A Gift for Teacher – Sunflowers with a Pencil Bow Clip

September 10, 2015September 10, 2015

My 3-year-old son is heading to preschool today! Maybe if I say that a few more dozen times it will sink in… but, probably not! I can’t believe my baby is going to school. Sure the call it PRE school, but I am putting a back pack full of pencils and crayons on his back and dropping him off at the same school where I spent 6 years of my life being educated. It’s school. Wow, yep, it’s not going to sink in.

On Tuesday, we went in with him to his orientation. We sat in tiny little chairs and listened as the teachers told us about the rules, the do’s and don’t’s, the schedule and some of what our child will be learning on a day-to-day basis. Lucas will be a new student and his teacher was just hired and will be new to the school as well! So, we thought we ought to bring her a little welcome gift to brighten up her new classroom a bit. Nothing too crazy, just a pretty bunch of sunflowers tied up in some tissue paper and ribbon and as a special little accent, we made her a Pencil Bow Clip to finish it off… She can obviously use it as a hair bow should she choose, but it can also be used for a number of other teachery things too!

I thought it came out so cute that I decided to make a couple for my daughter as well… Let me show you how I did it!

Here are my materials: yellow sparkly ribbon, tan ribbon and black ribbon, a clip, some frey check, a glue gun and some scissors.

Start by measuring your clip and how much ribbon you will need for your clip to cover it fully… My clip is just about 2″ long… so I need 7 1/2″ of ribbon to cover the clip inside and out.

Then, before you cut your next piece of ribbon, tie a bow with it and figure just how much you will need allowing for cutting off the ends with the additional ribbon added on later.

Turns out, I needed 12″ of ribbon for mine.

to make the bow, you will want to tie it ‘bunny ears’ style like so.

To make your pencil tip, you will want your tan ribbon and your black ribbon fused together using glue. Be sure to make the edges are a bit jagged… this will help with the effect of the pencil being sharpened.

Glue the black and tan pieces onto the yellow tip of one side of your ribbon like so.

Now cut the tip into the point of a pencil.

Here is what you are left with… the edges will still tend to fray if you don’t use some Fray Check, even with the glue.

Apply Fray Check to the edges or any cut ribbon.

On the other end, you will want to create an eraser. To do that you will want a small piece of black ribbon glued onto the end of the yellow ribbon, then a slightly smaller tan ribbon on top of that. Trim the two corners and then apply Fray Check.

Here are the materials needed to package up the bouquet: two pieces of colorful tissue paper, a plastic baggie to contain the moisture of the flower stems, a ribbon to secure the flowers and our Pencil Hair Bow.

Just place flowers in the plastic baggie, wrap in tissue and secure with ribbon… then add in the bow.

He was so excited to have a gift to give his new teacher!

Pencil Bow Clip Materials:

1 – 2″ hair clip

1 piece of 12″ yellow sparkly ribbon

1 piece of 7 1/2″ yellow sparkly ribbon

1 piece of 1/2″ black ribbon, cut in half

1 piece of 1/2″ tan ribbon, cut 1/4 and 3/4

hot glue

Fray Check

Flower boquet Materials:

6 sun flowers

1 plastic baggie

2 pieces tissue paper

1 2′ piece of ribbon

Fall River Herald News: ‘Portuguese American Mom Blogger Shares Family Recipes’

September 10, 2015

I would like to thank Linda Murphy and Jack Foley of the Fall River Herald News for coming out to hang out with me in my kitchen. I had a great time cooking with them and enjoying lunch! Loved sharing how I do what I do every day with them and the article Linda wrote was really great. If you are local, it came out in today’s Fall River Herald News and the Taunton Daily Gazette and if not check it out on-line!

Baked Salt Cod Casserole (Bacalhau Assado)

September 9, 2015

The Italians have lasagna, the Greeks have moussaka, the Mexicans have enchiladas and the Portuguese have Bacalhau Assado. Whatever the country, a time consuming casserole dish filled with beautiful food is a cherished part of family gatherings and family dinners alike. I truly believe these dishes are where the phrase “Food of Love” was started. We Portuguese love our salt cod, so it is only natural that our most loved casserole has salt cod as the star. Derived from a country that has deep seeded roots as sea-faring navigators and fisherman, the Portuguese introduced Salt Cod to most of Europe. We have dozens upon dozens, perhaps even hundreds of recipes for salt cod and not any that I can think of for fresh cod. I suppose we wouldn’t need any recipes for fresh cod as salt cod is not only more delicious, but also considered a great comfort food. As a matter of fact, as I write this now, I can recall it has always just been naturally assumed in my family that when speaking of “cod fish” we think salt cod, not fresh. This became apparent to me later in life when at an American sea food restaurant where Atlantic Cod was served topped with little buttery cracker crumbs… I was almost confused to think of it fresh like some might be confused to think of bacon as fresh pork.

