Arroz Doce – Sweet Rice Pudding, has always been my family’s favorite served on Christmas Eve. This is one of the most famous Portuguese desserts served around the Holidays and at celebrations. But I everyone loves it any time of the year! It’s pure Portuguese comfort in one bite!
Aletria, a sweet pasta dessert is also a traditional dessert for the Holidays. Enjoy!
Makes 6-8 servings
Ingredients:
3 cups whole milk (scalding)
3 egg yolks
1 cup rice (preferably Carolina short or long grain)
2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1 slice of lemon zest
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp butter
powdered cinnamon
Watch our Youtube video for a demonstration. Subscribe to get latest videos! Enjoy!
Instructions 1. In a large heavy saucepan, bring the water, cinnamon stick, and lemon peel to a boil. 2. Add rice, bring to a boil and cook on medium heat until all the water has evaporated. 3. Add the hot milk and cook for at least 25 minutes on low heat stirring once in a while. 4. Add the sugar and butter, stir and cook for 5 minutes longer. Turn off heat.
Meanwhile beat egg yolks.
Temper the eggs by adding a few tablespoons of the rice mixture to the eggs and mix well.
Remove from heat. Add the remaining eggs into the rice and stir well.
*Be sure the rice is not boiling. Simmer for about 1 minute.
Remove lemon peel and cinnamon stick.
Pour into a large serving platter or individual servings.
Let cool and garnish with powdered cinnamon.
To make design: Dip a small shot glass into water, then into the cinnamon.
Gently indent desired circles to form design of your choice.
4 pounds small peeled potatoes cut into 1 inch slices
2 large onions (sliced)
3 gloves chopped garlic
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup olive oil
6 hard boiled eggs (sliced)
1 cup olives
2 to 3 teaspoons chopped parsley
2 to 3 cloves of chopped garlic or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions:
In large pan, place potatoes covered with cold water. Add salt, and cod. Cook for about 10-15 minutes until cod is flaky.
Remove cod fish from pan and set aside to cool. Cook potatoes for another 8-10 minutes or until cooked. Pierce with a fork for doneness. Drain potatoes and set aside to cool. Slice potatoes into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices.
In large skillet, saute sliced onions, 1/2 tsp salt and bay leaf in 1/2 cup of the olive oil until golden brown. Add garlic during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Remove the bay leaf and let the onions cool for a few minutes.
Grease a large deep oven proof pan with olive oil. Start layering the potatoes, flaked cod then onions.
Drizzle olive oil and pepper over each layer. Add garlic powder if you like more garlic flavor.
Make sure you end up with onions on top. Cover with foil and cook for about 20 minutes.
Arrange cooked egg slices on top of the onion layer.
Cook uncovered for another 5-10 minutes to desired crispness.
Remove from oven and add parsley and olives for garnish. (add more salt, pepper or garlic if desired)
It took me years to finally make a good caramel flan until I finally discovered the reason why I wasn’t successful. The reason was because I didn’t use whole milk. I also made the mistake of mixing cold milk with the cold eggs.
You have to warm up the milk and use room temperature eggs. Now my flan comes out perfect every time and it’ s a family favorite at every celebration.
My family enjoys lots of the candied caramel on top too and usually fight over it! Enjoy!
Flan ingredients:
6 large eggs
3 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp either; (this is optional: vanilla, anisette liquor, or caramel glaze)
Caramel glaze ingredients:
1 cup sugar
Instructions:
Take your eggs out of the fridge a few hours before you start to get them to room temp or place them in a bowl of lukewarm water for about 20 minutes.
Prepare Caramel glaze first:
Place the sugar and water in a large heavy skillet. Continue stirring while cooking on med heat until the sugar melts and begins to turn caramel colored and thickens like corn syrup.(probably 5-8 min depending on your burners).
If the sugar is hardening too quickly, just drizzle a little water around the edges of the pan into the sugar.
Take the pan of the heat and let it rest for one minute. OUCH! It’s very hot! If you smell a burned smell, it means you’ve cooked it too long, so start over again.
Coat the bottom and up to 1 inch on the sides of a medium oven proof souffle pan with the caramel sauce. Let the Caramel harden and put aside while you make the custard. (Poor a few tablespoons of the caramel onto a small butter sheet pan and let it harden.)
Prepare custard:
In med bowl, beat the eggs with 1 cup sugar until lemony colored. Meanwhile, heat up the milk until hot but not boiling.
Let the milk cook down a little and then add about 1/4 cup of milk, to the eggs while continuing to beat on low. *If the milk is too hot, you’ll discover that you just made scrambled eggs.
Continue beating and slowly add the milk 1cup at a time until all of the milk is incorporated.
At this point you can beat in, either the 1 tsp vanilla extract, the anisette, or the caramel glaze if you desire.
