Photo Gallery – Page 6 – Tia Maria's Blog

chicken / Main Dish / Photo Gallery / Recipes

March 30, 2017

Gallo Spicy Oven Fried Chicken

Gallo Spicy Oven Fried Chicken

I never make fried chicken because I try to avoid the grease in my diet, so I bake it in the oven instead. This chicken is oven baked with crunchy panko bread crumbs creating a moist chicken on the inside. I make a hot spicy sauce with Portuguese hot sauce to drizzle on top for great flavor and kick! Of course it’s optional to use the sauce. I usually top half of the chicken and leave the other half plain.

Ingredients:

10-12 pieces of uncooked chicken preferably thighs and legs

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons paprika

2 tablespoons piri piri or hot sauce

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vinegar

Bread coating:

1 and 1/2 cups plain panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup regular bread crumbs

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Hot Sauce:

1/4 cup hot sauce ( Portuguese brand or Tabasco)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Preparation:

Mix the milk, vinegar, salt, pepper, piri piri or hot sauce and garlic powder in a large bowl. Add the chicken and coat with the milk mix. Let sit for at least 3 hours or over night in the refrigerator.

Let chicken sit 30 minutes before coating.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with a heavy layer of cooking spray.

Place the coating mix in a plastic bag and shake well. Drain chicken of any milk or pat dry and then place 3 pieces at a time in the plastic bag. Layer evenly on baking sheet. Top with any leftover coating mix if you want an extra crispy layer on chicken. Spray top of chicken with a coating of cooking spray.

Cook for about 40 to 45 minutes until crispy. Note, that ovens vary so check chicken after 30 minutes to adjust time.

While the chicken cooks, make the hot sauce by placing all the ingredients in a small pan and cook for a few minutes. Taste the sauce and add more hot sauce if desired. Brush chicken with the sauce and serve or, if desired; place the chicken back into oven and broil for a few minutes to achieve a sticky crust.

Enjoy!

Main Dish / Photo Gallery / Recipes

March 29, 2017

Creamy Sausage and Spinach Pasta Bake

This pasta bake is great for an easy everyday meal and perfect to bring for a pot luck party. Prepare it ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to cook and serve.

Ingredients:

2 pounds uncooked Italian sausage

1 (16 ounce) package favorite pasta (any your prefer)

1 pound fresh mushrooms (optional)

1 small onion (chopped)

2 cloves garlic (chopped)

1 pound fresh baby spinach

2 tablespoons sun dried tomatoes

1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese or (any your prefer)

Cream Sauce:

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

4 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 and 1/2 cups milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation:

Prepare sausages:

Cook sausages by boiling in 1 cup of water until the water evaporates. Flip the sausages as they cook. When water evaporates remove sausages and cut into slices.

Add the chopped onions and garlic to the same pan and cook for about 3 minutes until translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Add the sausages back into the pan, cover and cook until the sausages are fully cooked. Fold the spinach into the sausages and set aside.

Prepare sauce:

Melt butter in a small pan and add the flour. Stir until it blends with the butter. Add milk, salt and pepper. Cook and stir until thickened. Add 1/4 Parmesan or peccorino cheese. Stir well until cheese melts and set aside.

Cook pasta per package directions and drain.

Add the pasta to the pan with sausages followed by the cream sauce. Mix well to incorporate flavors.

Pour into a slightly greased deep baking dish. Top with the cheese.

Cook at 350 for about 30 minutes covered with foil, then remove foil and cook for a few minutes longer to get slightly golden color.

Desserts / Holiday Recipes / Photo Gallery

March 21, 2017

Banana Cream Cake with Bolacha Maria Cookie

For banana lovers! This cake recipe tastes just like banana cream pie with and added fluffy and moist cake layer.

Perfect for party, pot luck and a summer picnic. I placed it in the refrigerator which gave it a cold sweet taste. It was a big hit with the family and bananalicious!

Ingredients:

1 boxed yellow cake mix recipe (follow package directions)

1 package of instant Vanilla pudding (follow package directions)

3 bananas (sliced)

10 Maria Cookies

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 and 1/2 tablespoons confectioners sugar

Preparation:

Prepare cake as per directions in a deep baking dish.

While cake bakes prepare the pudding as per package directions. When slightly cooled poke holes with a wooden spoon.

Spread pudding evenly over the cake and into the holes.

Top forming a layer with 1/2 of the banana slices over the pudding.

Prepare whipped cream by beating until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread gently over the banana layer.

Gently cut the Bolacha Maria in half leaving the Maria letters. Crush the remaining cookies to fine crumbles.

Top the whip cream layer with cookie crumbles.

Top with the remaining bananas.

