Madrinha’s Coconut Queijadas (Queijadas de Coco)

October 7, 2015October 9, 2015

My family, being Portuguese, is rather large by today’s standards. My father grew up with 7 sisters and a brother and was one of 9 siblings. This made for great parties growing up! I feel like almost every weekend of my childhood was spent attending a birthday party, baptism, 1st Communion, graduation, Confirmation, holiday celebration or just getting together to get together! And at every single one of those events my Titia Tina, who would eventually become my Madrinha at my own Confirmation, would make these delectable little treats. A creamy, crustless, coconut creation that once you try you will wonder what on earth you were doing all your life that you missed out enjoying it.

As I got older, I wondered how she made this family mainstay. So, I asked time and time again… Her response was always, come on by when I’m making them and I’ll show you. Well, time never allowed for an in person lesson unfortunately. But, for my wedding shower, my cousin Stephanie, her daughter, nailed down the recipe with measurements for me and submitted it to be part of my family wedding recipe collection! (which by the way is one of my very favorite ideas for any bridal shower… what a wonderful way to preserve family recipes and memories!)

I was so excited to get the recipe and so I tried it right away… And I was absolutely amazed at just how easy and inexpensive it is! For such a fabulous treat! So, now I am sharing it with all of you. Here’s how we do it…

Start with 4 eggs in a large bowl. My bowl is by Pampered Chef and it has the pour spout (that is ideal!). Wisk the eggs.

Measure out sugar.

Add sugar in while wisking.

Wisk your eggs and sugar until smooth.

For this recipe margarine is called for, not butter. I have never tried it with butter, but suspect it would be similar if you needed to substitute. Since this is what the recipe calls for and it’s much less expensive, it’s what I use.

You’ll need to melt the butter, so place it in a microwave safe container, in this case I use my handy-dandy Pampered Chef measuring cup and call it a day.

Add in your melted margarine wisking briskly, remember you have eggs in that bowl that can easily cook with still hot liquid.

You should have a creamy consistency after adding in margarine.

Measure out flour.

Add in your first measurement of flour and wisk.

Then your next. And continue wisking.

Add in 1 lemon rind. Be sure it is all in one solid piece like so, you will be removing this before baking.

You want to incorporate the lemon right into your batter.

Measure out your milk… I am using that same Pampered Chef 2-cup measuring cup so it still has some of the margarine in it, those are the yellow specks you can see.

Now add in your milk.

Once you have a nice smooth consistency, You are ready for the coconut.

Measure out your sweetened coconut. I’ve never tried unsweetened coconut in this recipe, but if you want to reduce the sugar content, I suppose this is where you might do that.

Spray your pan with cooking spray. This recipe is not made with cupcake liners.

In my madrinha’s recipe she suggests pouring your batter into a measuring cup with a spout to pour batter into the muffin tin… If you don’t have a handy-dandy spouted measuring bowl, definitely do this.

Fill each compartment about 3/4 of the way up.

As you are pouring your lemon peel will surface, be sure to pull it out and discard, it has done its job.

Once filled, you want to place pan in a pre-heated oven at 375°F for 20-30 mins. depending on your oven… it could go as far as 40 mins if they aren’t browning. When you come to 20 mins or so, turn on your oven light and take a peek, try not to open your oven if you can avoid it. You will be looking for a nice sunny golden brown.

Allow to cool once out of the oven.

Notice how it is “puffed up” right now and the center has not fallen… this is because it just came out of the oven and it is much too soon to remove it from the muffin tin.

Scoop each one out with a large soup spoon so you don’t dent the bottom edges taking it out of the pan. As you can see, the centers have now fallen with the cooling and they are looking perfect.

And this is what each little gem will look like when you place it on your serving platter.

Madrinha’s Coconut Queijadas (Queijadas de Coco)

Yields: 2 1/2 – 3 dozen

Ingredients:

4 cups of whole milk

4 eggs

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 stick margarine, melted

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 lemon rind

cooking spray

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375°F.

