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Codpiece

8/26/2016

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Photo: short-sighted fellow

Bacalhau is brill. Well it´s not actually, brill is a flat turbot like fish and bacalhau is salted cod.
But it is great. And a codpiece is a pouch attached to the front of a gentleman’s´ trousers to accentuate his
Tommy Taylor.


For a starter this weekend I´m planning to stuff roasted courgettes with a filling of salt cod,
garlic and olive oil, beaten to a creamy puree and gratinated under the grill. Depending on the result,
I may post the recipe.


Generally, if I´m cooking for guests at the quinta on a Monday I tend to use meat as the available
fresh fish can be a little iffy and well, less than fresh. Or otherwise I reach for the bacalhau, as was the case last week.


Outside the kitchen window and attaining triffid like proportions we have a basil plant, the inspiration,
if you can call it that, for that evenings´ main course. I may have thought twice about the choice to
cook risotto had I been aware that Italians were amongst the diners.
Happily they were charming and declared the meal to be ´
meraviglioso´, which I later understood to mean wonderful.
 
By the way, guests who enjoy a meal and compliment the food are often surprised to learn that I am
English, believing, I suppose, that we hail from an island of gastronomical ignorants, unwilling to look to
culinary cultures further afield , say Europe. Preferring rather, to pull up the drawbridge,
don the blinkers and eat hula-hoops! Beats me how these stereotypical ideas are born.  


Everyone knows how to make risotto, so I won´t go into too much detail other than to say that this
one was finished with blanched peas, half of which I pureed with butter beforehand, and blanched French beans. 
I also added mint, Parmesan and some grated lemon zest, just before serving. 
All in all a fresh, creamy risotto and although purists may object to it being served alongside anything other
than a glass of Orvieto, it was a fitting companion to the bacalhau.


Here is the recipe for the cod and if I receive more than my usual 5 facebook ´likes´ I may set down
​the risotto recipe in full. 

 
3 tomatoes, skinned, de-seeded and diced
Couple of garlic cloves, finely chopped
Handful of small black olives, pitted

​Dash of red wine vinegar
​10
0 ml extra virgin olive oil

4 pieces of salt cod loin (approx 200g each), de-brined or otherwise frozen salt cod, de-frosted

Handful of basil leaves, finely sliced at the last moment 

 
  • Make the dressing by combining the tomatoes, garlic, olives, a dash of vinegar and the olive oil. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  • Preheat the oven to 200C
  • Dry the cod as well as possible by pressing the pieces between kitchen paper or a tea-towel.
  • In a non-stick frying pan heat a couple of tbsp of olive oil over a high flame. Get it good and hot before frying the cod, flesh side down. It will want to stick so nudge the pieces around the pan a little. After a couple of minutes it should have browned a touch so, remove from the pan and place in an oven dish into which the  pieces snugly fit.
  • Pour over the dressing and bake for approx 10 minutes or until the fish is just cooked. ​Serve with the dressing and the sliced basil.
 
 

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Miss August

8/2/2016

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Having boned a couple of legs of lamb for the purpose of rolling and roasting I was left with the shanks. Upon inspecting the fridge, freezer and larder for provisions and found somewhat wanting, I was reminded of a prato do dia we enjoyed a few months ago at a cheap Taska favourite here in Tavira. That night, pork was served; stewed with broad beans and meltingly tender.
Although the dish wouldn´t have won prizes in a beauty pageant, looks can be deceiving and Miss pork and beans glowed from an inner depth and taste far more attractive to me than those pretty yet often unsatisfying offerings to be found elsewhere in more expensive joints.
Stewing the beans kind of goes against notions of blanching veg to retain bite and colour but they contribute to the taste of the dish which is ultimately what we´re after.
It really is good. Serve with cous cous, plain boiled or mashed potatoes.
 
50 ml olive oil
2 lamb shanks, seasoned with salt and pepper

3 medium onions, thinly sliced

2 carrots, diced

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

¼  tsp coriander seeds, crushed

Just a ½ cm of cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp tomato puree

150 ml red wine

350 ml chicken stock or water

250 gr broad beans, fresh or frozen

A dash of red wine vinegar

​Fresh mint leaves, finely sliced

 
Heat the olive oil in a thick bottomed pan until very hot. Brown the lamb shanks on all sides before removing from the pan.
Add the onions and carrots and fry over a medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the garlic, coriander, cinnamon and bay leaf and continue to fry for 2 minutes before stirring in the tomato puree.
After 1 minute return the lamb to the pan, add the wine and chicken stock or water. If necessary, top up to ensure the meat is covered. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pan and stew for 1 ½ hours.
Add the broad beans, cover and stew for a further ½ hour or until the lamb is very tender.
Remove from the heat and using a couple of forks, ease the meat from the bone. Add the vinegar, check the seasoning and sprinkle with mint.