Arrange the cookies on top with the Maria name exposed.

Cool cake in the refrigerator for a few hours if desired. Serve cold

Cook Books / Events / Photo Gallery / Portuguese business

February 23, 2017

David Leite – NOTES ON A BANANA: A Memoir of Food, Love, and Manic Depression

David Leite, is an author, food writer and blog publisher. His first Portuguese cookbook, THE NEW PORTUGUESE TABLE, won the 2010 IACP Julia Child Award, as well as garnering other distinctions.

Now the acclaimed author has just published his second book; NOTES ON A BANANA: A MEMOIR OF FOOD, LOVE AND MANIC DEPRESSION.

David, who’s family is Azorean was raised in Fall River, Massachusetts in what he cleverly calls a “food crazed Portuguese home.” I think most of us Portuguese American’s can relate to what he means by that little phrase.

The new book will be be published by Dey Street Books, a division of HarperCollins, in April 2017. Pre-Order on Amazon below. You can also order his award winning; THE NEW PORTUGUESE TABLE at the Amazon link below this post.

Visit David’s Blog; Leite’s Culinaria where you’ll find amazing recipes, Portuguese recipes, writings, giveaways and much more! Congratulations to David and we wish him continued success!

Amazon Review: NOTES ON A BANANA: A MEMOIR OF FOOD, LOVE AND MANIC DEPRESSION

The stunning and long-awaited memoir from the beloved founder of the James Beard Award-winning website Leite’s Culinaria—a candid, courageous, and at times laugh-out-loud funny story of family, food, mental illness, and sexual identity.

Born into a family of Azorean immigrants, David Leite grew up in the 1960s in a devoutly Catholic, blue-collar, food-crazed Portuguese home in Fall River, Massachusetts. A clever and determined dreamer with a vivid imagination and a flair for the dramatic, “Banana” as his mother endearingly called him, yearned to live in a middle-class house with a swinging kitchen door just like the ones on television, and fell in love with everything French, thanks to his Portuguese and French-Canadian godmother. But David also struggled with the emotional devastation of manic depression. Until he was diagnosed in his mid-thirties, David found relief from his wild mood swings in learning about food, watching Julia Child, and cooking for others.

Notes on a Banana is his heartfelt, unflinchingly honest, yet tender memoir of growing up, accepting himself, and turning his love of food into an award-winning career. Reminiscing about the people and events that shaped him, David looks back at the highs and lows of his life: from his rejection of being gay and his attempt to “turn straight” through Aesthetic Realism, a cult in downtown Manhattan, to becoming a writer, cookbook author, and web publisher, to his twenty-four-year relationship with Alan, known to millions of David’s readers as “The One,” which began with (what else?) food. Throughout the journey, David returns to his stoves and tables, and those of his family, as a way of grounding himself.

A blend of Kay Redfield Jamison’s An Unquiet Mind, the food memoirs by Ruth Reichl, Anthony Bourdain, and Gabrielle Hamilton, and the character-rich storytelling of Augusten Burroughs, David Sedaris, and Jenny Lawson, Notes on a Banana is a feast that dazzles, delights, and, ultimately, heals. (Amazon.com)

Order THE NEW PORTUGUESE TABLE:

Photo Gallery / Portuguese business / Traditional customs

February 21, 2017

Pedrozo Dairy and Cheese Company in Sacramento Valley, California

The Portuguese Community in the USA is embedded on both the East and West coastlines. One of the many examples is the Pedrozo family, a third generation of dairy farmers in California who have Portuguese roots in the Azorean Islands of Sao Jorge, and Flores. Their Pedrozo Dairy and Cheese farm produces Sacramento Valley California’s best Farmstead cheese made from 100% grass fed cow’s milk. The cheese is outstanding and I especially enjoyed the Black Butte Reserve which tastes similar to my favorite Portuguese Sao Jorge Cheese.

Their vision is to inspire a vision of premier, ecological, heritage farming through a sustainable, family-run grass-fed dairy and cheese operation. To achieve this vision, they produce high quality, traditional farmstead cheese, offer education, tours, they are a resource for the dairy industry and have a total commitment of respect for the cows and the land.

They can be found in various farmers markets and retail shops in California or simply Visit their online shop!

“In 1996 Tim Pedrozo, a third generation dairy farmer, and his wife Jill, bought a small herd of Holstein and Jersey Cows. Their hope was to allow their animals to graze outdoors on the variety of grasses that grew in their pastures. Over the next two years it became clear that sustaining a farm on fluid milk production was too great a burden. Packing up their family and herd of 50 cows, the Pedrozos bought a farm in the Sacramento Valley town of Orland and opened Pedrozo Dairy & Cheese Company.