In a large bowl, wisk eggs. Add in sugar, wisk. Add in margarine slowly while wisking briskly. Add in flour and lemon rind and continue to wisk. Next, add in milk while slowing wisking. Lastly, add in coconut and slowly mix into the batter.

Spray a 12 count muffin tin with cooking spray (if you have 3 muffin tins, this would be ideal). Fill each 3/4 up with batter. Bake 20-30 minutes until lightly golden brown. You want to check your oven starting at 20 minutes utilizing your oven light, not opening your oven. It may go as far as 40 minutes depending on your oven (ie. gas vs. electic).

Allow to cool before removing from tin. Each queijada will be puffy when first coming out of the oven, they will fall as they cool in the center. Place each in a cupcake liner and then onto your serving platter.

Enjoy!

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!

Surf’s Up Birthday Party

August 27, 2015

Following the party each guest got this image on a card thanking them for coming to his party!

(image by Picture People)

My baby boy turned 3 years old this month! I honestly don’t know where the time has gone. One day I was picking out fabric for the nursery and before you know it, he is a walking talking boy. For his first birthday, I created a giant Candy Land game that the kids could actually walk through like a little obstacle course for a one year old. For his second, it was all about his very favorite, Thomas the Tank Engine. We are lucky that his birthday is in August and we (knock on wood) have always had great luck with the weather. So this year, I decided he would have a Surf’s Up beach theme. In order to create this, I knew I needed two things… a beach and water.

At the center of my design is a hand-made beach. I approached the water on three fronts. My parents offered to host the party and they have a yard large enough for everything I wanted to do. They already have a pool, so that was water feature number one. BUt, this is a party for a 3-year-old and if I wanted him to have fun while we still were able to host the party we needed to have more than that. So we had a smaller scale kiddie pool as the second water feature. And for the third , we ordered a giant bouncer with a water slide attached! All of it was a hit.

But not only cool water activities does a party make. We also had a big spread of food. I actually kept it pretty simple for the food. We served hamburgers, hot dogs and Salsa Lime BBQ Chicken Skewers hot off the grill. We did a couple of super simple sandwiches… My mom made her Chouriço & Peppers sandwiches, and I made some super fun “Crab Stuffed Crab” sandwiches. On the side we served corn on the cob, Stacy’s Best Potato Salad, Shells Pasta Salad and Veggie Straws (my kids favorite). For dessert, cake and ice cream, Sand Dollar Snickerdoodles, a watermelon and blueberry salad inside a watermelon cut out into a shark and Shark Attack Jello.

In addition, we had some special activities for the little ones. You can’t have a beach without sand castle building. So I made a board for magnetic sand castles. We had an extra little bouncer with a ball pit for the under 5 crowd that was shaped like a castle. Instead of throwing a football on the beach, we had a football pinata. And lastly we had a magnetic fishing game.

Oh, and I don’t want to forget to mention that my husband made up a great playlist for the party of the Beach Boy’s Greatest Hits! Music is always important no matter the function!

I hope you enjoy taking a look at my party creativity…

To make the beach, I sewed 25 yards of fabric together and pinned it down with landscaping staples. I lined the beach with palm trees I made from pool noodles I wrapped in packing paper and green fabric mesh.

The kids loved it!

My sand castle board was a sheet of sheet metal a friend of mine procured for me. Then I grabbed a bunch of sand paper and some sparkly foam for fun and got to cutting. I backed each piece with some self stick magnets and walla.

Even some of the bigger kids had fun in the kiddie pool with the little ones.

Got to remember beach balls… this one is a giant!

The pool was a big hit of course… I neglected to take a picture of it, but with a party this size I though it important to make a “pool rules” sign. Mainly, no kids in the pool without adult supervision.

And there it is… the Bouncer/Water slide! The kids had a ball with this one!

And the little ones loved this one too!

This was the only thing I needed to cook during the party.

Chouriço & Peppers sandwiches

Crab Stuffed Crab sandwiches

Aren’t they cute?

All of m serving trays and bowls were beach themed.