Portuguese Baked Salt Cod Casserole (Bacalhau Assado) is a serious dish for serious food lovers. Layers of carefully constructed sliced potatoes, salt cod and sautéed onions (Cebolada) all baked together and topped with boiled eggs and olives and infused with good olive oil to form the perfect balance of flavors, this dish has it all.

In my family, as I am quite sure in many Portuguese families, this wonderful creation is enjoyed at many a social gathering… but, most especially the holidays. A nice tray or casserole dish of Bacalhau Assado sits right near the Shrimp Mozambique and the Polvo (Octopus) each year at Christmas! A more delicious site has yet to be created!

Many of the recipes I post here on thePortugueseAmericanMom.com are easy, simple, inexpensive and quick. This is not one of those recipes. Although this dish is not at all complicated, it does require the coordination of several different steps and so is definitely not something that can get done in under a half hour. It is a labor of love and worth every minute!

Let’s start with the star ingredient… the cod fish…

Salt Cod at Portugalia Marketplace in Fall River, MA

With so much to choose from, it can be difficult to select just the right cut. I like to make my life a little bit easier, so I usually go for something without bones! 2 lbs. please 🙂

Here is what I brought home.

Just look at all that salt! Most of that will need to be removed for the cod to be edible.

Some people like to soak the fish overnight, which works well too… accept you will need to change the water a few times as it does tend to need more than just a soak… Me, I like to boil the salt out.

Boil and drain, this process will need to happen 2-3 times depending on just how salty the fish is and what your taste is… I like the fish to have a good amount of salt flavor, because otherwise what’s the point right? So, I try to keep the boiling process down to twice… Don’t forget this fish needs to stand up to potatoes and onions.

Gently with your hand, flake off chunks of fish to separate.

This is the broken up cod… you don’t want to mash it, you want it chunky.

Now that the cod is prepared, lets move onto the potatoes…

These are Yukon Gold potatoes… Any kind of all-purpose white potato will work as well.

Peel the potatoes and place them in a cold pot, then fill with cold water and a nice pinch of salt.

Look how golden these turned when cooked.

You want to thinly slice your potatoes, but you also want them to not fall apart… Just find a happy medium and whatever you are comfortable with will work.

Now lets work with the onions… this part of the preparation is very similar to my Cebolada post less the tomatoes.

Start by slicing some onions, I like a varying slice, some thick some super thin.

Add onions to a hot pan with olive oil and add just a small pinch of salt… Saute over medium heat until tender.

One the onions have become tender, add in ground red pepper, minced garlic and Portuguese Allspice.

When your onions get to this stage, they are ready to go. (They should no longer be stiff at all, but not mushy either… you are looking for a medium bodied onion that is very flexible, this still needs to be baked once incorporated into the dish)

Now that all three elements of the recipe are ready, we can start to build…

Now start building the final product in your casserole dish… This recipe will fill a 9″x13″ pan. Add in a drizzle of olive oil to coat the bottom of the baking dish. I prefer either glass or stone as seen here… If using a metal pan, be sure to coat bottom and sides well. (I would even spread it around with a paper towel if using metal)

This is a simple layering process. Start with one even layer of potatoes. You will use about 1/3 of your sliced potatoes.

Now add in an even layer of onions. You should use about 1/3 of your onions.

Now for the cod fish. You will need about 1/2 of your fish now… I don’t like to put too much cod on top as I feel like it gets dried out, so sometimes I reserve a few pieces for the top, but I didn’t do that today.

Spread evenly atop the onions. I like to drizzle just a little olive oil at this point.

In the middle is when you want to use any potatoes that are not perfectly round due to falling apart in the cutting process… you want the bottom to be solid and the top to be pretty… So here they are.

Keep layering in that order… Potatoes, onions, cod…

Once you reach the top, finish you should have onions on top… Cover with aluminum foil. Bake in a 350°F oven for one hour. Then bake uncovered for about 15 minutes.

When it comes out of the oven, grab some olive oil, drizzle… grab some olives and sliced hard-boiled eggs (2) and decorate the top.

