Portuguese recipes – Tia Maria's Blog

September 17, 2020

Taste Portugal More Easy Portuguese Recipes cookbooks

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Introducing my second cookbook; TASTE PORTUGAL MORE EASY PORTUGUESE RECIPES. This cookbook has 121 recipes. Including my spice and sauces, soups and how-to’s like “how to cook sardinhas” “how to cook polvo” and “how to hydrate salt cod”. From the beginner to the busy experienced home cook who wants to learn some new, easy, simple recipes. Order a copy on Amazon.com (USA) Amazon.ca(Canada) or any Amazon around the world.

Taste Portugal MORE easy Portuguese recipes cookbook
Recipes from Tia Maria’s Blog by Maria Dias and Lisa Dias

Introducing my second cookbook in the series of Taste Portugal is now
available for pre-order! Visit **Lisbon Blue Shop** to pre-order.

Tia Maria’s blog was recently featured in the Luso Americano newpaper article by Henrique Mano. Find the full article here.

Main Dish / Photo Gallery / rice

March 27, 2014

Lemon Chicken & Jasmine Rice – Galinha com Limão e Arroz de Jasmim

This Lemon Chicken recipe can be ready in under 30 minutes which is just perfect for your busy days. It pairs perfectly with the Jasmine rice recipe that I shared below.

The secret to making a light and fluffy Jasmine rice is too add as little water as possible and not let the rice cook to long.

You also never use a spoon to stir the rice, use a fork to obtain a light and airy texture.

Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken breasts

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon of butter or margarine

1/4 cup of flour

2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon of grated lemon peel

1/4 cup of Vinho Verde or dry white wine

1 cup of chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

1 scallion finely sliced

Jasmine Rice:

2 cups Jasmine rice

3 cups of water

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of butter or margarine

1 scallion (finely sliced)

Lemon wedges for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

Cut the chicken breasts in half. Place them between 2 pieces of saran wrap and pound to about 1/4 inch thick.

Season with salt and pepper and coat them lightly with the flour in a bowl.

Heat the olive oil and butter on high heat in a large saute pan. Cook the chicken on medium high heat for about 3 minutes or longer on each side until they turn a light golden brown, remove them from the pan and set them aside.

De-glaze the pan with wine, lemon juice and chicken broth and let it cook down for about 1 minute.

Return the chicken to the pan and let it cook in the lemon sauce for another 3-4 minutes on medium heat to incorporate the lemon flavor.

Turn heat to low, add the scallion, oregano and the lemon zest and cook for about 1 minute. The sauce will thicken as it cooks.

If you find the sauce too thick add a little more chicken broth.

Instructions for Jasmine rice:

If you want to serve the chicken with the Jasmine rice begin cooking the rice before you start the chicken.

Boil the 3 cups of water, butter and salt in a medium heavy saucepan.

Add the rice, stir, slightly cover, and cook on medium for about 15 minutes stirring with a fork once in a while.

After 15 minutes turn off the heat, stir the rice gently with a fork to make it light and flaky.

Cover and set aside until the chicken is ready. Add the scallions as a garnish before serving.

Holiday Recipes / Main Dish / Photo Gallery / Recipes

November 19, 2013

Bacalhau à Zé do Pipo – Codfish & Pototao Casserole

Salted Cod or Bacalhau as it is known in Portugal is a major ingredient in the Portuguese diet since the discovery of Newfoundland in 1497.

Fisherman began fishing its cod-rich Grand Banks and Bacalhau was nicknamed Fiel amigo (faithful friend).

The fish became popular in Portugal and other Catholic countries, when it was substituted on days of fasting from eating meat on Fridays, Lent, and other festivals.

Today, the legend is that the Portuguese have 365 or more recipes for bacalhau, one for each day of the year.

The recipe originates from the city of Porto, Portugal, and is named after its creator, Zé do Pipo, who owned a famous restaurant in that city during the 1960s. He won a national cooking contest with this dish. Since then, many restaurants have adopted it in their menus which has it made it extremely popular!

Bacalhau à Zé do Pipo

Ingredients:

1 lb Bacalhau (de salted – cut into 4 portion loins)

8 large potatoes

1/2 cup of olive oil

1 large sliced onion

1 diced garlic clove

1 bay leaf

2 tbsp butter

1 cup milk

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 small roasted red pepper

black olives

1 tsp salt

pepper

parsley

1/4 cup flour for frying codfish

Instructions:

Peel and cook potatoes in boiling salted water for about 25 minutes. Remove from heat, drain potatoes, add the milk, butter, egg yolk and pepper and mash. Set the potatoes aside.

Coat the codfish in flour and fry in the olive oil on medium – low heat until golden brown. Place on paper towels to soak off excess oil.

Saute the onions, garlic and bay leaf in the same olive oil that you cooked the fish in, until lightly browned. Remove the bay leaf.

Place the codfish portions in a large oven safe casserole dish or in individual serving size dishes.

Coat the codfish with the onions and surround with the mashed potatoes.

Coat the codfish with a few tablespoons of the mayonnaise, the top each with a slice of red pepper.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until the mayonnaise is golden brown.

Garnish with olives and parsley.