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Entertaining strawberries

7/27/2016

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There´s a glut of soft fruit here at the moment and a while back I was lucky enough to receive a generous punnet of organic strawberries in exchange for a song and dance. So, here we go, something of a summer showstopper Wimbledon/Samba dessert.

It´s a frozen parfait. Light, refreshing and strawberrylicious (oh my word) and although
the recipe may seem a bit faffy, as long as you follow the steps and have your ingredients sorted and weighed prior to starting, it´s pretty easy. It has the added advantage of requiring a good few hours in the freezer so you may feel free to enjoy the pleasures of your dinner party without stressing over the final course.
 Do normal people have dinner parties? Are they the preserve of posh people or those aspiring to be so? What are we meant to talk about? Is it proper to serve the wine brought by your guests?  If you´re partners mother/father attempts to pay footsie with you, who can you talk to? Who does the washing up? Is it acceptable to retire to bed and leave your guests at the table?  
 You will need an electric whisk and a cake tin +/-20 diameter.
 
300 ml double cream
350 g strawberries, roughly chopped

3 egg whites
60 g caster sugar

6 egg yolks

100 g caster sugar
​6
0 ml (4 tbsp) water
Finely grated zest of 1 lime

​Line the base and sides of a 20 cm spring cake tin with baking parchment and place in the freezer.

In a bowl, whisk the cream to a thick yoghurt consistency, refrigerate. Wash and dry the whisks.

Crush the strawberries a little using a fork, refrigerate.


In a large, clean bowl, whisk the egg whites for a minute or so until soft peaks have formed, whilst continuing to whisk, add the 60 g of sugar and whisk for a further 2 minutes, set aside.

 In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks for 5 minutes, set aside. Pour the water and 100 g of sugar into a small pan. Over a medium heat dissolve the sugar before increasing the temperature and vigorously boiling for 2 minutes. Now, whilst whisking the egg yolks, carefully pour in the syrup and continue to whisk until it reaches room temperature (about 8 minutes). Add the lime zests.

Carefully fold egg whites into the yolk mixture followed by the cream and strawberries. Pour into the cake tin and freeze for at least 6 hours.

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Sweet spuds

7/17/2016

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Before coming to Tavira, sweet potato was an ingredient I rarely used. 
Stacked alongside plantains, cassava and all manner of exotic fruit and veg in Amsterdams´ ´toko´s, it was a product I enjoyed as part of a Surinamese meal out,  but it seldom found it´s way into my own kitchen. 
However, since being in the Algarve I´ve seen the light, and converted to the ways of the batata doce.
​
It´s a worthy accompaniment to both fish or meat and when baked, sliced open and gifted a healthy knob of     butter it´s the gastronomic equivalent of a warm bath or more appropriately at this time of year, a cold shower.

When mashed I like to add some fried sage, it´s earthy, slightly bitter qualities pairs really well and balances the sweetness.

​In this guise, it´s roasted with a few spices and perfectly compliments both the avocado and the seared cuttlefish. The late addition of lime juice and fresh chilli give just the zing that´s required.
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800 g sweet potato, peeled and diced approx 2 cm
Extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp paprika powder

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

750 g cuttlefish

2 avocados, diced approx 2cm

2 tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced

3 fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped

Juice of a lime

​Handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 220C. Place the sweet potato into a large, shallow baking dish, add a good glug of olive oil,  the cumin, paprika, garlic, salt and pepper, stir well. Bake for 20 minutes or until the potato is tender and a little caramelized around the edges. Allow to cool.

Clean the cuttlefish, if you are new to this, ask your fishmonger, search it on the internet or buy my book. Discard the cuttlebone, head (reserve the tentacles) and innards. Cut the body of the cuttlefish in two and the tentacles into a few pieces.

Heat a frying pan until very hot and add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Fry the body of the cuttlefish for 2 minutes on both sides (to prevent it from curling, press down on the flesh with a clean bottomed pan). Fry the tentacles for approx 3 minutes. Thinly slice the body.