Serve hot… but, it’s still yummy when cooled a bit!

Recipe for Baked Salt Cod Casserole (Bacalhau Assado):

(serves 8-10)

2 lbs. salt cod, deboned

4 1/2 lbs. potatoes, peeled

5 large onions, sliced

1 heaping Tbs. ground red pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup olive oil, divided

12 olives

2 eggs, hard-boiled and sliced

1/2 tsp. Portuguese Allspice

kosher salt

Directions:

Start by washing and then boiling the cod fish. Drain and boil again. Drain and flake into chunks. Set aside.

In a large pot, boil (in lightly salted water)peeled potatoes. Allow to cool a bit and slice. Set aside.

In a large skillet, saute onions until tender. Add in garlic, red pepper and Allspice. Add in a small pinch of salt. Saute until very flexible, but not mushy.

In a 9″x13″ casserole dish, layer ingredients. Start with olive oil, then 1/3 potatoes, then 1/3 onions, then 1/2 the cod, then drizzle with olive oil and repeat using the next 1/3 potatoes, the next 1/3 onions and the remaining cod. To finish add the remaining potatoes then the remaining onions. Drizzle with olive oil again, cover with foil and bake at 350°F for one hour. Remove foil and continue to bake for 15 minutes.

Top with sliced hard-boiled egg and olives.

Enjoy!

*Note: This is a gluten-free recipe.

Ratatouille with Shrimp & Buttered Egg Noodles

September 7, 2015September 7, 2015

I truly love to garden. My father and my grandfathers always kept beautiful gardens. More than the gardening itself though, I love the produce that comes out of the garden… But, I must confess since I have had my two little cherubs, I haven’t really found the time needed to keep up a good garden… I used to produce beautiful tomatoes, hearty cucumber plants, shiny purple egg plants, and squash that would last right through to Thanksgiving! That was pre-kids though… I have had a couple of half-hearted attempts since then, but there is something about being 7,8 and 9 months pregnant in the summer heat that does not really endorse the sweat that goes into maintaining a good garden. And so that started it off… I will do little project with my kids, like planting peas or digging up potatoes, clipping fresh mint… but next year I am determined to have my full fledged garden once again!

Luckily, I live in an area where there is no shortage of farm stands or Farmer’s Markets! Yay me! So, although it’s not quite as satisfying as growing something yourself and turning it into a delicious life-sustaining meal… it’s still pretty great and I get to support the local farming community along the way. This meal is a prime example of how to turn gorgeous in season produce into something really quite amazing. If you have never tried Ratatouille, I suggest you do! Chock full of 5 different veggies that are all in season right now, Ratatouille is great way to either put those home grown goodies to good use or to support your local economy and eat a healthy and nutritious meal at the same time!

A traditional dish developed in the French country side, Ratatouille is meant to use up whatever vegetables a farmer might have on hand. I prefer to limit that to these 5… eggplant, zucchini, pepper (bell), onions and tomatoes (EZ-POT). It is great as a side dish or a main dish if you are a vegetarian, but my most favorite way to enjoy this dish is over a bed of buttered egg noodles and topped with some beautifully grilled shrimp. Let me show you how I do it…

Start off by preparing your vegetables. I am chopping these onions pretty large, about the size of a half-dollar… so you will either need one large onion as I have here or two medium.

One sweet bell pepper will do it and be sure to keep the size relatively the same as you did the onions.

Keeping the veggies all around the same size, chop your zucchini.

Aren’t these mini egg plants just beautiful? I found these at a local Farmer’s Market and I knew I needed to figure out some way to use them!

They are so small that most of them, I simply cut in half, but the larger ones, I quarter.

Grabbed these beautiful Roma tomatoes at the Farmer’s Market too.

That’s it for prepping your veggies, now let’s move on to the cooking… You will need one medium heavy bottom pot, I am using a enamel coated cast iron pot. You will also need a bowl used to keep the sautéed veggies as you go through each step.

Start with some olive oil in a nice heavy bottomed pot… You will continue to add in just a tablespoon or so of olive oil before each sauteing each vegetable.

Saute vegetables one at a time and remove from pot when through with each one, reserving them for the end. I start with my onions.

Next I move on to my zucchini. I have removed the perfectly cooked onions so they don’t get over cooked.

After removing my zucchini, I add in a bit more olive oil and saute my mini egg plants. I continue this process next with the peppers and the tomatoes.

