|  |  Chef Manny’s Blog“General Info” Category
posted on March 7th, 2010 by Manny Lopes|
The winter finally broke today and it was a great day to be outside. After some yard work I made a fire & had some great coals to cook on. The first outside barbeque and what better than some vegetables.
some onions, red green and yellow peppers and some zuchini. Sliced and arrange them on a grate.
they don't take long to cook up 5-10 minutes on each side, I like them a little burnt..
Drizzle some olive oil, white wine vinegar & sprinkle with sea salt and some crushed basil.
Make a delicious vegetarian sandwich, cut open a very ripe avocado and spread it on the grilled bread instead of butter, sanduíche vegetal Tags: Barbecued vegetables, sanduíche vegetal, vegetarian sandwich
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posted on March 6th, 2010 by Manny Lopes|
"Black pudding sausage" or blood sausage and morcela, is an interesting tasty treat now and again. I'm complementing it with the Portuguese "aguardente" a white marc brandy. This is a "petisco" or tapa type to dish to enjoy by yourself or with some friends.. I'm using morcela de arroz, (blood sausage with rice)
I de-skinned the morcela and sauteed them with mushrooms and peppers in a skilet with some spiced olive oil & finished them with a drizzle of white wine
slice and toast some bread into very thin slices, place on a dish & drizzle some olive oil on them. Place the morcella, peppers & mushrooms over the bread & drizzle some aguardente over them with a teaspoon.
Serve with some cold salted cucumber & olives, a short glass of agardente on the side or a Jeropiga..
bom apetite
Tags: Black pudding, blood sausage, Morcela de arroz
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posted on March 4th, 2010 by Manny Lopes|
Trying to translate types of fish is pretty tricky, every culture seems to have their own names and then there are many similar types of fish. Cherne, is translated in to English as striped sea bass", here roasted together with shrimp and cubed potatoes.
in a skillet saute one diced onion two cloves of garlic with 1/5 cup of olive oil. Add the cubes of potatoes (2 potatoes), one tablespoon salt. Cover & cook for 15-20 minutes, then add the fish and one tablespoon diced parsley ad the shrimp. Cover & continue cooking for 15-20 more minutes until fish is tender & flakey.
Tags: cherne, grouper, shrimp
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posted on March 4th, 2010 by Manny Lopes|
Rice has been a food staple sustaining life for centuries around the world with origins in Asia and was one of the foods that were brought back to Portugal by the early explorations to the east by the Portuguese navigators. Here we are serving the rice in an original and traditional clay pot that was used as the measuring "scoop" for grains in Portugal.
Rice with peas or (Arroz com ervilhas in Portuguese) is a great side dish to compliment just about any meal. Everyone seems to have a different preference on how they like their rice and the types of rice will make a difference on the end result. Sticky or fluffy, for tender, fluffy rice with separate grains, choose long grain white rice.
The general rule to make rice is 2 part water to 1 part rice.
1 cup rice use 2 cups of water,
Place rice in a bowl of cold water & let sit for 5-10 minutes & drian. This cleans the rice & the grains start absorbing some water.
Bring to a boil 2 cups of water, add 1 tspn salt (you can add chicken bullion for flavor, if you do no salt is needed)
Add the 1 cup of drained rice, stir,... Tags: Arroz com ervilhas, Rice with peas
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posted on March 3rd, 2010 by Manny Lopes|
Puré de batata com alho, or "garlic mashed potatoes", is a great side dish to compliment just about any meal. If your making any kind of roast in the oven, include this as the side. Great with beef, poultry or fish and easy as 1, 2, 3....
Garnish with olives or sprinkle some diced parsley or basil for a great looking presentation.
1, peel and boil 4 medium size potatoes until soft
2, peel dice and saute', 4 cloves of garlic with 1/4 cup olive oil
3, Drain the potatoes, add 3TBSN of butter, 1 TSPN salt, 1/4 cup milk or light cream. Mash or blend to a creamy consistency adding the olive oil-garlic mix, save a bit to put over the top, put in an oven casserole dish & broil in the oven just enough to get a golden color. Posted in General Info | 2 Comments » |
posted on March 1st, 2010 by Manny Lopes|
One of my mother's favorite soups to make is "sopa de grão". Grão is what is called chick peas or garbanzo beans. A very nutritious & healthy food. This soup is all "vegitarian" (no meat, dairy or broths).. A very traditional "casairo" (homestyle) soup, A meal in itself....
