 cups of meat stock
1 cup of chopped parsley
3 tbspoons of olive oil
4 red peppers
1/2 onion, chopped
salt

Wash the peppers. Cut the lid off (put it aside), remove the seeds and wash them again. Dry the peppers in a paper towel. Put aside. On a hon, heat up 2 tbspoon of olive oil and the fry the onion. Add the rice, mince and fry the meat. Add the parsley and the meat stock. Lower the heat, put on a lid and let the rice cook. Pre-heat the oven (medium heat) Put the rice with mince inside the pepper, cover with the lids and secure it with toothpicks. Spread the rest of the olive oil. Put them in an oven proof tray and bake for 25 min.

Alternatively you can put them inside some tomato sauce, cover the tray with a lid and let them bake for 20 min.

Sardines pate

When I lived in Portugal I loved the little tuna and sardine pates that were served with a bunch of olives and a basket of bread as soon as you sat in a restaurant. I've been trying to find a good recipe and this one is pretty close to what I used to eat there. I think it tastes different in England because of the quality of the sardines that we find here (not as good as portuguese ones).

serves 4
1 can of sardines (in oil)
2 boiled eggs, peeled
1 tbspoon of softened butter
3 tbspoons of finnely chopped parsley
1 pinch of paprika
1 small onion, finnely chopped
sweet mustard (as much as you like)
piri-piri sauce

Drain the sardines, chopp the eggs and put them in a bowl. With a fork, shred the sardines with the eggs, butter, onion, parsley, paprika, mustard and a few drops of piri-piri.
Put it all in a food mixer and let it chopp it all until you obtain a thick cream (not liquid) - check the pic. Put it in serving bowls and cover with plastic film. Leave it in the fridge until it's time to serve. Serve it with bread, toasts, olives and cucumber pickles.
Original recipe and picture: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kSv05jSv-xg/Rp-n5JmmC0I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/-qp_PDcASc0/s400/pate-sardinha.jpg

Easy quindao

Quindao is a brazilian dessert with portuguese roots. Therefore it takes a huge amount of sugar and eggs (the original recipe takes 12 yolks!). With the pregnancy advancing, I started to crave sugary foods and I wanted quindao. I checked my fridge and I only had 8 eggs (damn!).
Luckly I found this recipe which is much easier to prepare. It is not as good as the real thing (nor as caloric) but it will do for someone who has never had quindao before and wants to give it a try but is not confident enough to cook 12 yolks in one go. It is really delicious.

Time of preparation: 45 min
easy

5 eggs
3 cups of sugar
100g of grated coconut
1 cup of warm milk
1 tbspoon of butter

Blend it all, grease a flute tube tray with butter and sugar and pour it in. Bake it in medium heat oven (around 180C) in a tray full of water for 30-45 min (or until you stick a toothpick on it and it comes off clean).

Let it cool down and take it of the tray while still warm. Keep it in the fridge until serving.

Duck rice

This is a very traditional portuguese dish and I remember that whenever this was on the menu that's all my portuguese colleagues would eat. It's very similar (in the preparation) to the chicken and chorizo rice

Serves 4 people
easy

1 Duck (I used the left overs of the duck I roasted sunday. If it's just for two people, it's more then enough)
400g of rice
250g of ham
1 chorizo
1 onion
olive oil
salt and pepper
Cook the duck, ham, onion and chorizo in salted water. Add pepper to taste. When cooked (or in my case, softned - took about 25-30 min for the carcass to be soft), drain the meat and put aside the broth. Cut the duck in pieces, slice the chorizo and the ham. Remove the bones from the duck. Cook the rice on the water you used to cook the duck.
After cooked, put half the rice in a oven proof dish greased with a bit of butter, cover it with the duck, chorizo and ham pieces and cover it all with the rest of the rice. Sprinkle some of the duck water on top of it all and put it in the oven or grill to golden it.

Serve hot.

Sophie Grigson's crisp slow-roast duck

I bought a duck crown around new year (couldn't let the offers go by) and I've been looking for a good roast duck recipe. My husband has never been a big fan of roast duck because most of the time they taste greasy and slimy, not crispy.

