In the Octoberfest spirit...

In the Octoberfest spirit/Portuguese fall spirit I decided to make some roasted pork tenderloins and baked apples with Port wine.

Baked apples in Port Wine


Wash the apples, cut a portion around the stem. Place them on a oven baking tray, pour sugar and a small cinnamon stick on each one, then pour some Port wine (can also be made with spiced rum or red wine). Bake for 45min/1h depending on the number of apples.

Roasted pork tenderloins


I seasoned the pork with paprika, rosemary, tyme, lemon, salt, some sugar and beer.

Butternut Squash casserole

Butternut Squash with cranberries, ginger, and orange

Ingredients:
EVOO cooking spray
3 1/2 lbs butternut squash (@ 4 1/2 cups) peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tsp grass-fed organic butter, melted
2 Tbsp orange juice concentrate, thawed
2 tsp freshly grated ginger, divided
2 Tbsp EVOO, divided
2 Tbsp brown sugar, divided
1 Tbsp orange zest
1 tsp raw honey
3/4 cup fresh cranberries
Unrefined sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground coarse black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup whole-wheat panko crumbs
Juice from 1/2 lemon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degres F

Spray an 8x8 inch casserole with cooking spray. Add the butternut squash. In a small bowl, whisk together the butter, orange juice concentrate, 1 tsp grated ginger, 1 Tbsp oil, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, orange zest, and honey; pour liquid over the squash and toss to coat. Add the cranberries and gently toss. Season with salt and black pepper; gently toss ingredients together. (I did this all in the 8x8 dish, but stuff kept falling out of the dish, so I would recommend doing the tossing of the squash with the liquid etc in a really big bowl, then transferring it all to the 8x8 casserole dish).

In a small bowl, mix together the panko crumbs, remaining tsp of grated ginger, remaining Tbsp of oil, and remaining Tbsp of brown sugar. Sprinkle the seasoned crumb mixture on top of the squash. Drizzle lemon juice on top.

Roast for 45-50 minutes, or until butternut squash cubes are soft. Allow squash to sit for 10-15 minutes before serving. Serve warm.

Modifications:
I used regular butter, just plain orange juice (not thawed concentrate - I think I added a bit more than what was listed too), dried ginger (I did add close to what it said for fresh ginger, thus why the dish was super gingery!), dried cranberries (the same amt as what was called for fresh), and whatever bread crumbs were in the cupboard (Italian flavored, I think).
Also, I would suggest putting the casserole dish in the oven for about 15-20 minutes WITHOUT the crumb covering and kind of tossing the squash around during those 20 minutes or so to give the sqaush extra time to soften up, THEN cover with the crumbs and roast off the rest of the time. The squash I used wasn't super ripe, so I think that contributed to a longer baking time, but I couldn't bake it too much since the crumbs were starting to burn.

Enjoy!! :)

Egyptian Tomato Soup

Recipe for Egyptian tomato soup

The "brown onion" in the recipe is a yellow onion for us in America. ;) I used vegetable stock and over a pound of cherry tomatoes from my garden. Yum!

Local catch

Clams with wine sauce (Ameijoas à Bulhão Pato)

4 cloves of garlic
half a bunch of cilantro
2 glasses of white wine
2 cups of water
4 pounds of clams
2 Tbsp of olive oil
salt to taste

In a large pot combine live oil and garlic, simmer. Add the cilantro and the clams and salt. Pour white wine, let it come to a boil. Add the water. Let cook for 15minutes. Serve with bread as an appetizer.

Stuffed crab

1 crab
1 Tbsp of pickles
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp of whiskey
1 hard boiled egg

Boil the crab, empty the crab out of the flesh keeping the carapace. Mince the egg and the pickles. Combine everything in a bowl. Season to taste and stuff the carapace. Refrigerate. Good on bread or crackers.

Life Aquatic!

Jaguar shark cake


Captain Hennesey Coffee Cake and Canellé

Jaguar shark cake and Neddy southern comfort banana pudding

Bluefish pizza

Jaguar shark crostini

Fish friendly tempura


Skate stew, "Caldeirada de raia"

Caldeirada de Raia, before cooking.

Guinea Bissau

Last week's potluck featured Caldo de mancarra (Peanut stew) in two versions, veggie make the sauce the same way and substitute meat for okra and palm hearts), and chicken version (traditional), as well as, peanut and banana dessert, something sold on the streets in Guinea that I couldn't find a recipe so it is sort of my creation.

