Burger with a Portuguese Twist

2 words - BYE McDonalds!

To begin, approximately 45 min in total to prepare and cook.. Easy waxy. Don't use buns or bread or rolls if you are on a low carb diet. Replace the buns with lettuce. This is a balance meal as the Carbs come from the Fries. Baked the fries to make it healthier, I had to deep fry it because of the death of my oven. Otherwise, it's a healthy meal with easy easy prep.




PREPARATION

The Carbs
2 Gigantic Potatoes - Chop into desired strips size and then just put it into a bowl of salty water and leave it in the refrigerator.

The Burger
250g of mince beef (lean for health)
50g of chorizo
A small shallot minced finely
4 cloves of garlic minced finely (or less if you ain't garlicky)
A few dashes of Worcester Sauce
Sprinkling of Paprika

Mix everything using cleaned hands. Massage it well and then let it settle (preferably in the fridge)

Surf the net or read a book for 20 minutes and start on the potatoes

METHOD

Drained and dry it with hand towels. Ensure all potatoes are as dry as possible so that it will be crispy.

Heat 1 cup of oil in a pot and then fry in batches. Serve when golden brown.

Then, take 1 tablespoon of the oil and fry around 6-8 thin slices of chorizo till crispy.

Shape the marinate mixture. 1st - divide into 2 equal portion, then shape it into desired shape (do a heart for the valentine ). Sprinkled some salt and freshly ground pepper onto the patty.

Pan Fry / Grill or BBQ for 4 minutes each side.

Serve on a bed of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber and Ravish it!!!

Cinnamon Raisin Oaty Cookies

Well, to start, a cookie recipe which is well-loved by my Sol. Sweet and yet not too unhealthy. This recipe came after years of buying Famous Amos' Oatmeal Raisin and Cinnamon Cookie which never seems to stay around the house for too long. I went through millions (sorry.. a little exaggeration, probably, thousands ;p) of similar recipes with none producing the same or as well-liked effect. Finally got the below. Crunchy, less sweet, cheaper and most importantly, I baked it with love...



Try it!





Cinnamon Raisin Oaty Cookies (makes 30 cookies tried and tested by Sol)



125g butter (soften at room temp)

100g brown sugar

2 eggs or 3 egg yolks

2 teaspoon of vanilla essence

120g rolled oats

190g all purpose flour

2 teaspoon of cinnamon powder (feel free to add more but be careful, too much cinnamon can make the cookie taste bitter)

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

130g to 150g of raisins



Cream sugar and butter and vanilla essence till light and fluffy.



Add eggs 1 by 1 and mix well. After which you get the 'Wet Mixture'.



Mix up flour, cinnamon powder and rolled oats forming the 'Dry Mixture'.



Add dry mixture bit by bit into wet mixture and mix well till all's in.



Add raisins and mix well.



Refrigerate mixture. (this step is really optional but I always do it)



Set oven to 175 degrees.



Line tray with baking paper.



Using a teaspoon (I like small cookies) round it into a ball and place it on the baking tray.



Bake for 15-16 minutes.



Tips:

For crispy/harder cookies, use only egg yolks, and white sugar and margarine and bake for around 15-16 minutes.

For softer cookies, use whole eggs and all butter and bake for around 12 minutes.

Arroz di Marisco

Arroz di Marisco (Portuguese seafood rice)


Sooooo good! Sol's parents brought me to a seaside restaurant and we ordered this.. I still am unable to forget the taste. Since Portugal is 2 flights away and there is no Portuguese restaurant in Singapore, I decided to make this based on my memory and a little help from the Internet.


Ingredients

4-6 prawns (Deshell and keep the prawns and shells)
250g fish (Sliced)
10 clams
4 mussels
2 tomatoes
1 red pepper
4 cloves garlic
1 small onion
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon of tomato puree/paste
A sprinkle of paprika
1 teaspoon of pimentao
A little white wine
1 red pepper (chopped)
100g of risotto rice


Stock

Deshell the prawns
Cook 1 tomato, shell and head of the prawns in water for ~half hour to make stock. Drain and keep stock aside.

Cook

Fry the onion for 1-2 min. Add garlic and fry till brownish..

Add the risotto rice, fry and add 1/3 of the stock. Stir. Add in the bay leaf, a touch of white wine, salt and pepper, paprika, pimento and tomato paste and maybe some oregano. Stir.

Add the pepper and tomatoes.

After around 3-5 min. Check and stir. Add more stock if need. Stir (Again!). Check again in 3-5min. Stir or..

Add in all the seafood and cilantro after 5mins. Stir..

Ready for serving after seafood is cooked.

Chilli

CHILI with a slight portuguese touch..

We love chili.

So easy to prepare, so little trouble, so little pots and pans to wash and soooooo good with rice or pasta. Sooooooo good for leftovers too!!!

I love making it and I love eating it.... 

This is my ultra easy easy recipe.. I dont know where to get Jalapenos in Singapore so I use chili flakes (leftovers packets you get when you order in pizza). This is probably the most UNAUTHENTIC Chili recipe you see but we still love it all the same. This is also sooo not Portuguese (just very very slight with the chorizo) because anyway Chili is suppose to be Mexican but I don't care, a one-pot meal that my Sol loves. A one pot meal that we love. 

Ingredients

Mince Beef - 400g 

I Chorizo (I have yet to figure out where to get it in Singapore.... I got mine when I went to Portugal but I have a good feeling that the brazillian butchery at Marine Parade has it)

1 can of Kidney Beans (Or Chili Beans or any beans, I used S&W)

1 small can of Tomato Puree

1 large Capsicum (Green Pepper) cut into 1 inch pieces

2 large Tomatoes cut into 1 inch pieces (Omit if you are using a bigger can of tomato puree or just use 1)

1 Yellow Onion cut into small pieces

1 clove of Garlic (or if you are like me... 4 to 5 cloves)

Chilli Seasoning (can be omitted actually)

1 teaspoon of Oregano

1 packet of Chili Flakes (From Dominoes, we love Dominoes)

To start.....

Slice and saute the chorizo till the chorizo gets a little crispy with its oil oozing out)

Add in onions and garlic and saute till the onions turn translucent and before the garlic turns brown.

Add in the mince beef, chili seasoning, oregano and brown it over medium-high heat.

Add in the tomato puree (if you are using the small can of tomato puree, add in the fresh tomatoes now) & the can of drained kidney beans (You may add in some of the beans water if you find the mixture a little dry)

Add in the chili flakes and mix well.

(During this time, I will usually start preparing the Capsicum - deseeding and cutting)
Add in the Capsicum. 

Cover & simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes. (You can cook longer if you wish to, doesn't really matter)


A meal that takes 30 minutes to prepare AND cook. A meal soooooo good as leftovers. Sometimes, I cook soooo much and I get enough leftovers (for 2 persons) for 2 days. Just freeze it and pop it in the microwave when hungry then.

Kisses and Enjoy!!!

Salame De Chocolate (Chocolate Salami)

My chocolate salami with almonds from Portugal..


I bought this from the "NTUC" of Portugal (Pingo Doce is the name of the supermarket) and shall I say, this taste SOOOO GOOD!! I have been having at least 1 slice of this a day adding piling up the calories with no regrets.. Sun likes this too and has been quietly polishing a few slices every now and then... We had finished 1 whole tube of this. A perfect ending to the Carne Porco Portugesa.


This will be my must-buy if I get a chance to go Portugal again. 


Kisses to the guy who invented this. Muackz to you!