Learning to make a old world style cheese from the former owner, they set out on their new endeavor. Throughout the years, the Pedrozos have developed their own style and their cheeses are true California originals. Their commitment to sustainable agriculture and responsible stewardship has remained as strong as ever. Their cows have year-round access to the outdoors and graze on natural grasses as long as the pastures are in bloom. The health of their cows and their natural diet come through in the robust flavors of their raw milk cheeses.” http://www.realfarmsteadcheese.com/

Pedrozo Cheese Featured on Delicious Discoveries with Chef Daniella Malfitano from Element Video Productions on Vimeo.

I loved them all! Dig in!

Pedrozo Dairy & Cheese Co
7713 County Road 24 Orland, CA 95963
Tel: 530-514-3837
Email: tim@realfarmsteadcheese.com

Appetizers / Main Dish / Photo Gallery / Recipes

January 31, 2017

Augie’s Piri Piri Buffalo Chicken Pizza and Calzone

My husband Augie loves, Pizza, football and Piri Piri hot sauce! For this year’s Super Bowl, I’m making him his favorite buffalo style pizza.

I use piri piri (Portuguese red pepper sauce) but you can use your favorite hot sauce as a substitute! Go Patriots!

Piri Piri Buffalo Pizza

Ingredients:

1 pound pizza dough

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 cups cooked cut up chicken

1 cup ricotta or cottage cheese

1/2 cup blue cheese salad dressing

1/4 cup ranch dressing

1 and 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

2 tablespoons piri piri sauce or Tabasco sauce

Corn meal for dusting pan

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Sprinkle a sheet pan with a heavy dusting of corn meal. Roll out the dough to the length of your sheet pan. Brush the edges and the pizza dough with the olive oil. Mix the dressings and piri piri together in a small bowl. Spread the ricotta cheese mixture evenly over the dough, sprinkle with garlic powder and top with the chicken pieces. Top with the piri piri and dressing sauce.

Top with cheese and then sprinkle the rest of the piri piri sauce. You can use a much as you like! The hotter the better!

To make a Calzone, roll up the pizza dough gently pinching all sides. Make a batch of extra piri piri sauce (1 tablespoon piri piri, 1/2 cup blue cheese and 1/4 cup ranch dressing) for dipping.

Cook on center oven rack, for about 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Appetizers / Main Dish / Photo Gallery / Recipes / sandwich / Side Dish

November 17, 2016

Portuguese Chourico Bread with Ham, Peppers and Onions

Are you drooling yet? My family went crazy when I made this bread and it disappeared the same day! I barely had a chance to take the photo of the finished bread for this post.

Making this bread is simple and you can substitute any meats you have on hand. Feel free to use more varieties of meats. I had a few slices of salami, so I added them. I used store bought fresh pizza dough from the market but you can follow the recipe below and make your own.

I suggest you make 2 and save one for the next day. It’s also a perfect treat to bring along for your next party this Holiday Season! 🙂

Watch this video of the bread fresh out of the oven!

Ingredients:

1 + 1/2 pound of store bought pizza dough or make your own (recipe below)

1 small chourico or linguica sausage (cut into thin slices)

3 or 4 slices of ham (cut into strips)

3 slices of salami (optional, cut into strips)

1 medium onion (sliced)

1 medium red pepper (sliced)

1 cup of shredded cheese

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil

1 tablespoon of coarse corn meal

Pizza Dough

3 1/2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1 envelope instant dry yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 tablespoons olive oil

In a medium bowl mix the dry ingredients. Add the water and oil and mix until a ball forms. It you find the dough too sticky add more flour. Grease a large bowl with olive oil and add the dough rolling it to coat with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap, cover with a warm towel, and place in a warm place for about 1 hour until the dough doubles in size.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Saute the onions and peppers for a few minutes in 1 tablespoon olive oil until translucent and set aside to cool

Roll out the dough into a large rectangle. Add a layer of onions followed by a layer of meat.

Top with cheese.

Begin gently rolling the dough evenly.

Sprinkle the corn meal on a large sheet pan or pizza pan. Place the bread on pan. Brush with a little olive oil.

Cook for 20 minutes or until the bread is golden and crispy.

Let cook slightly before cutting. Take a bite and start drooling! Enjoy!

Main Dish / Photo Gallery / Recipes / Side Dish

November 14, 2016

Spinach Broccoli and Presunto (Prosciutto) Quiche

This Spinach Broccoli and Presunto (prociutto) Quiche is savory and mouthwatering. Easy to prepare for a simple lunch, snack or dinner!

