Tia Maria – Page 11 – Tia Maria's Blog

Desserts / Holiday Recipes / Photo Gallery / Recipes

September 6, 2018

Bolo de Bolacha Maria Cake

What better way to show your love, by making your friends and family a delicious Bolo de Bolacha Maria cake! This dessert is probably one of the favorites in Portuguese cuisine. There are many recipes from the original recipe which uses softened butter between the layers. My version uses condensed milk and whole milk for a less buttery taste. I adapted this recipe from one given to me by; Carla Almeida of New York. Thanks Carla. Enjoy everyone.

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Ingredients:

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup whole milk
5 egg yolks (beaten)
2 to 3 large packages Bolacha Maria (Maria Cookies)
5 cups cold black coffee
1 pint whipping cream
1 tsp of sugar
cinnamon

1 tablespoons brown sugar

Preparation:

In a small saucepan heat milk, condensed milk, and egg yolks until thickened stirring often. A line should form on the bottom of the pan when you run your spoon through it.

Note: Let cool completely before you begin layering the cake.

Beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form, add the teaspoon of sugar, mix gently, and place in the refrigerator.

Place 6 to 8 cookies in a plastic bag and smash to coarse crumbs. Add the cinnamon and brown sugar and mix thoroughly to form fine crumbs.

Dip first layer of cookies one at a time into the coffee for about 4 seconds and begin arranging in a desired pattern.

Note: If you find the cookies fall apart, dip for only 3 seconds.

Top first layer with a few spoons of milk mixture. Dip each cookie into the coffee and begin assembling each layer with the sweetened milk. Continue layering until you use all the sweetened milk.

Top the remaining layer with the whipped cream followed by the crumb mixture.

Best if cooled in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving. This cake will last up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Appetizers / Photo Gallery / Recipes / shrimp

August 22, 2018

Baked Shrimp Scampi

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Once you try this delicious recipe, you’ll be making all the time. It’s inspired by a recipe by Ina Garten, but I changed up the ingredients a little. It’s easy to make and cooks in only 15 minutes. Serve as an appetizer with crust bread, or as a main dish with linguini. I would serve it with some Portuguese Vinho Verde of course. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Shrimp marinade:

2 pounds medium or large shrimp (in the shell)

2 tablespoons Portuguese Vinho Verde or white wine

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and black pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

Crumb topping:

1 stick of butter (melted)

1 cup panko bread crumbs

4 cloves garlic (minced)

3 tablespoons fresh parsley (minced)

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 lemon (zested and juiced)

Lemon wedges for garnish

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Peel shrimp leaving the tail. Devein and butterfly the shrimp and place in a bowl with the wine, olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper and paprika. Let marinade for about 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the topping:

Mix together the butter, garlic, parsley, lemon zest and juice, panko, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoons pepper in a small bowl.

In a baking dish, arrange the shrimp with tails facing up in a circular pattern. Pour the remaining marinade over shrimp. Top with the bread crumb mixture.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Place under broiler for a browned top. When ready to serve, garnish with lemon wedges.

Serve as an appetizer with crusty bread, or with pasta as a main dish.

Recipes

August 22, 2018

How to Dry Fresh Rosemary – Alecrim

Enjoy rosemary all year long for your recipes. It’s easy to grow and dry in your own home.

Step 1.

Cut rosemary stems from the plant.

Step 2.

Rinse and dry on paper towels.

Step 3.

Tie the stems together in a bunch and hang upside down in a dry place for about 2 weeks to completely dry.

Step 4.

When the sprigs are totally dry, remove the needles and place in an airtight jar or mason jar.

How

Photo Gallery / Portuguese business / Recipes / Traditional customs

May 9, 2018

Traveling Spoon – Looking for New Hosts in Portugal

Traveling Spoon is looking for new hosts in PORTUGAL!

Contact Regional Manger; Joaquin Abal – joaco@travelingspoon.com

Presentación de PowerPoint

Traveling Spoon is an online marketplace connecting millions of travelers around the world with meaningful local and authentic food experiences in people’s homes. It has recently been featured in Forbes Magazine as the next generation of Culinary Tourism!