Watch this video for the preparation instructions.

photo credits:http://chefdelucca.com/site/?p=487

Holiday Recipes / Main Dish / Photo Gallery / Recipes / Soups

November 15, 2013

Lobster Corn Chowder

Don’t through away those lobster shells before making this delicious chowder with them!

I used my favorite wine; Vinho Verde to enhance the flavor of this soup instead of regular white wine. If this recipe seems difficult, believe me it’s easy.

This chowder is perfect for your Holiday celebrations! Your friends and family will go crazy and love you for it!

Save some Vinho Verde to serve along with it!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Lobster shells from 3 lobsters

Meat from 1 lobster or 1-2 cups

1 cup of Vinho Verde wine (or any dry white wine)

2 tbsp of Brandy (I used 1920 Portuguese Brandy)

2 cups fish or chicken stock

1 small onion cut in half

1 small onion finely diced

1 celery stalk

1/2 celery stalk finely diced

3 ears of corn

3 tbsp butter

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup of flour

2 cups of light cream

1/2 gallon of whole or light milk

Instructions:

Remove any tomalley (green part) from inside the lobster.

Cut the kernels off the corn and reserve for later. Save the cob for the stock.

In a medium stock pot, place the lobster shells,corn cob, stock, Vinho Verde, Brandy, 1 celery, 1 small onion, and salt.

Cover, let the stock come to a boil, and continue cooking for 20 minutes on low heat.

Remove the cooked onion and celery from the pan and discard. Add the milk and cook for another 10 minutes on low heat. Strain the broth through a fine stainer into a separate bowl to remove any lobster shells. Save the milk broth and discard the shells and corn cob.

In a separate heavy soup pan, saute the diced onion and celery in the butter until translucent.

Add the flour to the butter and cook for about 1 minute on low heat.

Add the reserved broth, cream, paprika, corn, and pepper to the soup.

Cook the chowder on low heat for about 20 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add the diced lobster and cook for about 5 minutes longer.

Add more seasoning to taste if desired.

*If you want the soup thicker, mix 1 tbsp of flour with a little milk, add to the soup and let the soup cook for about 5 minutes.

Main Dish / Photo Gallery / Recipes

November 13, 2013

Onion Topped Turkey Meatloaf

There are many meatloaf recipes, but the secret to a moist meatloaf is using fresh bread crumbs in your mix and not over cooking it which tends to make it dry!

The onion and ketchup topping also gives the meatloaf a sweet taste and keeps it moist.

Since I began making this recipe with ground turkey, I have never used ground beef again but it’s up to you to use which one you prefer.

This recipe is easy and basic but my family can’t get enough of it!

No matter how much I make, I always regret not making more for the next day so I suggest you make 2 of these.

Ingredients:

2 pounds of ground turkey or beef

1 large finely diced onion

2 eggs

2 slices wheat bread (I use the ends)

3 tbsp ketchup

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning spice mix

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp minced parsley

Topping:

1/2 cup ketchup

Instructions:

Dice the onion and divide into 2 parts reserving 1 part for the topping.

Shred the slices of bread with a cheese shredder or chop into fine crumbs.

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl gently until all the ingredients are incorporated.

Form the loaf into your desired shape and place in a baking dish.

Top with ketchup and sprinkle the top with the diced onion.

Cook at 350 for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and let it sit for about 5 minutes before slicing.

Holiday Recipes / Photo Gallery / Portuguese Christmas / Recipes / Traditional customs

November 5, 2013

Dia de Sao Martinho – Castanhas – Roasted Chestnuts

“É dia de São Martinho;comem-se castanhas, prova-se o vinho”

“It’s Saint Martin’s day; we eat chestnuts and drink the wine”

Dia de Sao Martinho – Saint Martin’s Day is celebrated each year on November 11.

Martinho, was a Roman soldier who encountered a bad storm on a winter day wearing only his cape to to keep him warm.

While riding through the storm, he was approached by a beggar who was shivering with the cold. Upon seeing the beggar, Martinho cut his cloak in half to share it with the beggar. When Martinho did this good deed, the clouds broke up, the storm ended and beams of sun shined in the sky.

That night, Martin had a dream of Jesus, who was wearing the half-cloak he had given away to the beggar. A voice spoke, saying; “’I tell you with certainty, since you did it for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.”

Martin became a changed man and became a patron of the poor.

From this day on, he began looking at and treating people differently and was later canonized as a saint.

St Martin’s day is celebrated in many countries of Europe, as signifying the end of Fall and beginning of winter.

In Portugal, the first wine of the season is tasted and the harvested chestnuts are eaten around a bonfire.

The weather in Portugal during this time of year is generally mild and summer like, thus called; Verão de São Martinho (St. Martin’s Summer).

As the storm dissipated by the good deed of Sao Martinho, we thank God for the good summer like weather on the saints feast!

Chestnuts

The scent of roasting chestnuts during the Holiday’s is an instant heart warming feeling!

The season for chestnuts is October through late December. Look for unwrinkled shells and a glossy brown shell.

Avoid dingy shells with small pin holes. They feel very firm to the touch. Smell them for a scent of mold which means that they are not good!