Once the tomatoes have been sautéed, add in all the reserved veggies… Then add in the fresh herbs and taste for salt and pepper… add if needed. Simmer for 10 minutes and serve hot. (at this point you could also add 1 clove of garlic, minced)

Add in a couple sprigs of thyme. Mine is young thyme from a little plant I have in my kitchen, so no need to remove the leaves, if you have a heartier plant, just remove the leaves and chop a bit.

My Rosemary is also from a plant in my kitchen, but is a bit more hearty, so I removed the leaves from about half a sprig and chopped them before adding into my pot.

After simmering for 10 minutes, this should be your end result.

Now to get some quick shrimp going…

Simply sprinkle some Hungarian Paprika (if you don’t have the Hungarian variety, just add about a 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper to 1 Tbs. of plain paprika). Add on a sprinkle of kosher salt and your prep is done. These are easy peel, deveined shrimp.

Lay them out on a hot grill pan that has been drizzled with a bit of olive oil.

When they start to get pink, after about a minute, flip each one and cook another minute or so.

Recipe for Ratatouille with Shrimp & Buttered Egg Noodles:

(serves 6-8)

For the Ratatouille:

1 large onion, large diced

1 medium zucchini, sliced and halved

1 small eggplant (or 8 mini eggplants), large diced

2-3 Roma tomatoes, sliced and halved

1 sweet bell pepper, large diced

2 sprigs fresh Thyme, chopped

1/2 sprig Rosemary, chopped

kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper

10 Tbs. olive oil

For the Shrimp:

1 dozen large shrimp, deveined and easy peel

2 tsp. Hungarian paprika

kosher salt to taste

1 Tbs. olive oil

For the Egg Noodles:

1/2 package broad egg noodles

6 cups salted water

1/4 stick butter

Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper

1 clove garlic, minced (optional)

Directions:

In a medium heavy bottomed pot set over medium heat, saute each vegetable in 2 Tbs. of olive oil separately keeping the tomatoes for last. After each vegetable is sautéed, set aside and reserve. After the last vegetable is sautéed, the tomatoes, add in all the reserved vegetables. Add in herbs and salt and pepper and simmer for ten minutes.

Add Hungarian Paprika and salt to shrimp in a small bowl. Then, in a hot grill pan drizzled with 1 Tbs. olive oil, grill shrimp on both sides until pink throughout.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in noodles. Cook to package specifications. Drain… Add in butter salt and pepper.

On a platter… Lay out egg noodles first, then layer on the Ratatouille and then top with shrimp. Serve, enjoy!

*Note: Ratatouille itself along with the shrimp are gluten-free… use rice noodles in keeping with the set up of the dish or serve without noodles.

Caprese Salad

September 5, 2015September 4, 2015

I didn’t know about Caprese Salad until I was an adult. Not something very common in the Portuguese household I grew up in. We had tomatoes, sure, but basil, nah… parsley, yes, couves (kale) yes, but no basil. And sure we had cheese, but not motzerella cheese, heck my parents even made their own white cheese in a little ring (which is totally delicious and totally off topic). But, I digress, the point it, this is not something I was ever exposed to… however, later on… sometime in my mid-20’s I think, I experienced this salad… Yes, I said experienced, because in my opinion, it is surely not like any other salad I had ever had… And I have been making this late summer salad ever since!

It’s a simple salad, just three main ingredients. The key to this salad is balance. The medley of flavors is something that can not be created with anything else in the world. Freshly grown tomatoes straight from the garden, hand picked basil leaves and good quality motzerella cheese topped with a simple drizzle of olive oil, aged balsamic vinegar and a dash of salt and pepper… could there possibly be anything better?

I have these lovely sweet cherry tomatoes. In season and perfect for any salad, but when tomatoes are the star ingredient, they are especially yummy.

Slice them up and place them right in your serving bowl.

Have you seen these cute little snack packs. Each pack contains three mini cheese balls.

This size ball matches up perfectly to the size of the tomato.

Slice each ball in half and add to the tomatoes.

Grab some fresh basil. You want to pinch it off right where you see the next leaves sprouting. That will ensure new growth.

I like to match up the number of tomatoes to cheese and leaves… but, just a torn leaf.

Tare each leaf to equal the number of tomatoes. This will ensure each bite has all three ingredients.

Mix together in preparation for dressing.

Start the dressing by sprinkling kosher salt.

Crack some fresh cracked black pepper.

Now drizzle with extra version olive oil.

A nice aged imported balsamic vinegar is key here, so you want to buy the nicest one you can afford… You should be able to get a decent one for under $20 and it will last a while…

Drizzle the balsamic.

