This is one of Lenny’s favorite family Portuguese dishes. His mother makes it for him whenever he is back east. I always make it for him on his birthday. As well you will see it on the table during the holidays as it is a great dish to serve to a group. No two recipes will be the same; for instance, Lenny’s family makes it a bit more “saucy”. I tend to make it less “saucy” by letting the flavorful broth boil down until it is a bit thicker. There is not a right nor wrong way; either way, it will be delicious.
When I made it the other evening, I was reminded how simple the recipe is, making it great to have on hand when one needs a quick dinner on the table. It is spicy, but you can control how spicy you want it to be. The secret ingredient is the Goyo Sazon. Goya Sazon is a special blend of seasonings that is offered in many different flavors. For this recipe, you will need to use the Con Culantro y Achiote. I have yet to try making this dish without, so at this time, it is a must. The remainder of the ingredients are fresh and simple, so don’t shy away from making this recipe. To complete the meal pass the steamed rice, and a lot of warm, crusty bread to soak up the flavorful juices.
Do you have a favorite shrimp recipe that is a family tradition?
In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over low heat. Add the shallot, cook over medium-low heat (about a 4 on our gas stove) until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, stir, and cook for a minute. Sprinkle the Goya Sazon over the onion, and garlic; add the shrimp. Stir, and continue cooking over medium low heat, for 5 minutes; stirring often. Add the white wine, lemon juice, and piri piri, stir, lower heat to a simmer and cook until shrimp are cooked; about 5 – 8 minutes, depending on how large they are. At this point, I remove the shrimp, and continue cooking the broth until it is slightly reduced, and a bit thicker than when I started. It will take about 3 – 5 minutes. I then return the shrimp to the pan, stir, and turn off the heat. I like to let it sit for about 10 minutes, to really marriage the flavors. Then I gently reheat, stir in the parsley, and remove from the heat. Serve. Eat.
Jacqueline and I have been talking about hosting a virtual food event, for the past couple months; okay, really it has been since August. She was twittering and writing about a Spiced Mexican Chicken dish that she served with Tabasco Watermelon Margaritas and we got to thinking that it would be fun to have an event where we provide you with the main entree recipe and ask you, our readers to come up with the ultimate cocktail to pair with this meal.
In the same breath, David Leite’s newest book, The New Portuguese Table had come out and we decided to toss around the idea with David. We were really excited to use one of his pork tenderloin recipes as we thought it would be a nice transition into the holidays, something festive for a cocktail pairing. David was so kind as to let us publish his Pork Tenderloin in a Port-Prune Sauce recipe for this particular event. Just a quick review of David’s book, it is fantastic. Lenny is Portuguese and he loves the take on traditional recipes, the same flavors that mom makes but with a fresh and new taste. We have made a few of the items and all have been outstanding!
Lenny and I made this dish last night and it was amazing. I could not find any pork tenderloins at either of my butchers, so I did end up using a Pork Loin Roast, which worked out perfectly. The pork came out with a crispy outside and very moist inside. I loved that use of prunes and port in the sauce, it was not overly sweet and slightly smokey (thank you port). We tried two different plates, one with cilantro and one without, the cilantro really added a nice freshness to the sauce and we recommend using it. The only other thing that we did differently was to add slices of yellow potatoes and turnips, to the roasting pan, about an hour before the roasting was finished. One can never go wrong with potatoes roasted in pork fat!
We decided to serve a Sazerac with this particular dish as we both thought the boldness of the Rye would be a nice addition to the slightly sweet sauce. Normally, I am not a Sazerac fan, but I have to say, Lenny out did himself with this round; they were smooth, icy cold and perfectly balanced with the Herbsaint Liquer and Rye.
The rules for this dinner party are as is:
Make the same Pork Tenderloin Recipe, if you can’t find tenderloins, use a roast or chops, but let’s keep it a pork dish in honor of Pig Tales
Create a cocktail that you think will pair nicely with the dish
Blog about the two being served together and be sure to include a photo
Email both of us the link to your post along with a photo of the two. Jacqueline – ldgourmet [at] gmail [dot] com & Denise – denise [at] chezus [dot] com
Please have your submissions in before the 15th of December. A round-up will be posted shortly after the 15th.
