Sardinhas com Tomate and Azeitonas (Grilled Sardines with Tomatoes and Olives)

I LOVE SARDINES, and I find it difficult to believe there are people out there who don’t!  When I was a kid and a few of our families would get together for  a Matança (butchering a pig as a social event), someone would bring what seemed like a an endless supply of crispy fried or grilled sardines and whole cooked sweet potatoes. A whole crispy sardine in one hand and half a sweet potato in the other = portuguese finger food.  If you have an outside charcoal grill, I recommend grilling these until extra crispy and eating them by hand, mopping up the leftover tomatoes and olives with a chunk of crusty bread.

Makes: 4 servings as an appetizer, or 2 servings as a small-plate lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 pound ripe red tomatoes (about 2 medium-sized), chopped

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

10 green oil cured olives, sliced in rounds

1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley

to taste salt and pepper

For the sardines:

4 sardines, cleaned and scaled, heads and tails intact

olive oil

to taste salt and pepper

chunks of crusty bread, to serve

Preparation:

1. For the sauce, heat the olive oil in a small pan over medium-low heat, add the tomatoes, olives, and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook for about 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and stir in the vinegar and chopped parsley.

2. Meanwhile, rub the sardines with a little salt and olive oil, and grill or broil for about 2 or 3 minutes on each side until crispy.

3. To serve, top the individual sardines with the tomatoes and olives and serve with chunks of crusty bread drizzled with olive oil.

Arroz de Forno (Baked Chicken and Chouriço Rice)

This dish originates in the northern most region of Portugal, known as Entre Douro e Minho; an easy to make recipe that combines chicken, sausage and saffron to create an oven-baked rice that is rich in both flavor and color.  The crispy-skinned chicken is achieved by placing the pieces atop the rice, skin side up, before baking it in the hot oven.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

4 chicken thighs or drumsticks, or 2 whole legs

4 oz chouriço or linquiça sausage

1 bay leaf

1 1/4 cup white rice

1 large pinch saffron

to taste salt and pepper

Preparation:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan, and when it ripples add the bay leaf and onion and cook over low heat until soft and translucent (5 to 10 minutes).  Add 3 cups of water to the pan and bring to a boil over high heat.  Salt and pepper to taste then add the sausage and the chicken and simmer gently, covered, for 15 minutes.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 400º

3. Remove the meat from the pan and discard the bay leaf.  Cut the sausage into 1/2 inch chunks.  Crush the saffron in a small amount of the cooking liquid and then add it to the onions and remaining liquid, blending well.

4. Put the rice and sausage into a ovenproof casserole or baking dish, then stir in the onions and saffron broth.  Place the chicken on top, skin side up, and bake in the oven, uncovered, for 45 minutes to an hour until the rice is done and all the water has been absorbed.

Caldo de Castanhas (Chestnut and Navy Bean Soup)

Vegetarian dishes are few and far between in the Portuguese repertoire, which is difficult to understand when they are able to conjure up such a delicious recipe as this.  The navy beans, with their nutty-sweet flavor, compliment the chestnuts to create a robust and satisfying bowl of soup.

In northern Portugal, chestnuts are eaten all year-round.  They are harvested in Autumn and dried (or frozen nowadays) for use later.  You can buy frozen chestnuts (buy) or the pre-cooked, canned variety (buy) if fresh ones are not available.  How to peel chestnuts.

Try to buy dried beans from bulk bins at your supermarket, or if you must buy prepackaged beans,  buy them from stores with a high turnover.  Older beans will soak and cook unevenly.  Always sort your dried beans for rocks and dirt.

Variations:  use black-eyed peas instead of navy beans; instead of puréeing the bean mixture, add 1/2 cup of rice when adding the onions to the beans and cook, covered, over low heat until done.