Toss and serve.

I’m not sure if you noticed, but please take note, I made sure that each ingredient was exactly equal. That is to say there are an equal number of tomato pieces to cheese pieces to basil pieces ensuring that each and every bite will incorporate all three ingredients at the same time allowing them to join together in a wonderful burst of flavor in your mouth!

Recipe for Caprese Salad:

(serves 1-4)

12 cherry tomatoes, halved

12 mini motzerella cheese balls, halved

4 fresh basil leaves, torn into thirds

1 pinch kosher salt

4 cracks black pepper

2 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Toss tomatoes, cheese and basil together in a bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. Serve.

Enjoy!

*Note: this is a gluten-free recipe.

Stuffed Quahogs

September 4, 2015September 4, 20152 Comments

My godson, Preston, is a great kid! We were spending a little family day by the water earlier this week when the tide rolled out and I spotted what looked like a little collection of quahogs popping up from the muck. All I could envision was some beautifully stuffed quohogs with butter dripping down and a squeeze of lemon on top… I should explain we were at a sort of river mouth that spills out into the ocean, so although there is a sandy beach, it quickly gets quite mucky, for lack of a better word. Anyway, I asked Preston to check out the situation and report back on whether what I was seeing were actually viable quohogs. The kid didn’t hesitate. He put on some water shoes and marched on out there up to his knees in black muck.

Well, he discovered they were indeed quahogs, yay… But… he forgot a bucket and now he was stuck in the muck. So, he tried to turn around and get out and he lost his shoes somewhere in the far reaches of the blackness. Needless to say that lead to me getting all mucky myself! He was able to pull out 4 giant quahog clams and we placed them in the bucket I brought out… I did look for more, but it was honestly pretty difficult to navigate through it all, so we retrieved the shoes and after a little more looking we ended up with the original 4… However, I have to say, we had a good time doing it and lots of laughs! And anyway I got what I wanted, the base to a great local treat!

Quintessentially New England, the Stuffed Quahog is something everyone should experience at least once in their lives. Now if you have never heard the word quahog save for your experience watching Family Guy (based in the fictional “Quahog, RI”) let me explain a little about it. There are two basic types of clams, the steamer, which you will find in most New England clam boils and clam bakes and you get them any time you order a fried clam plate. And then there is the little neck clam. Quahog (pronounced koh- hog, and sometimes spelled quohog) is the giant version of the latter. You can see an example of a basic little neck in my post, Little Necks in Garlic Wine Sauce. There are any number of different types of clams between the two, but Quahogs, or Sea Clams as some refer to them, are always the largest of the breed and they never have a neck that comes out too far (hence the term little neck).

These 4 Quahogs that we collected, believe it or not, will be enough to stuff and feed 8 people! A traditional New England Stuffed Quahog has so much more than just the Quahog in it though, it is chock full of chouriço meat, onions, pepper, garlic and of course Portuguese Pop-secos (bread rolls). Let me show you how I make mine!

Here are 4 very large quohogs, these are 4"+ in width... If your quohogs are smaller, you'll want to use a couple more... All in all you will want to end up with about 1/2 cup of meat.

Here are 4 very large Quahogs, these are 4″+ in width… If your Quahogs are smaller, you’ll want to use a couple more… All in all you will want to end up with about 1/2 cup of meat. (To achieve this level of clean, you will want to soak in cold water and kosher salt for a good 10-20 minutes, after you’ve scrubbed them clean with something good and rough)

Add water into a pot just large enough to accommodate your quohogs.

Once your water is boiling, add in your quohogs.

Bring back up to a boil.

Cover your pot.

You will want to boil until they open.

If any of your quohogs do not open, you will want to toss them because they are not good. You need to reserve the liquid in the pot as you will need it.

Here is a cooked quahog.

You will need to separate the two halves of the quahog.

Remove the meat from the shell.

Don’t worry about that little connective tissue.

After they are cooked wash each one and be sure all the sand has come out. (Look how big that is!)

All washed up.

Chop up the meat… you should end up with a little more than a half cup.

Once you have your quahog prepared, you can start mixing up the stuffing mix…

If I had a large onion handy, I would have used it… but I didn’t so two medium onions it is.

Dice.

You will need half a stick of butter.

In a 10″ non-stick skillet add in 2 Tbs. olive oil and half a stick of butter over medium heat.

Add the onions to your pan and saute.

You’ll want to saute until translucent.