Recipe: Pork Tenderloin in a Port-Prune Sauce
2/3 cup pitted prunes (about 15)
1 cup ruby port
½ cup beef stock
1 inch thumb of ginger, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon honey
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1 pound pork tenderloins, fat and silver skin removed
1 garlic glove, minced
1 tablespoons, sherry vinegar
Chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and crank up the heat to 450.
Dump the prunes into a small saucepan, add the port, beef stock, ginger, and honey, and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let steep for 20 minutes.
Pour the prunes and liquid into a blender or food processor and buzz until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat until hot. Season both tenderloins well with salt and pepper and sear one at a time, turning occasionally, until brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet and set the skillet aside.
Roast the pork until an instant red thermometer inserted in the center of the meat registers just under 150, 15 – 18 minutes. Transfer the tenderloins to a cutting board, tend with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes.
Pour off all but a thin film of fat from the skillet. Lower the heat to medium, toss in the garlic and cook until lightly colored, about 2 minutes. Add the port-prune sauce and stir to pick up the browned bits stuck to the skillet. Pour in the vinegar, and any accumulated juices from the pork, and cook to meld the flavors, 2 to 3 minutes. If the sauce seems thick, add more beef stock. For an elegant take, strain the sauce through a sieve.
Cut the tenderloins on the diagonal into ½ inch slices. Divide the slices among six plates, drizzle with the warm sauce, and sprinkle with cilantro.
Recipe: Sazerac
1 teaspoon Herbsaint liqueur Ice cubes
1 teaspoon simple syrup
1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey
3 dashes peychaud’s Bitters – we used a blood orange bitters
1 lemon peel twist
Chill an old-fashioned glass by filling with crushed ice or refrigerate or freeze for at least 30 minutes. Add the Herbsaint to the glass; swirl it around to coat the entire sides and bottom of the glass. Discard the excess. In a cocktail shaker, add 4 or 5 small ice cubes, sugar, rye whiskey, and bitters. Shake gently for about 30 seconds; strain into the prepared glass. Twist lemon peel over the drink and then place in the drink. Makes 1 serving.
ROUND UP FOR DINNER & DRINKS
Here is the round up from our Dinner and Drinks event. Unfortunately (well kind of), we planned this event during the holiday season and everyone seemed busy or maybe peeps don’t like cocktails with dinner. We did have one great entry in our reindeer games and that was David over at David Dadekian Photography. David created a martini, that we cannot wait to make when we get home. It is made with Port and Domaine de Canton (a fantastic ginger liquer), which I think would be an outstanding combination with this particular pork tenderloin recipe. As well David had a special dinner guest that evening!
Jacqueline decided to pair her tenderloin with a favorite of Lennys, the sazerac. She thought the herbsaint or Absinthe that is in the the Sazerac gives a licorice note to the drink that would be fantastic with pork.
A big thank you to David for playing along in our reindeer games and to Jacqueline for being a great co-hostess!
Nanette got herself an ice cream maker for her birthday and ever since (it has only been a couple weeks) we have been chatting about ice creams and gelatos. She made a cinnamon gelato that was sweetened with honey and said it was to die for. Since we were pretty sure a big bowl of it would not make the flight over from Melbourne, she passed along the recipe.
I decided to remake a Portuguese favorite, the Malassada, to serve with it. Instead of the traditional big piece of “fried” dough, I gently fried small little pillows of the batter and then rolled them in unrefined sugar that I barely kissed with orange essence. The sightly sweet fried dough went so well with the warm honeyed ice cream. The only thing missing was a friend to share this with.
You will not want to miss Nanette’s Gelato, she served hers with a warm sugary plate of Loukoumades – she gives you the easiest recipe for making Loukoumades as well; guess what I will be making next time!