In a large bowl, place the cuttlefish, sweet potato, avocado, tomato, red onion and chilli. Add the lemon juice, a couple of tbsp of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Carefully stir, ensuring everything is well combined.
Serve with a sprinkling of fresh coriander.


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Gazpacho/Salmorejo

6/21/2016

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​Gazpacho
​1 kg of ripe tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
3 tbsp of white wine vinegar
75 ml of extra virgin olive oil
fried bread croutons
 

To skin the tomatoes, use a shape knife to score the top and bottom with a small ‘X’. Drop them into a large pan of boiling water, remove after 10 seconds and plunge directly into cold water. When cool, remove and discard the skin and roughly chop the flesh.

​
Combine the tomato with the garlic, vinegar, olive oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Blitz the lot until a smooth consistency is achieved. Refrigerate until cool. Blitz again, just prior to serving.
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Summer is definitely upon us and after what seemed like a damp and relatively cool Spring, the temperatures here are bordering on the silly.

​All the tried and tested prescriptions are advisable: frequent dips in the ocean, plenty of sunblock and gin n tonics at dusk being just a few.


Culinary wise, what´s necessary are cooling dishes, quick to buy for and easy to prepare. In all respects, gazpacho ticks the boxes. It´s revitalising, delicious, a cinch to make and this basic recipe requires just 5 ingredients.
​
​I´m not sure if this would be considered a Salmorejo instead of Gazpacho. In both cases it´s usual to add soaked bread before blitzing. This helps to bind the liquid and achieves a creamy consistency.  The amount of olive oil in this version has a similar effect and I´ve chosen to fry the bread and add it as croutons.

​The anchovies are an optional but delicious extra. 


​​Marinated Anchovies
400 g of fresh anchovies

1  1/2 tsp of salt

75 ml of white wine vinegar

1 large clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
​75
ml of extra virgin olive oil
​fresh coriander leaves


Remove and discard the heads and guts of the fish. Tightly pinch the top of the spine between your fore finger and thumb and ease the flesh away from the bone by running them down towards the tail. Snip the spine off at the tail. You should be left with the two fillets butterflied and still attached by the tail. Give them a quick rinse under cold water and allow to drain.

Place the fish into a small container and add the salt and vinegar, combine well and refrigerate for at least an hour and anything up to a couple of days


​Drain the vinegar from the fish and add the garlic, olive oil, black pepper and coriander.
​Delicious on toast, part of a tapas or as pictured.







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Sarde in Saor or Mackerel in sour?

6/13/2016

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Originally, a method employed by Venetian fisherman and land lubbers alike, by which to lengthen a sardine´s shelf-life in pre-refrigeration times. The preparation of saor had the added advantage with it´s sweet and sour overtones of perfectly complementing this most humble of fatty fish.
​Basically, a marinade of onions sweated in olive oil and vinegar in which the fried fish are steeped for at least a day. But Venice, it´s geographical position, trading status and reputation for all things exotic had access to ingredients and spices whilst Northern Europe was dining on hedgehogs and mud. Pine nuts and raisins are normal additions but recipes utilising cinnamon, cloves, chillies, bay leaves and sugar are not uncommon.
​Bending the rules a little, I have used mackerel and browned the onions for additional sweetness and I think the result is just as good. You may judge for yourself.

​
2 tbsp of raisins
125 ml of dry white wine

2 large or 4 small mackerel, filleted and pin bones removed

2 tbsp of plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper

100 ml of extra virgin olive oil

2 large onions, peeled, halved and finely sliced

2 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick, broken into a few pieces

2 tbsp of blanched almonds, roughly chopped

2 tbsp of white wine vinegar

2 tbsp of granulated sugar
  • soak the raisins in the wine for 15 minutes
  • depending on the size of the fillets cut each into 2 or 3 equal pieces. Coat the fish on both sides with the seasoned flour and tap off any excess.
  • heat a third of the olive oil in a large frying pan over a high heat and fry the fish for 3-4  minutes, turning once. Lay the fish, skin side down in a shallow dish.
  • give the pan a wipe and reduce the temperature to low to medium. Heat the remaining olive oil, add the onions, bay leaves and cinnamon and fry for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. You’re looking to get the onions to a good, golden brown colour, so adjust the time and heat accordingly.
  • add the almonds and allow them to brown slightly, which should take no more than a couple of minutes.
  • add the soaked raisins, wine, vinegar and sugar, bring to the boil and allow the liquid to reduce by approx two-thirds. Remove from the heat and spoon the marinade over the fish. Allow to cool before refrigerating for at least a day.