Find the nicest bell pepper you can… I like red, but any color you like will do, or whatever is on sale.

Dice.

Add you peppers to the onions and saute until lightly browned.

Add in a couple of cloves of garlic, minced.

Add garlic to pan and continue to saute.

Chop up a couple Tbs. of flat Italian parsley.

Slice and dice 1/4 lb. of chouriço.

You should end up with about 3/4 cup of chourico.

You should end up with about 3/4 cup of chouriço.

Add in chouriço and parsley to the pan and continue to saute.

Add pepper to the mixture.

Place a large bowl in your sink for easy use.

Add bread into the bowl. Tare it up into small pieces. (Day old bread)

Pour the reserved cooking water into the bowl.

Be sure not to include any of the remaining sand at the bottom of the pot.

Press the bread into the liquid.

Once the bread has sat in the liquid for a bit, drain.

Squeeze out most of the liquid and add back into the bowl.

Your bread should now be damp, but not soggy.

To the bread, add in your chopped quahog meat.

Now add in your sautéed mixture. Mix.

Add in about 1/4 tsp. Portuguese Allspice.

Beat one egg.

Add in and mix.

And here is the finished stuffing mixture.

Use the largest scoop you have to dish stuffing mixture into the prepared shells.

Add the mixture to each shell in a sort of mound.

Some people like to put another shell on top, I happen to like how crispy it will get to all the exposed stuffing.

Sprinkle with a bit of paprika. Place in a pre-heated 375°F oven for 45 minutes for large quohogs such as these.

You will know they are ready when they have firmed up a bit but are not hardened.

Recipe for Stuffed Quahogs:

(serves 8)

4 large quahogs

4 cups water

1 large onion, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup chouriço, diced

2 Tbs. Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped

1/4 tsp. Portuguese Allspice

1 egg, beaten

1 Heaping Tbs. ground red pepper

5 Portuguese Pop-seco bread rolls (day old)

2 Tbs. olive oil

1/2 stick butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Scrub quohogs and then soak in salted water for about 10-20 minutes.

Fill a medium pot with water, bring to a boil. Add in quahogs. Add in a pinch of salt. Bring back up to a boil and cover. Cook until all have opened. If you find that one will not open, toss it as it was not a healthy clam. Reserve liquid.

In a 10″ skillet over medium heat add in oil and butter. To that add in onion and saute until translucent. Add in bell pepper, saute a few more minutes. Add in garlic, saute. Next, add in chouriço and parsley, saute. Allow to cool as you prepare the bread mixture.

In a large bowl tare bread into small pieces. Cover the bread with the cooking water used for the quohogs. Push bread down into the liquid completely submerging it. Allow to sit for a few minutes and then switch the soaked bread to a colandar. Drain out liquid. Then take handfuls of bread and squeeze out liquid and add back into the bowl.

To the bowl with the bread, add in the quahog meat. Then add in the sautéed mixture to the bowl. Finally add in the Portuguese Allspice and mix. At this point, taste for salt. Once the seasoning is just right, add in the egg. Mix until completely combined.

Bodo de Leite Parade

September 3, 2015September 3, 20151 Comment

This is my absolute favorite parade of the year… The Bodo de Leite Parade is a time to really see Azorean culture on display and celebrated! It’s like a party in the street, and when Portuguese people throw a party, we throw a party! There are costumes and music, livestock and floats, and food and drinks all around! The Great Feast of the Holy Ghost is held in Fall River, Massachusetts each August. The parade on Saturday starts at the “Portas de Cidade” (“Gates of the City” – a replica of the gates in Ponta Delgada, St. Michael, Azores) and ends at Kennedy Park where the feast itself takes place. This is only one of the many events that takes place each year, there is also a big Procession, which is a religious type parade, on Sunday where anyone who has held a Holy Ghost week in their home is welcome to participate whether through their church or a Holy Ghost Society, hence the name “The Great Feast of the Holy Ghost” (If you will recall, I wrote about the Holy Ghost Feast at my church earlier this summer.)

At most parades, kids love picking up the candy that is thrown out to them from parade floats, I know my kids do. And they loved doing that at this parade too… but, that is far from where the handing out of food stops. Onlookers at this parade can expect to be handed out sweet bread and milk which is where the idea for this parade really all started, like a sort of Portuguese Halloween to celebrate the harvest… But, it doesn’t stop there, this year we were able to sample beer and wine freely poured by several passing floats and servers that walk along the parade route too! As for food… that gets cooked as the floats pass by, grills are propped right onto the flatbed trucks that are carrying the beautiful displays of our heritage… We enjoyed grilled fish, chourico, cooked corn kernels, steak, and hot dogs and watermelon for the kids.