I found this one and decided to give it a try for lunch today and Oh my God! It was delicious. Athough I used duck crown instead of the duckling suggested and that the duck crown was supposed to serve 4 it only served the both of us because we kept coming for seconds and thirds. We have to admit this was the best roast duck we both had.

Here's the recipe.

1 duckling, around 2.3-2.7kg (5-6lb)

500g (1lb 2oz) turnips (we used potatoes, which we roasted on the duck fat with parsnips and carrots)
Salt and pepper

Sauce

1 large carrot, diced
1 onion, chopped
2 sticks celery, diced
1 bottle fruity red wine
1 bouquet garni ( a few stalks of parsley, 2 good sprigs of thyme, 2 bay leaves, 1 small sprig sage tied together with string)
750ml (1 1/4pts) duck stock or chicken stock
2tbsp redcurrant jelly (I didn't have any so I skiped this step)

1.Pre-heat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7. Wipe the duck dry with kitchen paper. Prick the skin all over with a skewer, or a fork if the tines are sharp, so the fat can run out more easily as it cooks. Season generously with salt and pepper. Sit the duck on a rack over a roasting tin and slide it into the oven. Turn the heat down to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and leave it to cook for 2 1/2hrs.

2.During that time, all you need to do, whenever you feel like it, is drain off the fat that's gathered in the roasting tin (it's brilliant stuff for sautéing potatoes).

3.Once you've got your first crop of fat, take 1tbsp of it and heat in a frying pan. Add the carrot, onion and celery and sauté until the vegetables are tender and lightly browned. Now add the wine and the herb bundle.

4.Bring to the boil, stirring thoroughly, then boil hard until reduced by half. Add the stock and boil again until reduced by about a third to a half, giving a syrupy sauce. Stir in the redcurrant jelly until it has melted, then strain into a small pan. Add a little salt and pepper and simmer for about 2 mins. Taste and adjust seasoning. Re-heat when needed.

5.Peel the turnips (or in my case the potatoes, parsnips and carrots), cut into 2cm (3/4in) cubes and blanch in boiling water for three mins. Drain and run under the cold tap. Leave to drain thoroughly.

6.About 40 mins before the duck is done, drain off most of the fat, leaving a bit in the tin. Add the turnips and turn them in the fat, then leave to roast with the duck.

7.When the duck and turnips are cooked turn off the oven and leave the door open. Let them rest like this for about 15 mins.

8.Using a sharp knife or poultry shears, cut the duck into four pieces, cutting first from head to tail end, along the breastbone and through the backbone to give two halves, then dividing each half in two.

9.Serve quickly while still warm with the roast turnips and reheated sauce.

Chicken rice, Minas Gerais style (Galinhada mineira)

Time of preparation: 2h

This is a big recipe for a gathering, for example.. for just my small family I reduce it by half.

5 cups of long grain rice (I use just 2)
800 g of chicken breast (I use just 150-200g)
800g of chicken parts (wings, thighs, drumstick, etc)  - I use parts of 1 chicken only or even half that

4 tomatoes
3 onions
parsley and chives
3 limes
olive oil
pepper
salt
Prepare the beans as normal, cooking it and put aside. Slice the sausage , fry it and put aside.
Cut the chiken in pieces (about 1-2cm) and season them with salt and garlic. In medium heat, heat up the oil in a sauce pan and fry 2 chopped onions. Add the chicken, moving it constantly. When the sauce dries up and the saucepan botton starts to look dark brown add a bit of water, enough to soften this dry brown sauce and continue to mix it. Repeat this several times. It is important to have patience, for you need to dry it and soften it several times, until the chicken itself becomes darkened (it takes 20 min to 30 min).

Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to caramelise the chicken.

Add the rice, mix it well and cover it with boiling water up to 2cm on top of the rice line. When it boils again, lower the heat. Cover the pan and let it cook in low heat. When the rice is cooked, turn off the heat and keep the pan covered.
Slice the tomatos and the onions in small cubes. Add parsley, chives and season with lime, olive oil, black pepper, salt and a bit of water. Put it on a fridge (as if making a vinaigrette)
Serve it all with a good spicy sauce (such as tabasco sauce) on the side.