Sunday, February 24, 2013

lis-bonne! food inspired by the capital of portugal

the mister and i just spent 4 glorious days in portugal--a welcome place to thumb one's nose at the winter (of course, the locals all thought it was cold and were bundled up, and all the museums had space heaters going... made us laugh)--and now that we're home, it's time to do some kitchen exploration.

we stayed at a welcoming guesthouse that provided us with a delightful breakfast every morning--fresh fruit! (FRESH FRUIT!) breakfast cakes! coffee! juice! cheese! eggs! yogurt! so many choices. this morning, waking up in our own bed, i decided i wanted to make us something warm and comforting. i usually make us a healthy bowl of oatmeal, but we we were out of milk. we did have a few apples laying around... and some orange juice... and one pot of yogurt.... and that's how i found myself making us a delightful breakfast bread (the mister insists on calling it cake) to warm our bones.

i gave the raisins a healthy soak in some orange juice. in the trusty kitchenaide, i creamed the butter and sugars, slowly added an egg, and the yogurt. smittenkitchen's apple muffins call for a cup of yogurt. our pots are a little over half a cup. i supplemented the rest of the cup with orange juice from the raisins, and a splash more for kicks. i combined all the dry goods and slowly added them to the batter.
IMG_8333

113ish g butter
a little less than 1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup sucre complet du canne, divided in 2
1 egg
1 pot of yogurt (i used honey greek)
1 cup wheat flour
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
lots of cinnamon and a shake or two of cloves
2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/4ish cup raisins
orange juice
small handful of pecans

i oiled a bread pan, poured the batter in, and sprinkled a mixture of the rest of the sucre complet, pecans, and a healthy few shakes of cinnamon. all was shoved into an oven warmed to 175, and it baked for about an hour. the smell woke up the mister. he says he'll keep me.
IMG_8343

whenever we travel, my eyes are open to a whole new world of yum--our trip to tenerife created a mojo addiction--and this trip also inspired me culinarily.
IMG_7782
the mister speaks spanish but neither of us speak portuguese. It's similar enough to spanish that we could figure out things, and the mister's amazing language skillz proved to be most helpful throughout the trip. most of the restaurants had a standard menu, and a selection of plates of the day. our first day there, i ordered the "fish with rice" (arroz de peixe) not knowing what to expect.

what i got was tasty tasty tasty.

it was, as advertised, fish with rice in a rich and spicy tomato sauce with shrimp and fresh parsley.

this is the dish i have recreated for dinner. mostly. i picked up some staple spices at a market during one of our jaunts--pepper combined with bay leaf, and paprika--and combined them with some canned tomato, stock, fresh red pepper, onion, and garlic. and you know what? it was deeelicious.


IMG_83451 onion
garlic, as you please
1 red pepper
spices--sweet paprika, bay leaf
tomato paste
1 can chopped tomatoes
fish filets of choice
shrimp
2 cups stock of choice (i used fish stock)
1 cup of rice


i started out by sweating the onion.  i added the garlic and then the spices.  i was heavy on the sweet paprika. when the smell was intoxicating, i added a spoonful of tomato paste and the coarsely chopped red peppers. i let it all hang out for a while then added the can of tomatoes. i put on the lid and let it go for about 5 minutes. meanwhile, i defrosted some shrimp we had in the freezer. i added the fish, scooped the tomato over the top, and put the lid back on. after around 7ish minutes, i added the stock, brought it to a boil, and added the rice. lid back on, down to simmer. when the rice was nearly done, i added the shrimp, put back on the lid, and turned off the heat.

IMG_8355


success! the mister says maybe i should try it again, you know, to make sure i have it right.

bon app!

more lisbon inspired foods are on the way...





No comments:

Post a Comment