Caldo de macarra (Peanut stew)

Ingreditents:
1 cup of water
2 cups of peanuts
1 large onion
2 lb of chicken (I used a mix of boneless chicken thighs and chicken breast tenders)
1 lemon
3 tomatoes
salt and hot peppers to taste

1. Cut the chicken in pieces, season it with salt, hot peppers and onion
2. Cook in low heat um some water, until there is almost no sauce
3. Grind the peanuts in a hand mortar or food processor, as fine as possible. Add the tomatoes to form a paste.
4. Add hot water and stir to blend
5. Sieve it and add the sauce to the chicken. Simmer for a while.
6. Out of the stove, add juice of one lemon and stir. Serve over white rice.

Banana e amendoim (Peanut and banana dessert)

Ingredients:
4 ripe bananas
1 cup of ground peanuts
sugar and cinammon to taste

Mash the bananas in a bowl, add the previously ground peanuts (food processor is best), add sugar and cinammon to taste. Stir, pour in individual cups and refrigerate. Before serving sprinkle with additional peanuts for presentation.

kasknopfle (tiny cheese dumplings) from Liechtenstein

300g (2 cups) Flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
15ml (1tablespoon) water
150g mixed finely grated Gruyere and Emmental cheese
sour cream

It lists an onion and says to garnish with toasted onion, but doesn't give directions for toasting. Apparently the toasting involves sauteing chopped onions and then putting the onion on a baking sheet. I just bought minced, dried onion.

Place flour in a bowl and mix in salt. Mix eggs and water separately. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture until bubbles rise in batter. ( I never saw bubbles so just put all the dry ingredients in). The batter is correct consistency when thick. Cover with a cloth and let stand 30 min. Bring salted water to boil. Drop small bits of batter into simmering water (make sure they are small, this is a very dense dough). When dumpling floats to the surface , remove with slotted spoon. Place them on a plate and mix with grated cheese. (I had to put them in sour cream first to get the cheese to stick). Garnish with toasted onions, serve with applesauce.


Enjoy
-Leanne

Maltese Fish Soup Recipe

Very easy!

Ingredients:
1 lb. white fish (I used cod)
2 onions, chopped
12 garlic cloves, chopped
1 lb tomatoes, peeled & sliced (I used a large quality can of whole tomatoes & sliced them myself)
1 tsp-2 tsp tomato paste
1 tbsp olive oil
pinch of majoram
pinch of dried mint
5-10 peppercorns
4 cups fish stock
1 cup cooked rice

Saute onions in oil. Reduce heat slightly; add garlic, herbs & tomato paste. Stir & let the mixture cook a little more. Add the tomatoes, juice, and fish stock. Bring to a boil. Add the fish & simmer 10 minutes. Add 1 cup cooked rice & serve.

My dish from Guinea Bissau

Caldo de Mancarra

http://oquefazerprojantar.blogspot.com/2009/11/caldo-de-mancara-da-guine-bissau.html

You have to check out the website for the handwritten recipe! It's a dish with chicken and peanuts. I will make a vegetarian option with quiabos (AKA okra)

Moldovan Cuisine

Forget about the fact I didn't know Moldova existed until two weeks ago, let's focus on the fact that it's cuisine has Greek influences...proving the point that everything does in fact, originate from the Greeks! I am making Placinte, which are Moldovan fried apple pies. See you all soon!
Eleni

Chilean food

Thinking about making appetizer-size empanada (both carnivor and vegeterian).

See here for example.

With a good bottle of chilean wine... yum! ;-)

Main dish(es) from Malta

Dan and I will be making two main dishes, one with meat and one without!

ALJOTTA (Fish soup)

BIGILLA (Spicy Beans)

Guine Bissau

I've found a whole book online on Guine Bissau's cuisine!! It's in Portuguese, but not a problem! I'm excited! Here's the link, you can look at the pictures http://www.didinho.org/ABIODIVERSIDADEAOSERVICODACULINARIAGUINEENSE.htm

Mimi's Fruit Salad

Better late than never! This is my mom's famous fruit salad.

1 can of pineapple chunks or tidbits
1 can of mandarin oranges
1 box of Jello cook-and-serve vanilla pudding (instant will not work)
And whatever other fruit you want to throw into the salad - I recommend strawberries, blueberries, grapes, cherries, apples, and/or cantaloupe

Drain pineapple juice into a sauce pan, add the pudding mix, add water or juice if pineapple juice in can is not enough for pudding mix, and bring to a boil. Cool and add to assorted fruits.

- Margot

Steak au Poivre

This is the full recipe from the William Sonoma cookbook. For the appetizer, John cooked one steak and made the sauce. He cut up a baguette into 3/4" pieces and toasted the pieces, then placed thin strips of the steak and a little sauce on top of the bread.