The ingredients seem to vary whenever she makes it. This time with some elbow noodles and cabbage.
The process is simple, In a large pan add the chickpeas (grão) with some diced onion, potatoes some water, and salt. Boil them until the chick peas are soft, then mash them or put in a food processor. This will provide your base and broth. There is no set measurements and no wrong way to make it. The more chick peas and potatoes you use the thicker the broth, you may like your soup thinner. So play with it & taste it.
Then add more water to the pan, add diced cabbage and more chick peas and the noodles (check for taste, you may need more salt), cover & let simmer until the noodles are cooked. The whole process takes one hour to 1.5
drizzle olive oil over the top & have some crusty bread, olives and red wine on... Tags: sopa de grão, Vegitarian Chick Pea Soup
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posted on February 28th, 2010 by Manny Lopes|
I grew up with a standard ritual every Sunday. Sundays were family day and the whole family would get up in the morning get dress in Sunday's best, and make the walk (and later the drive) to church.
But before we left, my mother was busy in the kitchen preparing Sunday's meal. One of the meals was a delicious oven roasted chicken dinner that slow roasted in the oven while we went to church. When we got back home, the house had an aroma of a delicious meal, and we were all pretty hungry. The ingredients and the process are pretty simple and just require a little pre planning.
This is a variation of that meal & served up in a nest of spaghetti.
Start with a whole chicken (size to meet your family needs), if frozen, be sure it's thawed. To thaw it, place in the refrigerator over night. Wash in cold water, sprinkle with sea salt, some paprika, and pepper. Drizzle a little olive oil, I also drizzled a little hot pepper sauce (piri-piri) and about 1/4 cup white wine. Place in a covered backing dish with some bay leaves garlic on top of the chicken and some halved onions. You... Tags: Frango no ninho, roast chicken
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posted on February 26th, 2010 by Manny Lopes|
Salmon is a vert nutritious & tasty fish, here is an easy way to make it, Portuguese style.
Served with sweet sauted onion, chick peas, boiled potatoes broccoli & boiled eggs.
All the makings that you might get with a healthy Portuguese dish.
First, saute the onions in a little olive oil until they start softening up, add the salmon filets, a sprinkle of sea salt & paprika, just about 10 minutes, turn then over & cook another 5-10 minutes.
The potatoes, broccoli and eggs can be boiled together in the same pan. But, start with the eggs & potatoes, adding the broccoli later. Posted in General Info | No Comments » |
posted on February 24th, 2010 by Manny Lopes|
Looks and kind of tastes like green tea. sweeten with some honey, goes great with some bolacha maria & some light Portuguese cheese.
Something so simple as the leaves of a lemon tree, makes a warm tasting soothing tea.
Simply boil some leaves and a slice of lemon and some lime, if you like.
Pour through a screen, sweeten with honey and enjoy this great little treat. Tags: chá, lemon tea, tea
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posted on February 23rd, 2010 by Manny Lopes|
A very traditional dish served in a very traditional dish, the bowl although old and worn, belonged to my avo Felicidade, (grandmother).
Açorda (pronounced assorda) is very popular dish made through out Portugal. It's a meal made hearty by the addition of crusty bread. Açorda has it's roots in the poorer communities and homes and hold a strong and meaningful tradition that is passed on.
Açorda de marisco can be very common & not so common would be the addition of meatballs. The sauce or broth for this concoction is made with shrimp broth (made by boiling shrimp & the shells) and blending with homemade tomato sauce with oregano and a little piri-piri (hot sauce). The result, is a tomato/shrimp bisque flavor, and topped with fresh cilantro and basil.
"The Portuguese Meatballs",
Meatball are made & served in areas of Portugal, and they are fun to make with your kids.
I borrowed the meatball recipe from a food blog I like to follow called "Fullbellies, Happy Kids" get the recipe here, Tags: Açorda de marisco with Portuguese meatballs
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