Are you a talented home cook, passionate about the cultural traditions that make your cuisine unique? Traveling Spoon offers in-home meals with vetted hosts as well as in-home cooking classes and market tours across +90 destinations around the world They are looking for passionate home cooks throughout the country, and they have trusted Tia María’s leading position among foodie blogs to help spread the word! TS offers its community a platform for doing what they love and sharing it with travelers, while providing its hosts an alternative source of income.

100% of hosts are personally vetted! We find the best home cooks around the world so you can immerse yourself in meaningful food experiences and cultural traditions passed down through generations.

Founders Aashi Vel, and Steph Lawrence want to connect travelers with local, vetted hosts to share the joy of a homemade meal in their home and learn about their cultural and culinary traditions passed down through generations.

“Our mission is to find you the most meaningful and memorable cultural experiences” Steph & Aashi

Aashi Vel

Aashi ( left ) is a food and travel enthusiast with a deep passion for creative problem-solving, product innovation and foraging. An industrial designer and patent holder, Aashi has designed several award-winning products. She is a magna cum laude graduate of the Savannah College of Art & Design and received her MBA from UC Berkeley.

Steph Lawrence

Steph ( right ) deeply loves cheese, travel, and learning new cuisines and culinary traditions from around the world. A former marketing consultant, Steph has worked with Alice Waters and the Chez Panisse Foundation, Allison Rockefeller and others to drive marketing and business strategy. She is a cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College and received her MBA with honors from UC Berkeley.

Main Dish / Photo Gallery / Soups

April 26, 2018

Caldo Verde – Kale – Low Carb Soup

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If you love Caldo Verde or Kale Soup like my son, you’ll love my new Keto Diet, low carb recipe for Caldo Verde. He’s on a low carb diet, so that means potatoes are out of his diet.

This recipe tastes pretty close to the original recipe for Caldo Verde here on my blog. I substituted mashed cauliflower for the potatoes and it works! Give it a try and be sure to improvise with your own seasonings.

Find this delicious recipe in my TASTE PORTUGAL MORE EASY PORTUGUESE RECIPES

ORDER HERE

Ingredients:

3 (14 oz) packages of frozen cauliflower or (3 pounds fresh cauliflower)

1 large onion (chopped)

4 cups low sodium chicken broth

4 cups water

2 tablespoons olive oil or more

2 to 3 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

1 bay leaf

2 to 3 cups finely chifounade collard greens or kale

6 to 8 oz. Chourico Portuguese sausage

Preparation:

In a medium saucepan bring the water and chicken broth to a boil. Add the cauliflower, onion, salt, pepper and olive oil. Cook for 8 – 10 minutes on medium heat until cauliflower is cooked.

Remove bay leaf. Puree the cauliflower and onion to a creamy consistency.

Add the chourico and collards. Cook for 10 minutes on medium heat until the collards are cooked to your desired taste.

Note: You may need to add more or less broth for a thinner/thicker broth.

Remove the chourico and cut into thin slices. Set aside to serve as garnish with 3 slices for each bowl of soup.

Optional: Add a drizzle of olive oil and fresh ground pepper to each serving.

Appetizers / Photo Gallery / Recipes / sandwich / Traditional customs

April 6, 2018

Romeo and Juliet Sandwich

The Romeo and Juliet – Cheese and Marmelade Sandwich

The love story of the perfect couple; Romeo and Juliet, inspired the name for this perfect sandwich combination of tangy Sao Jorge cheese from the Azores, Portugal and sweet Quince Marmelada.

However, feel free to use any of your favorite sharp cheese if you can’t get the Sao Jorge type.

The true Portuguese love story of Ines de Castro and King Pedro happened long before Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet but it is said, that this story of love – tragedy – and of a haunting, may have been Shakespeare’s inspiration.

Prince Pedro, the son of King Afonso IV was the heir to the Portuguese throne. When he was 19 his father had him marry Constança of Castile (Spain) in order to build an alliance in 1340.

Ines de Castro,a daughter of a nobleman from Castile, was a lady-in-waiting to the Princess Constance. Ines was a radiant beauty who stole Pedro’s heart and they quickly fell madly in love.

Click on the image below for the love story.

