Marble cake with Alfarroba flour

Last night I baked a marble cake with Alfarroba flour (flour from Algarve, Portugal), for the first time.

 Was amazingly good. The only think I will change next time is to use white baking flour instead of dark wheat flower... I will post the recipe soon.

Molho "Piri-Piri"

I love reading the site "Piglet in Portugal" because from time to time they publish portuguese recipes. All of them amazing. Today they had a recipe for "Piri-Piri" , Portuguese hot sauce, usually used on BBQ chickens and shrimp. The recipe is the original one. My parents also made this sauce. If you love spicy/hot sauces you have to try this one. 

 
I went to the market around the block and got a Piri-Piri plant. Autumn is a great time to get them. Willing to try this great sauce.
I am publishing the recipe published on this great site "Piglet in Portugal", about life in Portugal.

Molho de Piri Piri ~ Portuguese Piri Piri Sauce by Piglet in Portugal

A few years ago, shortly after we moved in to our new villa, we discovered a gift on our doorstep - an old coffee jar containing a strange liquid.

“What on earth is it?” I asked Mr. Piglet as I opened the jar to smell its contents.
“Smells interesting”

I proffered the jar to Mr. Piglet for his opinion. He sniffed, then snorted and finally echoed my comment “What on earth is it?”

I don’t “do” snails but I did tentatively did taste the liquid; it was delicious, but EXTREMELY hot - leaving my lips tingling for several minutes!

Thankfully, the bearer of the gift also left us a clue – a sheet of paper with a recipe printed in both Portuguese and English (see below). It was homemade Piri Piri sauce! To this day we still have no idea who left the gift, but what a kind thought!

The piri piri sauce was gradually consumed and I carefully filed the recipe in a safe place for future reference. Needless to "filed" in such a safe place it remained undiscovered, despite several valiant attempts to find it, for several years until Friday.

Saturday morning, I was straight down the local farmers market looking for some piri piri plants. Success, I found a lovely plant already bearing many fruit! Armed with some fresh piri piri peppers I was now on a mission to make my own sauce. I returned home only to discover we had no whiskey!

 

Coffee Fudge Cupcakes

I baked 12 cupcakes. This is the last one...ummmmmmm so good!.

Ingredients:Makes 12 - 20 cup cakes

2 tbsp instant expresso coffee powder
6 tbsp butter
100gr sugar (white)
1 tbsp honey
250ml water
225gr all purpose flour
2 tbsp unseweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Topping (extra): 225 ml whipping cream
unsweetened cocoa for dusting.

- Put the coffee powder, butter, sugar, honey and water in a pan and heat gently, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. Pour into a large heatproof bowl and let cool.

- When the mixture has cooled, sift in the flour, and cocoa. Dissolve the baking soda in the milk, then add to the mixture with the egg and beat together until smooth. Spoon the batter into the baking paper cases.

- Bake at 350/180.C, for 15 - 20 minutes, or until well risen and firm to the touch.
- For the topping, wisk the cream in a bowl until it forms in shape. Just before serving, spoon heaping teaspoonsfuls of cream on top of each cupcake , then dust lightly with sifted cocoa. Store the cupcakes in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Grilled spenach polenta with grilled salmon, cherie tomatoes (from my balcoy) with basil (from my balcony) sauce

Preparing spenach polenta

Marinated salmon with orange, lemon, and  heaps of garlic with herbs from my balcony

Polenta ready to be grilled

Voila! dinner is ready...

With eggs, sugar and flour you can have a beautiful Portuguese Sponge Cake (Pao de Lo) 

This is one of my very favourite cakes

It's simple to make. Is light , and you can have it simple as it is or top it with fruits of the season, yogurts or creamy cheeses. Today I want to have a slice just nice and warm from the oven.

On a hot July Sunday afternoon, my sweet thooth craved for rice puddin; Coconut Rice Puddin!

Idalina's Coconut Rice Puddin

Makes 8 servings
Active Time: 45 min
Total Time: 1 hr

Ingredients: 1 cup Italian rice, 1 cup skin milk, 1 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk,1 1/2 cup water, 1 Tbsp butter, 1/3 cup sugar, orange and lemon ring, 1 cinnamon stick, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1 or 2 eggs.
Garnish: powder cinnamon, sweetened flaked coconut, toasted or seasonal berries sauce.

Preparation: In a uncovered pot simmer the milk, 1 cup coconut milk, water, butter, orange and lemon peal, cinnamon stick and salt for 5 minutes. Add the rice . Mix well and let cook over moderate heat. When rice is tender add the sugar. Mix well and let simmer for another 5 minutes. Let cool, about 15 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla (previously beaten with 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk), bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring often, until most of the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender and creamy, about 25 minutes.

Garnish with powder cinnamon, sweetened flaked coconut, toasted or seasonal berries sauce.

Serve warm or cold. Enjoy!

　
　

Simple and tasty recipes from my kitchen!

"Gnudi" - Naked Spinach Balls

"Gnudi" comes from the italian nudo (naked) and the tuscan dialect gnudo. These naked green spheres might not look very inviting, they are in fact missing their exterior pasta covering. The famous ricotta and spinach ravioli served throughout the country are in this recipe left alone without their dress… The effect is amazing – soft, creamy and tasty. The best part, the filling, is all you’ll get in this famous tuscan specialty. Just like in Crespelle alla Fiorentina, the use of spinach is often combined to that of a soft white creamy cheese. However in this case the filling is left unprotected and the result is a melt in the mouth morsel.
Ingredients:
Serves 6-8 - 800 g (1lb 12 oz) fresh spinach, 450 g (1 lb) fresh sheep’s ricotta, 450 g (1 lb) fresh sheep’s ricotta, 2 eggs , 50 g (1 1/2 cup) parmesan cheese, nutmeg, salt , flour , 12 sage leaves , 160g (5 3/4 oz) butter , grated parmesan cheese and some white pepper.
Preparation:
Cook the spinach in lightly salted boiling water* for 5 minutes. It is very important you drain the spinach very well and when it cools down you can actually use your hands to squeeze any excess liquid out. Chop spinach finely and place into a bowl with the eggs, ricotta, parmesan, some nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Mix well.

Sprinkle your work surface or a large plate with some flour and wet your hands to begin creating little round balls. Prepare a pot of salted water and bring to boil, at this point lightly drop the gnudi into your pot. When the gnudi are ready, 4 minutes more or le ss (depending on how large you make your gnudi) begin collecting and draining them with a skimmer. In the meantime you should melt the butter in a small pan with the sage leaves. Do not overheat or the butter will turn brown and the sage leaves will give it a bitter taste.
Place the gnudi on your plate add the melted butter and sage sauce and some grated parmesan cheese, if you like add some white or green pepper powder.
Tip* the quantity of water must be equal to the quantity of spinach