Recipe: Milk, Honey & Cinnamon Gelato
*Adapted from Falling Cloudberries Cookbook
300ml full fat organic milk
300ml organic cream
3 organic egg yolks (optional) * I did use them
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ cup organic raw honey * I used a deep amber
Bring milk, cream, cinnamon and honey slowly to the small boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat and temper your egg yolks into the mixture. Once tempered slowly add to the milk mixture and whisk to incorporate. Return to a very low heat and slightly simmer, while stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes. It is very important to continue to stir and to do it over low heat or you will scramble your mixture. Remove from the heat and transfer the mixture to a bowl. When it’s cool, place the bowl in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (I left it over night). Put the mixture into your ice cream machine and process according to the instructions included. Serve. Eat. And save some for others!
Recipe: Portuguese Malassadas
2 1/4 cups All Purpose (AP) Flour – sifted, I usually do it about 5 times
1 tsp. yeast
3 T. sugar
1/8 cup warm water
1 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
1 tsp. salt
4 eggs
1 tsp. lemon extract (I did not use for this recipe)
Canola or Vegetable oil for frying
Mix yeast with 1 T. of sugar and warm water, set aside in a warm place until foamy. Heat milk with butter and salt until hot but not boiling. Take off of heat and let cool slightly. Mix flour with 2 T. of sugar. Mix in 4 eggs and extract. Add the milk mixture slowly and mix. Add the yeast mixture and stir well. Let sit about 20 minutes. Then knead, may need to add more flour, if the dough is too sticky. Do this process 3 times. Then let rise in a warm place, until doubled, about an hour. Heat canola oil until very hot. Drop small handful, stretched slightly, into the hot oil. cook and turn until golden brown. I like to lay them on a paper towel to absorb extra oil. While still warm, roll them in sugar until coated. Serve. Eat.
This is an easy recipe for a classic Portuguese stew of sweet green peas, Portuguese chorizo and eggs.
Lenny (Laudalino, his Portuguese name) loves this dish, it is comfort food for him. While he was in Boston last week, his mother sent him home with a container full of traditional Portuguese chorizo. We have yet to find them out in the bay area, so this is always a welcome treat. He also loves sweet peas so I decided to surprise him with one of his favorite dishes for dinner.
Now keep in mind, I will NEVER be able to make Portuguese dishes as his mother does nor would I want to try to compete. *wink* I make these dishes purely by what is in my “memory taste-box”. Lenny said it was similar but that his mother does not use a wine base but rather water. I like using wine as I feel it gives it more flavor (shhh, don’t tell) as well I like the peas to be bright green and not over cooked (the result of growing up in the 70′s and eating overcooked veggies). Traditionally, or at least the way I have been served this dish, the eggs are fried, I prefer a slightly runny yolk so I lightly poach them with the peas during the last few minutes of cooking. It is similar to mom’s but not really, regardless it was delicious; think of it as a modern twist on a traditional recipe.
I like to serve a simple salad, a big loaf of crunchy bread and a glass of wine with this dish.
Recipe: Peas and Chorizo: Ervilhas Portuguesa
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 portuguese chorizo, sliced into circles
16oz frozen sweet peas
white wine
olive oil, portuguese preferred
kosher salt, to taste
2 eggs
Saute onions in a drizzle of olive oil, over medium to low heat, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add chorizo and saute until cooked, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, stir. Add peas and pour in about a cup of white wine, more or less, depending on how saucy you like the dish. Lower the heat and cook until warm, about 3 minutes, give a stir. Gently crack eggs on top of the peas and cover with a lid, cook until whites are cooked and yolks still runny, about 3 minutes. Serve. Eat.
Gazpacho is a Spanish soup that is tomato based with raw vegetables. Gazpacho is widely consumed throughout Spain as well as Portugal, where it is known as gaupacho. It is mostly consumed during the summer months when one is looking for a refreshing soup.
Last week when Lenny was traveling I got a mad craving for gazpacho. I have not had it in years nor have I ever found a recipe that I really like. Since most of our cookbooks are still packed away, I decided to send out a “tweet” looking for a recipe. My friend Susan was quick to respond with her take on an Ina Garten recipe. I immediately went to the market, came home and made this very delicious recipe. It was great the first day and even better the 2nd and 3rd, it made a wonderfully light lunch rest of the week.