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Beans means borlottis

6/3/2016

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Fresh borlotti beans (feijao madura) are available at the moment and last night we served them alongside stewed and crispy fried pork neck, nice. I was lucky enough to have some fresh sage, not easy to find here and this small bunch came all the way from South Wales.
​Posting the recipe was a (day)-after-thought and the (left-overs) image accurately reflects my inability to take decent photos. None the less, the beans were delicious.

750 g borlotti beans, in their pods
1 bay leaf
​1 onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 stick celery, diced
​extra virgin olive oil
10-15 sage leaves, finely sliced
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
good handful of cherry tomatoes, roasted for a few minutes and skinned
1 ½ tbsp of red wine vinegar
good handful of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

  • Hull the beans and cook them in water together with the bay leaf for approx 25 minutes (the cooking time may vary according to the age and freshness of the beans, so check for doneness now and again)
  • In the meantime, fry the onion, carrot and celery in a good glug of olive oil for 15 minutes, let them caramelise a little. Add the sage and garlic and after 3 minutes the tomatoes.
  • Remove from the heat and combine with the cooked and drained beans. Add the vinegar, parsley, season with salt and pepper and a little extra olive oil.

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Island cooking

5/26/2016

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Gave our first cookery workshop this week. The venue was a house on Tavira island. The participants; a small, enthusiastic group of friends, partners and family, all the way from Germany.
​
The menu     
Toasts with muxama, queijo fresco and red pepper coulis
Mackerel and goats´ cheese tartare with ginger and soy
Seared picanha with watercress and walnut pesto
Cuttlefish done two ways
Mango tart
Almond, rosemary and lemon cake
    
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With thanks to Veronika, Hannah and all who took part.

Seared picanha (rump-cap) with watercress, walnut pesto
Serves - 6 - 8
 
Ingredients:
1 piece of rump cap (picanha) approx. 1 kg
Olive oil
Thyme
 
35 g walnuts
100 g watercress
35 g parmesan
75 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 - 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Red wine vinegar to taste
 
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Season the meat with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Rub the meat all over with a little olive oil. Heat a frying pan over a high flame until very hot. Brown the meat on all sides.
Place the meat in the oven and according to your own taste, remove when done.
Sprinkle the meat with chopped thyme leaves and allow to cool.
To make the pesto, roughly chop the walnuts and watercress and grate the parmesan. Place them together with the olive oil and garlic into a blender or large pestle and mortar and blend/grind to a rough paste.
Season with salt and pepper and add a little vinegar to taste.
When the meat is cold, slice very thinly, arrange on plates and serve with the pesto.
​
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Wild East Oysters

7/11/2015

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Whilst at the beach a couple of weeks ago, I was curious to see a snorkeller exiting the water with a handful of rocks which, upon enquiry turned out to be oysters.

I knew that oyster farming took place in the Ria Formosa but was none the less suprised to find that they could be readily harvested from the sand, at high tide.

The chap kindly gave me a few after insisting I take an oath of secrecy as to their whereabouts, somehwere near Olhao or Fuzeta.

By no means giants, we shucked and ate them raw and they were good, briny yet with a sweet aftertaste.

I fished out my snorkel, which last saw action at Whitby’s pearl diving Olympics, and have been going at it like an aquatic rabbit ever since.

One of the best ways to enjoy oysters is by eating them raw from the naked body of a virgin, with a squeeze of lemon and some thinly sliced rye bread, apparently.

Barring that and as a good introduction for oyster new-comers is a dish served in The Golden Chopsticks chinese restaurant in Amsterdam, a version of which is below.

Make a dressing using 3 tbsp of good quality light soy sauce / 1 tbsp of mirin / 1 tsp of very finely chopped ginger / 1 small clove of very finely chopped garlic / 2 finely sliced spring onions / a good twist of black pepper.

Steam a dozen oysters (best to do this in a large covered pan with a little boiling water) until they open, should take a couple of minutes. Discard the top shell, cut the oyster loose, spoon over a little dressing and serve.

 


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Online 

6/17/2015

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Been quiet the last few months due to cooking in Mesa do Cume. But happy to announce that the second print of the book (just a few spelling mistakes and apostrophe errors corrected) is in and that it's available to purchase online at
http://www.casadasportas.com/.
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