Caramelized Rocha Pears

Fall in the Algarve is a medley of sunny days, cool evenings and chestnut roasting vendors with billowing clouds of smoke that tempt from afar. Fortunately the chestnut roasters haven’t come out yet, and my compulsion to hunt them down is still a few weeks away.

Although I really really like summer, fall is one of my favorite times of year: roasted chestnuts awaiting me at every corner and all the comfort foods ahead makes saying goodbye to summer a bit more bearable. Roasts, lots of baked everything, fire in your chest drinks like Aguardente, Muscatel and Setubles, and let’s not forget the Ports! Ahhh fall here I come…

I don’t think there’s a better way to usher in fall than with our spiced up Rocha Pears, now in season. I’ve always been challenged by pears mostly because I haven’t’ come across a lot of great pear recipes. So this year I decided to take these sexy shaped vixens and have my way with them. The result: caramelized, drunken and sided up with some Dulce de Leche ice cream and topped with roasted almonds….its soo good to be bad sometimes.

Caramelized Rocha's

Lemon Chicken – Frango com Limão

Growing up, I was fortunate to have a mom who loved trying different dishes; my father would often look at his plate in amazement and ask, “O…que é isto?” (Um…what is this?). But being a good sport and a closet foodaholic he devoured everything…Italian, Mexican, Asian, French…mom crossed the globe a few times over in her kitchen. Then there were the “favorites” - like “Frango com Limão”, an old Portuguese recipe that filled the house with a wonderful smell and never disappointed.

Lemon Chicken Portuguese Style - Yum

I had forgotten about Frango com Limão until, I recently Read more

Cured Goat Cheese and Mango Puffs

This recipe evolved from a new cheese I recently spotted called “Quinta dos Moinhos Novos – Queijo Puro de Cabra Curado”. This cheese turned out to be a bit of a surprise. I somehow missed the part of the label that said “Curado” so when I cut into it I was expecting something of a creamer texture and found it was much more solid than I had imagined. Note to self…it’s good to read the label. Anyway, sometimes wonderful accidents happen, and since I was already a fan of other Quinta dos Moinhos cheeses, I left my faith in their good name and wasn’t disappointed.

Queijo Puro De Cabra

Cured Goat Cheese & Mango Puffs
(source: own | serves 4, or in our case 2)

Ingredients:
Defrosted, prepared puff pastry
Pure cured goat cheese - Quinta dos Moinhos Novos
6 Garlic cloves, roasted – Monchique garlic if available
½ Medium onion – finely chopped
1 Tblsp. Olive oil
2 + 2 Tblsp. Butter
½ Medium ripe Algarve Mango – chopped
1 Orange – fresh juice of one small orange
½ Tsp -Piri Piri with Jindungo
1 Tblsp. – Chopped cilantro
Flor de Sal
2 Tblsp. Milk for brushing
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Now Tasting. Now Drinking. Yum.

Portugal has a long culinary history with hundreds of traditional recipes many of which I’ll be exploring here. But my love of food goes beyond just traditional, and the treasures at the local markets often seduce me to marry old with new. Add the regular goody basket from a friend or relative, plus an enormous selection of Portuguese wines and spirits, and I’m in food heaven. So the new sections “Now Tasting” and “Now Drinking” are for those moments of inspiration to try something new and different.

Vinho Verde

Once a week we will be dabbling with new combinations and great wine pairings. Food and wine are very close to the heart here, possibly outmatched only by our love of football, so these sections may entice some strong emotions. Since keeping the pallet peaked keeps things interesting, I look forward to feedback on both sections. Moses has already started the wine shopping so I need to get cooking!

Portuguese Style Shrimp

With all the festivals, exhibits and nights out in August, my time to cook has been hit hard. But summer is winding down; and I hope to write more regularly about my favorite subject. There are hundreds of traditional dishes in the Algarve and across the country, some have been served for centuries and entice palates, passions and even rivalry. With such a rich heritage in food and drink, I look forward to exploring and sharing the traditional and more modern aspects of our diverse cuisine.

“Camarão à Guillo” is a popular style of shrimp here in the south, it has different nuances and techniques depending on region and cook, but it’s a simple and very tasty dish, so I’m sharing mine.

No Kissing Garlic Shrimp

Faro Sweet Festival

Although not highly publicized, Faro’s sweet festival has a nice show of traditional Portuguese desserts. We couldn’t help having a crepe, some salami, a hot fartura and picking up a Dom Rodrigo for the road…I’m having nightmares of my next few workouts.

In case you’re not familiar with Portuguese salami (I realize the jokes that can be made here) it might not be what you would expect of traditional salami. The Portuguese version is made of chocolate and cookies and shaped like salami hence the name, and normally wrapped in foil.

Faro Sweet Festival