½ cup black peppercorns
4 New York strip steaks, about 1 lb each and 1.5” thick
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, plus extra as needed
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 shallots, minced
3 Tbsp cognac or high quality brandy
½ cup full-bodied red wine
1 cup beef stock or prepared low-sodium broth
½ cup heavy cream
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Fresh flat-leaf parsley springs for garnish

Using a mortar and pestle, spice grinder, or the coarsest setting on a pepper mill, crush the peppercorns until coarsely cracked. Sprinkle the pepper evenly on both sides of the steaks and press it into the meat, using your hands or the flat side of a cleaver blade. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes.

Select one large frying pan or two smaller frying pans big enough to fit the steaks without crowding. Melt the butter with the oil over medium-high heat until bubbling, about 1 minute. Add the steaks and sear on one side until browned, about 4 minutes. Turn the steaks and sear on the other side until browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 125°F for rare or 135°F for medium rare, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer the steaks to a warmed platter and cover the platter loosely with aluminum foil.

Add the shallots to the pan and sauté, adding more butter if needed to prevent sticking, until softened, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, add the Cognac/Brandy, and flambé. When the flames disappear, add the wine, bring to a boil, and cook until lightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Add the stock, return to a boil, and cook until reduced by half and thickened to a saucelike consistency, about 5 minutes longer. Whisk in the cream and mustard and simmer for 1 minute longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer the steaks to warmed individual plates and spoon some of the sauce over each serving. Garnish with the parsley and serve at once.

Dinner around the World - Sunday, April 25th!

After a fantastic feast last weekend, it's time to plan our next dinner! I think the same time next month--Sunday, April 25th--will work. As has been our newly-established tradition, people can start to trickle in at 5:00 for drinks, and we'll serve dinner around 7:00.

I'll send out an email with my address and phone number, so please forward it if you notice anyone is missing.

*drumroll*

And our theme? Dinner around the world!!!

Now who has that list of countries..... :)

Raw salmon marinated in sake and the true secret 100% french crepe recipe!

No time for a comic this time... so i took pictures with my phone during the process...

Raw salmon marinated in sake with sushi rice:

- salmon, without skin, cut in slices of about an inch long (waow! i'm using english unit!). Try to buy salmon already without the skin because it's a pain in the ass to get the skin off and you need really sharp knifes otherwise it will transformed in "mashed salmon"... Ask if the salmon has already been frozen and if not, you might want to freeze it before consuming (you guys are fish expert not me, you probably know better why)
- sake
- soy sauce
- rice vinegar
- sushi rice
- sesame seeds
- scallions
- white sugar (forgot on the picture)


Preparation of the salmon:

• let the salmon marinate in a a mixture of sake and soy sauce for about 30 minutes. The salmon should be covered by the preparation. I used about 3 times as much sake as soy sauce.

How do you know if it marinated long enough? There is only one technique...

• chop the scallions in thin slices and grill the sesame seeds in a pan without oil at very high temperature until the seeds get brown (seriously, raw sesame seeds taste really blend, it's better to grill them before eating).
  

• Once the salmon is marinated, get rid of the juice. Place it in a bowl and mix it with the chopped scallions and the grilled sesame seeds... And it's done!
  

Preparation of the sushi rice:

• Before cooking the rice, you have to rinse it in cold water at least 4 times or until the water is totally clear! It is very important! For better result you can also let it soak in cold water for an hour.
• Put the rice in a pan (be sure to have a lid that fit the pan) with cold water: 1 cup of rice for 1,5 cup of water, and put it on high heat. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat, cover, and let it cook during 20 minutes. During the process, do not remove the lid. When it's done, stop the heat, remove the lid and let the rice stand in the pan for 10 minutes.
• Prepare in a bowl the sushi-su (mixture that is going to give the vinegar taste to the rice) using (for about 3 cup of rice) 0.5 cup of rice vinegar and 2 tea spoon of sugar and 0.5 tea spoon of salt, and add it slowly to the rice. It's ready!
  

If you want to use it to make sushi, let it cool down before rolling.


The true secret 100% french crepe recipe:



wooops, seems like i forgot the sugar again on the picture...

Ingredients for 4 people:
- 3 eggs
- 250g of flour
- 20cl of cider
- 30cl of milk
- 2 table spoon of sugar (taste better with brown sugar)
- if you want, some spices that make you happy (i used cinnamon in those ones)
- a little bit of salt

The important thing is to not form lump while mixing the flour... I normally start with mixing the eggs with the sugar and beat them until the preparation gets creamy and double volume. Then i add the flour little by little. If it gets too hard to stir, add a little bit of liquid and continue to add the flour until you added it all and finish by adding the rest of the ingredients. Finish with the spices and let the preparation stand for AT LEAST one hour. You can also add a little bit of melted butter to avoid the crepe to stick to the pan while cooking. Be sure to grease the pan before cooking your crepe otherwise you will break them while trying to turn them up.