Roughly chop the each of the vegetables. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until coarsely chopped, do not over process! After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl . Add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper into the food processor and give it a couple whirls to mix. Pour over the chopped vegetables and mix. Chill. Serve. Eat
One of my most memorable meals that I have ever had (we are talking in the top 10) was a fantastic Portuguese Lobster meal we had at Maria and Joe’s (Lenny’s sister and brother in-law) home about 4 years ago. I gorged myself silly, in fact, I thought I may die on the flight home that evening. Joe made this spicy sauce that was just simply one of the best things I have ever put into my mouth and it went so well with the sweet lobster. Once you have lobster this way, you will never ask for melted butter again.
Lenny came home Sunday afternoon wanting to make dinner for me and he wanted to make lobster with this spicy Portuguese sauce. Now, I am not one to turn down a lobster dinner, or one including this sauce and especially one made by man (so sexy), so we hopped in the car and trekked down to the wharf. Now the wharf on a Sunday afternoon is the wrong place to go but I was so excited about this meal that all other places slipped my mind. After searching a few of the markets we found fresh Maine lobster, grabbed a one and half pound-er and headed home.
Normally, I just boil the lobster in a boiling pot of water that is seasoned with fresh lemon, thyme, white wine, an onion and garlic. Lenny feels bad just plunging him into a boiling pot, so he does it the way he learned, I like to call it the Portuguese way: he cuts the tail off, cuts the body in half and cleans it out and then we boil it, it comes out very flavorful, clean and succulent. To serve, just pass a big bowl of Joe’s Spicy Portuguese Sauce and indulge!
Recipe: Joe’s Spicy Portuguese Sauce
*recipe from Joe Moniz
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons, fresh crushed red pepper, if you can find Portuguese use that, if not harissa works well
2 garlic cloves, minced
parsley, handful, minced
olive oil, a good Portuguese one
red wine vinegar
This is really made to taste. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, except vinegar and olive oil. Adjust crushed red pepper to taste. Drizzle olive oil over, just enough to combine everything together. Sprinkle a little red wine vinegar over the top and give a good stir. Serve. Eat.
some tasty leftovers! Tonight was sort of the ‘let’s just figure out what to do with all these leftovers’ night! We had the risotto that we did not take to work (had a business lunch planned) and we had tons of potatoes with salt cod from the Portuguese dinner. Now who says leftovers have to be boring …..
I took the leftover Portuguese dish added some olive oil and slowly heated it in the oven. It came out very moist and even more flavorful then the first night.
The risotto, I zest a Meyer Lemon over the top, covered it and slowly heated along side the salt cod. It was even better with the added lemon. The peas were just perfect and the lemon really enhanced the dish. It reminded me of one of my favorite Bill Granger recipes, lemon risotto with chili shrimp.
Leftovers can be great!
To recap the recession/depression dinner week, here are tips I used to keep the costs down for these meals while allowing us to eat organically and as locally as possible, all while shopping at Whole Foods.
Joan over at the site Foodalogue, invited us to join her on a culinary adventure as she travels around the world. We decided that we would love to have her over to our “Portuguese” home for a traditional meal and that it would be even more fun to broadcast it live (we aren’t *dorks* we do this for a living – okay kind of *geeky*) so our family could jump in as well. Disclaimer – this is the first time I have really made a Portuguese meal.
We would love for you to join us live as well. Here is the link and feel free to jump in and out anytime after 700pm (pst) on Sunday – I guess you could say, it is kind of like Chez Us TV. Here is the link!
We had a great time webcasting the cooking of this dinner. It was fun to twitter with everyone that jumped on to watch us. Just to name a few of the people who joined us for dinner, there was Savory TV, Susan from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy and Chewy . and our Portuguese food authority from the Boston area, Maria Moniz …… we tried not to Twitter with sticky fingers!