Makes: 4 serving

Ingredients:

4 ounce (about 1/2 cup) dried navy beans

4 ounce chestnuts, peeled

1 small yellow onion, chopped

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp smoked paprika

to taste salt and pepper

Preparation:

1. Sort the beans and soak them overnight in 3 cups of lightly salted water.

2. Drain the beans and place them and the chestnuts in a saucepan with 4 cups of water and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook covered for about an hour until the beans are tender.

3. In a separate pan, heat the olive oil then add the onions and paprika and cook over medium-low heat until the onions are soft (10 minutes or so), being careful not to brown them.  Add the onions to the beans and purée half the mixture.  Return purée to the pot and heat through.  Serve in individual bowls and sprinkle with cracked pepper and chopped parsley.

Bife com Ovo à Cavalo (Steak with an Egg on Horseback)

This Portuguese answer to ‘Steak & Eggs’ would be eaten for lunch or dinner  rather than for breakfast as is the custom in the U.S.  What distinguishes this dish is that the eggs are served atop the steak, ‘on horseback’.  Rib-eye steak is the favorite cut for use in this recipe, but any boneless cut good for frying will do.  Portuguese steak is almost always served with some kind of fried potato and this recipe calls for thick-cut french fries.

Traditionally, these steaks would be prepared in small, individual terra cotta frying pans . . . in lard. While many people in the U.S. would find cooking with lard disgustingly unhealthy, it has many culinary uses in European cooking.  As far as its usefulness in frying steak, lard has the delicious effect of cooking the fat into the meat, so that it does not melt away into the pan.

Makes: 1 serving

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 pound rib-eye steak trimmed of any excess fat

1 large egg

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

2 tbsp dry white wine

enough olive oil or butter to fry an egg

thick cut french fried potatoes

Preparation:

1. Season the steak on both sides with a little sea salt.  Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a frying pan over medium high heat until it begins to ripple.  Add the steak and cook for 2 or more minutes on each side until done to your liking, then remove from the pan and keep warm.

2. Add the other tablespoon of olive oil to the same frying pan, along with the garlic, and cook just until the garlic aroma reaches your nose, then add the white wine, lower the flame to low and cook for a few more minutes.  Meanwhile, in a separate pan, fry the egg to your liking.

3. To serve, pour the sauce over the steak and top with the fried egg.  Sprinkle with cracked pepper and parsley (or cilantro) and serve with potatoes.

Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato (Clams with Garlic and Coriander)

This is the first recipe in our little food writing experiment: clams cooked in olive oil, garlic and coriander (cilantro)!  And why not a simple recipe such as this one to begin with?  After all, most Portuguese recipes are based on just the right combination of a few simple ingredients interacting in an alchemy of sorts.  Place the ingredients in the pot and let the fire do the work for you.  In less than five minutes you will have delicious clams in their own sauce (you don’t even need to add salt!), perfect with a chunk of crusty bread and a cold lager!

This recipe takes its name from the Portuguese poet Raimundo António de Bulhão Pato , and is the favored way of preparing clams throughout the country.  The juice from the clams combines with the olive oil and herbs to make a typically rich and fragrant sauce.  We’ve specified little neck clams, but you can use almost any small hard-shell or carpet-shell clam (max 2 inches across).  The amount of olive oil can be varied from as little as 2 tablespoons to as much as 1/2 cup

Ingredients:

1.5 to 2 pound live little neck clams

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped

2 clove garlic, minced

1 lemon

Preparation:

1. Scrub the clams in cold water.  If you prefer, you can soak them in cold, salted water for about an hour to dislodge any sand inside.  Discard any clams that are open and will not close when tapped.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pan or pot.  When the oil begins to ripple, add the remaining ingredients minus the lemon.  Cover the pan and cook over medium-high heat, shaking occasionally until all the clams open.  They will likely all open at the around the same time and the whole process should not take more than 3 to 5 minutes or the clams will be over cooked.  Discard any unopened clams.

3. Add the juice from half the lemon to the clams and serve garnished with the other half cut into wedges and a crusty country bread for dipping.