Let the egg mixture rest to let the foam subside a little, then slowly pour it into the souffle dish that has been coated with the caramel.
Place the flan dish into a larger oven proof deep dish pan (bain -marie) that has been filled with 1 inch of water.
Cook at 350 for 60 -75 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the flan cool in it’s pan and place it in the dish in the refrigerator overnight.
When ready to serve, loosen the sides of the flan with a knife and giggle the pan to loosen it.
Cover the top of the flan with a deep serving dish and invert it. Spoon out the caramel over the flan.
Break the hardened sugar that you let sit in the sheet pan into small pieces and place on top of the flan.
You can place the souffle dish into a shallow bowl of hot water to melt the remaining caramel or brake up the hard caramel to serve on top as seen in the picture.
Serve as is, decorate with candy pearls or with whipped cream!
It’s zucchini harvest season. I’ve made zucchini breads, fried zucchini and all kinds of casseroles but his following recipe is my family’s favorite zucchini recipe and I know it will be yours too.
It’s great for those of you on low carb diets because it uses no pasta!
You can substitute the zucchini for eggplant in the fall & winter and make it all year long.
Ingredients:
6 extra large zucchini
1 Jar of your favorite pasta sauce or a can of chopped tomatoes with Italian seasonings
1 cup low fat cottage cheese, or low fat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup flour
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
Chopped fresh basil – 1/4 cup
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
8 oz of mozzarella (or any kind you prefer)
8 oz Parmesan or Pecorino cheese for shredding
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400.
Slice the zucchini into round 1/2 inch slices, place them in a large bowl and coat them with salt, pepper, and the garlic powder.
Let them sit for about 5 min., then strain any water from the bowl. Mix bread crumbs with flour and lightly coat each zucchini slice.
You can just toss the flour mixture into the bowl and toss them, or use a plastic bag.
Layer the zucchini slices on a well greases cookie sheet and cook them for about 10 – 15 min or until cooked.
Gently check one slice by lifting one with a spatula. I like a golden coating on the bottom, but you can cook them to your taste.
If you prefer a crispier zucchini you can also fry them in hot oil. I prefer to bake them to save calories.
Coat the bottom of a lasagna pan with a small amount of pasta sauce, then start layering like a lasagna: zucchini, basil, cheeses, sauce, until you end up with cheese and sauce on top.
Shred the Parmesan cheese on top, cover with foil and bake for about 25 minutes.
Let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving. It’s just like lasagna, and even better the next day.
You can serve it with a salad, or a side of pasta if you prefer.
Feijoada, is Portugal’s version of Chili, perfect for your next big party!
It 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 your favorite Portuguese Bread. If you want to get really adventurous try making home made Pao Caseiro!
It’s one of those dishes that taste even better the next day! Enjoy!
Makes 12 -15 servings
Ingredients:
Note: You can use all of the following ingredients or use only the meats that you like. You can omit the knuckles, ears etc.
2 lbs baby back ribs (cut into small riblets)
2 lbs chourica sausage (cut into slices)
1 lb blood sausage (if desired) (cut into slices)
1 lb ( presunto, smoked shoulder ham, or salted pork belly cut into 2 inch strips)
2 lbs pig hocks or knuckles, pig ears, (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
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon cumin powder
2 or 3 large 32 oz cans cooked kidney beans
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
Instructions:
The night before cooking, salt the ribs, wash the knuckles in cold water, salt them, and store in fridge overnight to absorb the salt.
The next day, cook the knuckles in a large pot of unsalted water for at least 1 1/2 hours or until they’re easy to cut apart. Reserve the liquid for later.
Meanwhile, saute onions, garlic, and bay leaf in the olive oil for about 5 min. Add ribs, pork belly and paprika.
Let them cook for about 5 minutes stirring them so they don’t stick to pan.
Add 2 cups of cooking liquid from the knuckles and let the ribs cook for another 20 minutes, stirring once in a while.
Add the rest of the meats (chourica, presunto, ham, knuckles) chopped cabbage, carrots, and tomato sauce.
Stir gently and let them cook for about 30 minutes. Add the kidney beans, blood sausage and cabbage and cook for another 10 minutes.
Stir the pot gently so you don’t break up the beans or the cabbage. Taste, and add more salt if desired. Cook until the cabbage is tender. Leave pan on low heat until ready to serve
Here’s a video the acclaimed Portuguese Chef from Tras os Montes – Marco Gomes executive chef at Fox Velha, Porto, Portugal – preparing Feijoada à transmontana on RTP – Praça da Alegria.
Marco Gomes is passionate about using farm to table ingredients in the traditional recipes.
“I was born in the interior of Portugal where cooking was part of everything,” he said. And its these roots that he goes back to in the kitchen. “I give the food a different look but I keep the traditional flavors. It’s important to be innovative without losing the traditional flavors.” Marco Gomes
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