We used sand pails for serving bowls where ever we could and conveniently they come with a little shovel to scoop out the goods… Here you see the Shells Pasta Salad, Stacy’s Best Potato Salad, and Veggie Straws. Also, decorating the table is original art work from my big 3-year-old! Painted shells and a lovely colored fish!

Shells Pasta Salad: Cooked large shells pasta, mini motzerella balls, grape tomatoes and fresh basil. For the dressing just a simple oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper with a touch of dried italian seasoning.

Shells Pasta Salad: Caprese Style Pasta Salad – Cooked large shells pasta, mini mozzarella balls, grape tomatoes and fresh basil. For the dressing just a simple oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper with a touch of dried italian seasoning.

Stacy’s Best Potato Salad

Veggie Straws served as “pool noodles”… if you will notice my card holder… it’s just three wooden dowels cut to varying sizes and tied with rope as though they are little dock posts.

Sand Dollar Snickerdoodles.

Yum!

My sister and brother-in-law were assigned with the task of creating this bad boy… I think they did a stellar job!

“Da da, Da da, Da da…” Shark attack jello… at the other end of that shark fin is a little spoon!

Did I mention we also had a snack table???

Fish as “Shark Bait”

"Chum" My own little Chex Mix... Chex Cereal with different gummie sea creatures mixed in!

“Chum” My own little Chex Mix… Chex Cereal with different gummy sea creatures mixed in!

“Beach Balls” Peppermint candies… the kind that are all puffy and melt in your mouth, yum!

"Surf Boards" aka sugar waffers... and I didn't get a good picture of it, but in the background you'll see I used Triscuits as "Rafts"

“Surf Boards” aka sugar wafers… and I didn’t get a good picture of it, but in the background you’ll see I used Triscuits as “Rafts”

Bring on the waves! Here is my 3 year old’s Wave cake!

This was the first year he understood how to blow out his own candles! Yay!

How to blow one of the party favors is another story LOL

Having a so much fun!

Football Pinata!

Woah!

Fishing!

This game is just simple fish cut out of foam paper with a couple of paper clips attached… then I secured a magnet to the end of some twine and tied that to the end on half a real fishing pole… You could use a stick 🙂

(image by Picture People)

Following the party each guest got this image on a card thanking them for coming to his party! (image by Picture People)

All in all, the most important thing is that my boy had a blast at his birthday party. It had been quite the build up… the entire month of July was filled with an excited almost 3-year-old telling everyone who would listen that his birthday was on its way! We made sure he had a nice long nap just before the event and off he went, he was the life of the party! I hope you enjoyed seeing all my ideas… I have to give a big thank you to my parents for hosting this fun day and my many helpful family and friends without whom it never would have all come together!

“UP!” Birthday Party

August 20, 2015August 21, 2015

I had the pleasure of attending this little girl’s second birthday party this summer. Her name is Kaedence and she and her mother and father are very good friends of our family. Her mother, my girlfriend Lisa, and I share a love for designing and throwing a detail rich party aimed at making sure that not only the adults at the party have a great time, but that the little guest of honor and all her little friends especially have the best time!

Lisa chose the movie UP! for her inspiration this year! She went to town on balloons and rainbows galore and added in special touches straight from the movie. Some of the touches were literal and some were a play on the theme… But, first she set the stage with making sure the backdrop of the party would go right along with things! Let me show you how she did it!

In keeping with the Up! theme, Lisa sent her husband, Carlos, up to the roof of the house with a helium tank and a bag of balloons to get started on this special project! (I think here is where I am supposed to give you a “don’t try this at home” or a “before attempting to scale your roof, speak with your doctor first” warning!)

A welcoming display as people cross the breezeway to enter the back yard. Lisa took Kaedence for a photo shoot before the party and painted an inexpensive frame to match!

She made sure that her landscaping and flower beds and pots were color coordinated with the rainbow theme!

Such interesting displays throughout the yard.

My daughter was checking it all out!

There was the “Spirit of Adventure” with a “Happy Birthday Kaedence” burlap banner moving across it.

A waterfall.

This guy.