The Holy Ghost tradition is about giving back to the community and feeding the poorest of the poor, so all can enjoy the blessing of the Holy Ghost. This thought process is deeply rooted in the Portuguese mindset and is reflected in the works of the participants of this parade. Yes, it’s a great time, but it’s so much more than that, and it’s truly wonderful to see. When you are Portuguese, it is hard to forget your Catholic roots because it is all around you and events like this one really bring that home. When my parents and grandparents and parents before them grew up in St. Michael, wealth was far from plentiful, people made do, but community and that spirit of giving, I believe, was a big reason they did. I am so happy to share all of this beautiful history and heritage with my children each year and expose them to this spirit of giving and celebration of our culture.

Cold beer right from the tap!

Shared with friends and family.

Drinks… Beer, Wine and milk are served!

Wine

Milk.

The tradition of the bride and groom leading the procession.

Costumes

Beautiful

When my mother talks about attending the feast of the Holy Ghost in her village as a child, she lights up when she talks about this vendor... each village would have a candy vendor... Candy was not so readily available when she was a child and it was an expense they were not afforded very often...

When my mother talks about attending the feast of the Holy Ghost in her village as a child, she lights up when she tells me about this vendor… each village would have a candy vendor… Candy was not so readily available when she was a child and it was an expense they were not afforded very often… These handmade candies were a real treat for a child who was lucky enough to get one!

My two with my Godson enjoying the parade and having fun!

These people are marching with sweet bread as an offering to the Holy Ghost and all these baskets of sweet bread will be cut up once they arrive to the feast and served to all.

Some of the beautifully put together displays… you might find displays like these right in people’s homes when they host the Holy Ghost prayer sessions in their homes.

This is a very good friend of mine, MarkPaul has been in the Nosa Senhora de Luz Band since he was a kid (ahem that’s over 20 years now)

Can’t throw a party without music… This parade has marching bands and small music troups.

Dancing!

Animals of course play a big part in this parade… Dairy farmers are a big part of the economy in St. Michael, but animals were traditionally utilized for farm work and for transporting goods from village to village… I can remember being on a trip to St. Michael with my grandmother when I was 11 years old and hearing the fish vendor come through, then the bread etc… This was in the 1980’s, not so long ago.

Chickens and bunnies! This is very much an interactive event, children are encouraged to participate as they are encouraged to participate in all Portuguese events!

The sense of community and love is abundant as friends new and old get to see each other.

This is a replica of my father’s childhood church from Rabo de Peixe, his village in St. Michael.

This is not disimilar to the vendor carts that would troll the streets...

This is not dissimilar to the vendor carts that would troll the streets…

So many different societies and Portuguese groups come together on this day.

Dancers

Now onto the food!

Look at that grill right up there on the float!

Some fun!

Even the cars get dressed up and bring sweetbread to the feast!

And that’s all she wrote, it was a great time, we really enjoy it every year! Can’t wait to see it again next year! If you don’t already, you should think about checking it out!

Now onto the nighttime entertainment at the feast, the Marc Dennis concert!

\The Marc Dennis concert held on the feast grounds!

Thousands of people came out to see him well into the night.

You can buy one of Marc Dennis’ most popular albums here, Marc Dennis ‘Superman’

I don’t often let my kids stay up this late, but there are just some things they need to experience.

I hope you enjoyed my take on this wonderful cultural experience!

Shrimp Mozambique (Camarão Moçambique)

September 2, 2015September 2, 20159 Comments

Although this meal can feed a number of people, I decided to make this dish for my husband as a surprise dinner at home after the kids were tucked into bed. It was our Engage-aversary, 9 years since he popped the question, what better time for an elegant meal? But, it was a Tuesday night, he was working and I had charge of two toddlers all day and evening… so needless to say my energy was not at its peek. I needed a quick meal that was just fancy enough for my little candle lit affair… I had some shrimp in the freezer and everything else in the pantry… so, I thought why not? The dish was delish as always and we got to celebrate and have an adult date night right in our own dining room.

