Help with Portuguese menu

Please also see the food section http://www.carvoeiro.com/food
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stevens50
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Help with Portuguese menu

Post by stevens50 »

We are planning a Portuguese meal for some close friends. After spending a week in Carvoeiro we fell in love with the place. Does anyone have any ideas? I thought of Roast Chicken with Piri-piri. I'd like to do a small pork and clam cataplana for the soup course. I'm really stuck with the appetizer and dessert. I don't remember eating very many desserts while we were there, only some ice cream. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm in the eastern U.S. (Maine) so don't have access to a lot of ingredients. I'm also looking for a place to buy some small cataplanas. I have one that would serve 4 but thought that it would be nice to have 4 small ones so each couple could share. I really enjoy telling people what a great country Portugal is and how much we enjoyed it. Thanks for any help. :)
tbbr
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Post by tbbr »

I think you will find that in most restaraunts the cataplana container ( cataplana is not a recipe but a container ) is not used to cook the ingredients but just as a way of presenting it to the table.

Those you see for sale are normally for display only and would not stand up to the heat necessary to cook the food.

The usual commercial practice is to have a large pan of their sauce mix, onions tomatoes peppers wine etc. Quickly Fry off the meat shellfish etc and then mix the ingredients into a previously heated cataplana and serve.

does not look or taste any different done this way.

Why not serve seafood rice, just as easy to do.
bifas 1st darling!
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Post by bifas 1st darling! »

Baba de Camelo ( Camels dribble!!)

1 tin of condensed milk*
6 eggs seperated
chopped almonds

Place tin in pan covered with water boil for 1 1/2 hours always topping up with water. When cold open both ends of tin and push out, mix until smooth. Beat the egg yolks until frothy, add the condensed milk and mix well. Beat egg whites until very stiff, gently fold in to condensed milk mixture, pour into individual dishes or one large bowl. Chill for a couple of hours, the longer the better. Just before serving sprinkle with almonds. :D



* In the shops noe they sell something called Dulch de Leite (not sure about the spelling there) all it is, is boiled condensed milk . If you can get that, there's no need to boil tins :lol:
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Post by Lesley Jean »

As a desert why not almond tart which is a great favourite in the Algarve served with ice cream or cream. Olives, bread with garlic butter as an appetizer, or crusty bread slliced and toasted with sardine paste and olives.

If you buy good quality cataplana's they should be good enough to cook in, I always thought it is the fact that they hermetically seal when you cook in them that gives the lovely flavour!

This is the way I cook the lovely sauce you get with the clams/chicken/pork or fish, I do it with boneless, skinless cod and it is lovely:-

Portuguese Cod
(serves 4 - 6)

Roughly slice two medium onions and finely chop 3 garlic cloves, fry off in olive oil for a few mins till soft, add 3 roughly chopped carrots, 1 roughly chopped courgette, sliced runner beans, sliced large mushrooms, punnet baby plum tomatoes quartered, peeled large potatoes cut into half or thirds, and a heart of cabbage roughly chopped. stir through well and add a large bunch of chopped coriander, then add two tins chopped tomatoes and then one tin of hot water (you can add stock to this if you like) bring to the boil on the hotplate and then put into a medium to slow oven and let it cook for 2 hours stirring every now and again. Place skinned and boned cod fillets on top of this sauce and cook in a med oven for 30 mins, till the fish is cooked and starts to flake. Serve with warm bread.
bifas 1st darling!
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Post by bifas 1st darling! »

If you buy good quality cataplana's they should be good enough to cook in, I always thought it is the fact that they hermetically seal when you cook in them that gives the lovely flavour!


Spot on!!

And any restaurante making cataplana with pre cooked ingredients should be closed down. It's a quick way of cooking, plenty of time to do it as a main course without cheating.
bifas 1st darling!
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Post by bifas 1st darling! »

Clams, cockles or butterfly clams are a good started

Heat a good glug of olive oil in pan, add 4 or 5 cloves of crushed garlic (no need to peel), when garlic starts to go golden throw in the shellfish and some fresh corriander or parsley. Cover and cook on a high heat until shells open. Serve with bread and lemon quarters.


You can add an onion with the garlic, let it cook until soft then add the shellfish

AND if you like some white wine along with the onion, but I think that's too many ingredints.


No need to add salt as the shellfish should be salty enough, and too much salt is bad for you :lol:
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Post by tbbr »

I have no doubt that the better places do cook a traditional cataplana ( and the price reflects this ) but you do get what you pay for.

Also beware of thos shiny copper versions sold to tourists ( usually made in china ) friend bought one the solder melted the first time they used it.

We were told a couple of years ago in a restaruant that they had theirs hand made and were years old, they were of heavy guage metal so as to stand up to the heat and usage.
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Post by stevens50 »

Thanks for the suggestions. I do remember having sardine paste as an appetizer. I'll go on a mission and see if I can find it here in Maine. I do like the idea of cooking the pork and seafood in another dish and then serving it in smaller individual dishes. That would solve my problem of not being able to find the cataplanas. I'm going to give the desserts a try. I have plenty of time to try them. If I make the almond tart and serve it with cream can I add some fresh berries to it or is that too much? You have all been so helpful and it is nice to correspond. It has really made me miss Portugal. Thanks. :D
bifas 1st darling!
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Post by bifas 1st darling! »

what about chouriço assado ( grilled chouriço/chourizo) for a starter, just with bread? Even better linguiça, the very long, thin ones?


What about chouriço cut into slices with a small piece of cheese secured with a cocktail stick, black sausage (morcela) sliced with pineapple on top secured with a cocktail stick and dates wrapped in bacon. Arrange them on a baking tray and whizz them in the oven about 5 mins before sitting down. Always goes down a treat in my house ( I've yet to find something that they won't eat :wink: )
stevens50
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Post by stevens50 »

The grilled Chourizo would be good and easy. We have a sausage maker close that makes it. I have found one kind of cheese from Portugal. I think that I'll make a trip tomorrow to the sausage maker and get some chourizo. I have a couple of recipes for bread. This weekend I'm going to try my hand at it. There is a white bread and also a corn bread that uses yeast (different from here where we use baking soda)
I've never had dates wrapped in bacon. I'll have to see what I can get for dates. I'll try these recipes out on my family this weekend. Tonight we are having baked cornish game hens with piri-piri and roast veggies. And a bottle of red wine called Terras de pias.
Thanks for the help. My menu is taking shape.
stevens50
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Post by stevens50 »

We tried the dates wrapped with bacon. It was wonderful!! I stuffed the dates with goat cheese and wrapped them with bacon that had been precooked a little. My hubbie doesn't particularly like sweets and wasn't sure how he'd like the dates but he agreed that it was a keeper. Thanks. I would of never tried this on my own. :o :D :D
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Post by Sandy »

B1D - the Baba de Camelo recipe sounds like it would make a good ice-cream. I may give it a try that and let you know how it turns out.
Tonight I've got the Scottish Community of Miri coming around for supper. We're having homemade haggis, neeps and tatties, followed by clootie dumpling (just like granny used to make) and ice cream - choice of whisky and golden syrup or drambuie honey. Och aye the noo Jimmy! :lol:
Lesley Jean
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Post by Lesley Jean »

:lol: The almond tart with extra berries and cream/ice cream would be lovely, help to add depth to the dessert.

Do let us know what the final menu is/was and how you get on.
bifas 1st darling!
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Post by bifas 1st darling! »

Well, what did you have and what was it like?
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