Painted wine bottles were turned into "Grape Soda" centerpieces holding baloons.

Painted wine bottles were turned into “Grape Soda” centerpieces holding balloons.

I made a two tier cake designed by Lisa that contained two rainbows… as you can see the rainbows have pink in place of red… with some rainbow balloons atop the cake. The top tier was covered in butter cream, but she wanted the bottom tier with raw edges to show off the rainbow-colored layers. (psst… check out the squirrel hanging out by the cake! “Squirrel!…”)

Even the top tier that was covered was rainbow inside!

She wanted to make sure that each piece was served with all 7 layers!

Food was all set up atop a balloon printed table covering.

Fruit kabobs… super colorful!

Rainbow Popcorn!

There were fun activities to be had!

The girls had lots of fun with these hoola hoops! And check out the birthday girl’s cute outfit! Lisa made the tutu herself!

There was a picture booth setup with the waterfall behind it… Some of the props here are a wilderness sash and yellow ball cap, glasses and mustaches.

We had lots of fun with that!

Over at the gift table, there was a mailbox ready for cards…

And check out these favors! Each child got a little mailbox that Lisa hand painted with their name on it, they also got an adventure book and a candy bar… oh and a balloon!

A plain chocolate bar served as “Snipe Food” for the kids to take home.

She painted the outside of each cloth book and it gave the effect of leather… and notice the little gold trim detail.

Just a little photo album, but kid’s can have lots of fun with this one all summer!

(Lisa, shown here on the right, is even wearing her take on a scout costume)

And everyone at the party received this special party favor… Little Miss Kaedence flying away wishing everyone a summer full of adventures!

“Spoon Full of Sugar” 1st Birthday Party!

August 13, 2015August 10, 20152 Comments

When my daughter turned one, I knew I wanted to have a “girly” kind of party with pink and green being the featured colors. But, her birthday is in December. December birthday’s are tough because you are not only dealing with the weather (so you really can’t plan anything outside), but also the holidays. So, before picking a party theme, I thought the best thing to do would be to find a venue first. That tactic turned out to be the best way to go! I found a local carousel that was set up for parties and tons of kid fun! I was able to bring in all my own food and decorations and between the actual carousel, the bounce house on site and little coin operated machines, the entertainment was taken care of!

So, I found the venue, now to come up with a theme that had something to do with a carousel… And it came to me! One of my all time favorite scenes in Mary Poppins was the whimsical carousel scene and a theme was born. The carousel horses were there of course. In the movie there are lots of beautiful sidewalk chalk drawings… So, I made a chalk board detailing all the growing my baby girl had done throughout the year… I then added chalk boards as the party favors and had the kids use them as food place mats to keep them busy as they waited for the pizza to arrive. I didn’t have dancing penguins, but I did make penguin centerpieces. Instead of traditional party hats, I got cute top hats for the boys just like Dick Van Dike wore and cute little maid hats just like Julie Andrews wore. And the centerpiece of the decor was the cake that was dolled up in hand painted stripes to reflect Julie Andrews’ dress in the carousel scene and of course two tiny sterling silver spoons that I sugared to adorn the cake.

As for the party food, I kept things really simple. I made a couple of finger sandwiches I thought would be great for the adults, Chouriço & Peppers sandwiches, Caçoila sandwiches, Lebanese meat pies and (ordered) pizza were the main courses… A salad, some pop corn and chips and a pasta salad for sides… and individual crudettés were the appetizers.

The venue supplied us with lots of tables, we just brought in table coverings and the food.

Sandwiches on the left, sides in the middle and aps over to the right.

Sandwiches on the left, sides in the middle and apps over to the right.

Salad.

Some ice tea and punch for drinks. And boxed coffee from a local coffee shop. The chalk boards and chalk are all ready for the kids to take… I was originally going to use them to set the kid’s place setting, but with the set up in the room, I thought it was just better to hand them out. That worked out best because of the age of many of the guests, they needed to eat with moms and dads.