Recipe for Marmelada – Quince Marmelade

Ingredients:

4 and ½ pounds Quince

2 and ½ cups sugar

1 cinnamon stick

Water as needed

Preparation:

Wash, peel and remove pits from fruit and cut into chunks. Place fruit in a pan and cover with water. Add cinnamon stick and cook until cooked. Drain and remove cinnamon stick.

Puree with immersion blender until creamy. In the same pan, add sugar and cook on medium heat stirring often until a clear line forms in the center of pan with a wooden spoon.

Cool and place in plastic containers. Store up to 3 months in refrigerator.

fish / Main Dish / Photo Gallery / Recipes

March 21, 2018

Salmon and Asparagus Sheet Pan Dinner

I hope you enjoy this sheet pan Salmon and Asparagus dinner which cooks in only 20-25 minutes. Serve it with a tower of Portuguese Tomato Rice for great presentation.

Make extra because the salmon and asparagus are also delicious served cold as a salad. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 or 4 (8 oz) portions of fresh salmon

2 pounds fresh asparagus (washed and edges trimmed)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon crushed black pepper

lemon wedges

Basil Butter

1/4 cup basil leaves

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

fresh dill for garnish optional

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Make the butter first by placing the garlic, basil leaves, salt and lemon juice in food processor. Blend until a paste forms. Add butter and mix well.

Arrange the asparagus flat across a sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and shake pan to coat evenly.

Place the salmon evenly over the asparagus and top with a scoop of basil butter. Place a dill sprig under butter if desired.

Cook for 20-25 minutes until salmon is fully cooked. Drizzle with squeezed juice from lemon wedges.

Main Dish / Photo Gallery / Recipes / Side Dish

February 16, 2018

Salt Cod and Chick Pea Salad – Salada de Bacalhau com Grao

This easy recipe is can be a lunch, snack, side dish or a main dish. Serve it warm or cold. Make this ahead of time and store in the refrigerator. If you don’t have salt cod available in your area, you can use cooked fresh cod or haddock.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 or 2 cans of cooked chick peas (drained and rinsed)

1 pound of cooked salt cod (flaked)

1 large onion (sliced)

3 cloves garlic (finely minced)

6 hard boiled eggs (chopped)

1/2 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons wine vinegar to taste (optional)

olives for garnish

Preparation:

Saute the onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil for a few minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute.

Note: If you want to serve this dish warm add the chickpeas and cod to the onions and saute until warm. Then add the garnishes on top before serving.

In a large dish, layer the chickpeas, then the cod. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the onions, and the eggs. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and vinegar if desired.

Garnish with the parsley and olives.

Cook Books / Photo Gallery / Recipes

February 9, 2018

Happy Valentine’s Day Giveaway!

Eu te Amo!

I love Portuguese food!

I love you, my Portuguese Foodies!

Happy Valentines Day

Win my Taste Portugal 101 easy recipes cookbook.

Comment below and tell me what your favorite Portuguese dish is.

Winner chosen on Valentine’s Day.

Happy Portuguese cooking everyone.

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Appetizers / Photo Gallery / Recipes / sausages

January 25, 2018

How to cook Alheira Portuguese Sausage

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Alheira derives its name from the Portuguese word “alho” meaning “garlic. The Alheira was was originally a garlicky, pork-free sausage said to have been originated by the Portuguese Jews during the time of the Inquisition. The Jews used chicken instead of pork in the sausage to throw off suspicion that they weren’t Christians.

Today, you will find the sausage made with lots of garlic, spices, pork, chicken or other meats and sometimes even salt cod is used.

You can buy the sausage online and at Portugalia Marketplace which will ship to you.

Instructions for cooking on your stove top:

Note: The sausage is smoked so don’t worry about it being raw. We cook the sausage to heat it and to obtain a nice crispy skin to obtain it’s garlicky flavor.

Note: Cook on low heat, or you may find that it will break apart and and ooze out the filling. However if it does, don’t worry because it’s still delicious.

Rinse and dry the sausage with paper towels and set aside to completely dry.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small skillet on low heat.
Place the sausage in the oil, cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Turn over on each side until you achieve the nice crispy skin. You may have to turn over once in a while.
Slice carefully with a sharp knife and serve with crusty Portuguese bread.