I grew up eating Shrimp Mozambique. And to eat Shrimp Mozambique is to love Shrimp Mozambique. In my family and in my little area of New England, Shrimp Mozambique is a mainstay. We serve it every Christmas and several times throughout the year for different gatherings and parties. Elegant in its presentation, exotic in its flavor and almost magical in its ability to transform a dinner into a party! All this and you might think this is going to be a long drawn out and expensive recipe that is hard to understand and even harder to follow… but you would be all wrong on all counts. In fact, Shrimp Mozambique is not only quick and easy, but pretty reasonable to make at home especially if you can pick up this size shrimp on sale for $6.99 for a 2 lb. bag like I did in the freezer section!

With under 10 ingredients, most of which you will be able to find in your pantry… onions, garlic, salt etc. it’s super easy to throw together. And from start to finish you can have this meal on the table in under 30 minutes. The two ingredients that are key in this dish are the Azafran (but this can be easily subbed out with saffron) and the crushed red pepper. Crushed red pepper is a wet jarred pepper that is usually ground and cured with salt. You should be able to find it in your Portuguese or Spanish section of your market.

Melt one stick of butter into a pot.

Finely dice 1/2 a large onion or one whole medium onion.

Add onions into your melted butter… you will want to get these started before you add in the garlic as they have a longer cook time than garlic and the last thing you want is burnt garlic!

You will need about 6 cloves of garlic.

Smash your garlic before mincing, it helps to release lots of the flavors on everyone.

Mince garlic.

Once the onions have started to soften, add in your garlic.

You will want to be sure to stir frequently.

Azafran seasoning is similar to saffron, but only about 1/5 the price.4

You will need one packet per pound and so in this case we are making two pounds, so we will need to add two packets.

Add in two packets of the Azafran seasoning.

Add in one heaping Tbs. crushed red pepper. (I think this photo is so cool… my pepper was in the fridge and the pot is really hot causing that white smoke you see around the pepper)

I’ve always been partial to this size shrimp for this recipe. If you like bigger shrimp, go ahead and use it, but this works well for parties, family dinner or anytime.

You can put them in the pot straight from the freezer, no need to pre-soak. I should mention that I leave the peel on, I feel like half the flavor of this dish comes from that peel… I know it can be a bit of a pain to peel while you eat, but it is sooo worth it… and hey, it will slow you down too! Take some time to enjoy your meal!

Stir to coat the shrimp with all the spices and color.

Add in one bottle of beer any run of the mill domestic will do. (If you are allergic to gluten, you could substitute about 1 1/2 cups of dry white wine or just a gluten-free beer)

Be sure the shrimp are coated. Add in a pinch of kosher salt.

Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, when it comes to a boil lower heat to a simmer and cook for 8-12 minutes and then immediately remove from heat.

The last thing you want is overcooked, mushy and mealy shrimp. Do not over cook this. Shrimp cook really quickly, the smaller the shrimp the faster the cook… I am allowing 8-12 minutes for larger shrimp and to cook off the alcohol in the beer.

There… perfectly cooked shrimp! Now, don’t forget to taste for salt, add another pinch if needed.

For a party, I like to keep white rice separate, but for a dinner party or meal at home, I like to plate my shrimp right onto a bed of cooked white rice.

Recipe for Shrimp Mozambique (Camarão Moçambique):

(serves 4-6, dinner —- serves 10-15 party)

2 lbs frozen, deveined, easy peel shrimp (do not remove peel)

1 stick butter

1/2 lg. onion, finely diced

6 garlic cloves, smashed and minced

1 Tbs. crushed red pepper, heaping

1 beer (12 oz)

2 packets Goya Azafran Seasoning

kosher salt to taste

Directions:

In a medium pot, melt one stick of butter. Add in onions, saute for about 5 minutes. Add in garlic, saute an additional 5 minutes. Add in a pinch of salt. Add in Azafran, stir. Add in crushed red pepper, stir. Add in frozen shrimp, stir to coat shrimp in sauce. Add in beer, stir, cover and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook for 8-12 minutes. Taste for salt, add if needed. Serve over a bed of white rice.

Enjoy!

*note – Gluten-free adjustment, use gluten-free beer or white wine in place of beer.

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the portuguese american mom

stay awhile… have a cup of tea, let's get creative!

Month: September 2015

A Gift for Teacher – Sunflowers with a Pencil Bow Clip

Fall River Herald News: ‘Portuguese American Mom Blogger Shares Family Recipes’

Baked Salt Cod Casserole (Bacalhau Assado)

Ratatouille with Shrimp & Buttered Egg Noodles

Caprese Salad

Stuffed Quahogs

Bodo de Leite Parade

Shrimp Mozambique (Camarão Moçambique)