You can leave out the presunto if you want a vegetarian quiche. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 refrigerated pie crust

1 pound fresh broccoli spears (chopped)

1 and 1/2 pounds fresh spinach (approximate)

1 small onion (minced)

1 clove garlic (minced)

3 slices of presunto or ham (cut into small dice)

5 whole eggs

1 and 1/2 cups whole milk

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

8 ounces of shredded cheese (any favorite)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare pie crust by pressing into a large tart pan, or pie dish.

Saute the onion, garlic and presunto in the butter until onion is translucent. Add the broccoli and cook for a few minutes. Add the spinach and cook until slightly wilted. Season with the salt and pepper.

Drain any liquid and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a medium bowl. Add the milk and cheese and mix well.

Pour the broccoli mix evenly over the pie shell then the egg mixture. Be sure the broccoli is submerged in the eggs.

Cook for about 35-45 minutes until golden. Test by poking with a fork which come out clean.

Main Dish / Photo Gallery / Recipes

November 9, 2016

Crock Pot Feijoada à Transmontana

Feijoada originated around the 14th century in the Northern region of Portugal. Generally, Feijoada is made with white beans but in the Tras os Montes region, red kidney beans are used.

During that time meat was scarce, so the poor peasants began using every part of the pig as a staple in their diets along with beans and cabbage which were easily available.

This dish is great served with classic Portuguese rice recipe and Portuguese Bread.

This was the first time I made this recipe in the crock pot and I was so happy with the results that I will be making it this way from now on. The stew cooks itself and the meats come out moist and juicy.

Ingredients:

Need 1 large 6 quart crock pot

1 lb baby back ribs (cut into small riblets)

1 lb chourico sausage (sliced into 1 inch slices)

1 lb blood sausage (cut into(if desired)

1 lb presunto, smoked shoulder ham, or salted pork belly cut into 2 inch strips

1 lb pig hocks or knuckles, pig ears etc. (optional)

1 small regular cabbage, savoy cabbage or any green leafy cabbage (cut into quarters)

2 carrots (sliced)

1 large onion finely chopped

2 large cloves garlic chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon salt

2 or 3 large 32 oz cans cooked kidney beans

1 medium ripe crushed tomato

2 cups of chicken or vegetable broth

Preparation:

Day before salt the ribs and pig hocks or knuckles with 2 tablespoons of coarse salt. Leave overnight in the refrigerator to marinate. Note: You can leave the pork in salt for 3 days before cooking.

When ready to cook saute the onions, garlic and bay leaf with olive oil in a heavy saucepan for about 3 minutes.

Add the meats to the onion and brown on all sides.

Turn crock on high. Begin layering; onion mix, the meats, carrots, ham

Add the cans of beans.

Add the broth and tomato.

Top with the cabbage.

Be sure the lid covers the cabbage. Set the timer for 8 hours on high.

After 4 hours stir gently and lower heat to low.
After a few hours check the ribs and pork for doneness. The meat should fall off the bone but intact. The longer it cooks the more flavor it gets. You may need to cook the stew longer or it may be cooked depending on the heat of your crock pot.

Serve with white rice.

Photo Gallery

October 20, 2016

DIY – Decoupage Portuguese Antique Travel Trunk

This old antique trunk was dark brown, faded and worn out from over 100 years of travel. It belonged to my Tia Isabel (Aunt Isabel) who traveled to America in 2016 on a ship from Lisbon to Ellis Island in New York City. She was only 16 years old and traveled alone on that ship to come to America the Land of Opportunity during the Industrial Revolution. Now I have a family heirloom which makes a great conversation piece. If you don’t want the Portuguese theme, use any country or destination of your choice. Since most of us are immigrants I’m sure we can all represent our heritage some way. Have fun!

Supplies:

Old maps (I used old maps of Portugal and maps of the Portuguese explorers)

Nautical decals of your choice

Portuguese crest (optional)

1 bottle of decoupage (white matte)

Scissors

Sponge brush

Polyurethane

Instructions:

Paint the trunk with a few coats of white, beige or any color primer you chose. Find old maps on the internet. Here’s a link to some map images.
Cut the maps to fit the tops of the trunk or you can go all the way around if you prefer.

Lay out the maps and decals to make a great pattern or look you want. When ready start coating each section of trunk under the maps with decoupage piece by piece, then gently place the map over the decoupage. Smooth out the wrinkles as you lay on each piece.

After sticking on each section of map, let the whole thing dry for a few hours and coat with a layer of decoupage. Let dry at least another 2 hours and coat with another layer of decoupage.

When completely dry paint over with a coat of polyurethane.

Place desired monogram or number on the front. I used a “D” for my last name but you can also put your house numbers on it.

I printed out a letter D on my printer but you can also find numbers at craft stores. Using the same method apply the monogram with the decoupage and let dry 2 hours.