If you are in need of comics and have some french knowledge (or not), you can check the blog of Guillaume Long, an excellent french comic writer, and especially his notes about crepes here, here and here.

Francesinhas and Mushrooms with Madeira wine

Mushrooms with Madeira Wine

Wash and slice white mushrooms. In a pan, heat 1 table spoon of olive oil and 1 table spoon of butter. Add a chopped large garlic clove. Add the mushrooms and cover. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let cook for 15min then add half a cup of Madeira wine, cook without cover for 15 minutes. Cover again and cook for 1h in low heat. If the liquid evaporates, add boiling water.

Francesinhas

Ingredients:

For the sauce:
1 beer or 2 glasses or white wine or a mix of both
2 bay leaves
1 table spoon of butter or margerine
1/2 cup of Port or Brandy
1 and 1/2 table spoons of flour
4 table spoons of tomato sauce
1/2 cup of milk
hot sauce
salt
pepper

For the sandwich:

8 slices of bread
ham
cheese
franks
linguiça
pork or beef sandwich steak

vegetarian option:
substitute the meat for spinach, mushrooms and/or egg

To make the sauce, start melting the butter and combine the flour and later the milk to make a rou. Add the other ingredients, season to taste and let it cook until it thickens.
Make a sandwich with the ingredients, leave some cheese to top it and pour the sauce very hot over it and serve immediately.

Booze Bash:)

Shoobully Doobully!
Hello everyone~
Looking forward to the next spread coming later this month. We might be coupon-cutting grad students but dammit we will eat well one day a month! And hell, apparently this month we are getting zoinkered at the same time. I promise to deliver a dessert that embodies the true essence of sugar plus schnappsy...but I can't promise that after having drank while making it, it will taste any good!
Eleni

March Pot Luck

Hello everyone, Leanne here. Sorry for my delay in posting the details for this month's pot luck. I will be hosting it at my house with the assistance of Brent and our housemate Jenn. The theme, in case anyone has forgotten, is BOOZE. We will be having it on March 27th, you can start coming at 5pm and we can plan to eat around 6 or 6:30 if that works for everyone.

Our house is on the right and it is a yellow cape code style house. Let me know if anyone wants directions. It takes about 25- 30 minuets to get here from South County. You can park on the street or in our driveway if there is room.

We will be making the carnivore main course. We are probably making a pork tenderloin with a wine sauce, but it is not definite yet. I will let you all know when I decide for sure. I think we should have someone make fun drinks, like Juleen did last time. I can make them if no one else has any ideas. We have a blender here if needed.

I believe the only dishes claimed so far are:
dessert: Eleni
Appetizer: John and Margot

Post what you want to bring and any suggestions as well as if we need to change the time at all. Hope to hear from you all soon!!

-Leanne

Avocado salad with strawberries

I promise, next time i will take pictures...
You can click on the pictures to see them bigger.

Couscous with roasted squash and cranberries (more fruit!)

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
dash of red pepper flakes
dash of thyme
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 cups whole wheat couscous
1 1/3 cups vegetable broth
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pecans, toasted
1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Split squash in half and remove seeds. Bake face-down on a baking sheet until you and easily poke it with a fork (~30 minutes, depending on the size of the squash). Take the squash out of the oven and let cool, then cut into cubes.

Bring the vegetable stock to a simmer. Add couscous and cover. Take from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Add olive oil to the couscous and fluff with a fork. Stir in pecans, parsley, seasonings, and cranberries. Gently fold in butternut squash.

Note: Recipe adapted slightly from Whole Foods' Fall Harvest Couscous. I've actually had better results with Delicata or Carnival squash if you're adventurous!

Fruit - App or Dessert (?) - Baked brie

Ingredients

• 1 wheel of brie
  
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1/4 cup sliced toasted almonds
• 3 tablespoons of dark brown sugar
  
• 2 sheets puff pastry
  
• 2 egg yolks
  

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Using unflavored dental floss cut the wheel of brie in half horizontally (ask Eleni how not to cut it in four pieces instead;)). Sprinkle the bottom half of the brie with the dried cherries, toasted almonds, and brown sugar. Replace the top half of the brie and squeeze to secure. Cover the wheel with puff pastry on one side, flip it over and cover on the other side. Place it on a oven tray lined with parchment paper (using foil as we can ascertain makes serving very difficult). Brush the top with the beaten egg yolks and bake for 30 min and turn the temperature down to 325 F and bake for 20min more. Serve hot as a dessert or appetizer.

Sorry I have no pictures but we ate it all so I'd say it was pretty delish!

Recipe adapted from www.foodnetwork.com