Spoon Full of Sugar Cake surrounded by the maid hats for the girls on the left and the top hats for the boys on the right. To make the hats, I just got some $.50 little mini party hats from my local party supply store and embellished the top hats with ribbon and a little lady bug and the maid hat was embellished with a ribbon and a little flower just like she has on her hat in the movie!

Centerpieces were made with recycled formula cans with the label peeled off for the base, then hand cut out characters glued onto shish kabob skewers and napkins and tissue paper for flare.

Some of the details in a hand made keepsake chalk board… I made this with a black foam core board and a Sharpie chalk marker. Today, this board is hanging in her bedroom.

There is my son making use of his chalk board… To make these chalk boards, I just got a couple boxes of linoleum floor tiles, the industrial strength kind, painted them with chalk board paint and softened the edges with pink or green duct tape. Then I just got some pink, green and white chalk and tied a couple of pieces together for each child.

One of the keys to any 1st birthday parties is to make sure the party is not just for the adults… I always like to be sure my child is going to have fun at their own party!

Adults had fun too… that’s just a bonus!

Kid’s had lots of fun on the on-site bounce house too!

Always nice to have a table set up for gifts as well just so guests don’t have to guess where to put things.

Codfish Cakes (Bolinhos de Bacalhau)

April 29, 2015May 19, 20151 Comment

Friday’s in my house growing up were always grocery shopping day. That being said, having a full-time working mother, also meant that it was “take-out” day. We would usually toggle between three things, pizza from Atlas Pizza, Chinese from China Royal or fish and chips from Flint Fish Market. Sometimes if we were lucky we could tack a little on to that fish and chips order, like shrimp cakes or codfish cakes.

Codfish is a staple in the Portuguese diet. And although fresh caught Cod is delicious, what most portuguese people think of when they think of codfish is dry salt cod, bacalhau. This is not fish that has been left to sit with salt on it for a day or two. We are talking about a drying and salting process that changes the entire consistency of the fish to something amazing and if you know how to work with it, you can create some incredible dishes.

Codfish cakes can be served warm or room temperature. For breakfast, lunch, dinner or brunch. They are great for parties and picnics. They can be a main course or a side dish.

Here I will take you through the process of rehydrating and cooking with this particular Portuguese mainstay.

This is bacalhau (dry salt cod). For this recipe we are using deboned codfish bits… Normally the best thing to use is a nice thick piece and if I were making almost anything else, that’s what I would get. But, this is actually less expensive and less work, so for something I will mush up anyway, bits are the way to go.

The first step is to rinse out the fish, get all that initial salt off. Rinse until the water runs relatively clear.

Once you have some clear water, you will want to boil this. Then drain. Then boil again. Then drain again. You are not only rehyrating with this process, but removing the majority of the salt. After the second boiling, taste for salt. You still want it salty, but not crazy. Sometimes I go as far as to boil a third time.

This is what your boiled fish will look like.

Place on a flour sack towel. (or any clean kitchen towel)

Wrap and twist the end. Wring out all the water. For Cod Fish Cakes we want only moister we add coming to the party.

Once all the water has been removed and the fish is still in the cloth, mush with your hands.

The fish will look very mashed now, which is what you want… you should now go through with your fingers and check for any random bones. Set this aside.

Boil potatoes whole with skins on to preserve the starch.

Peel boiled potatoes.

Start mashing potatoes with a masher then finish with a fork in order to get potatoes really fine. You don’t want big chucks. If you have a ricer, this would be the perfect use. (Do not add anything to the potatoes) Set aside to cool.

Finely dice onions. The easiest way I find to do this is to cut onion in half and in half again. Then slice several small slices throughout and turn and slice the other way, like so.

Place onions in a small skillet with a drop of olive oil and gently saute. When onions start to develop color, remove and set aside to cool.

Mince parsley finely.

Add onions and parsley to potato. Mash together.

Add fish to mash. Mash together. At this point taste for salt. If it does not have a light salty taste, add a pinch of kosher salt.

Add in one egg and combine.

Your mixture should hold together at this point.

Put a dab of olive oil on two soup spoons.

Mold with two spoons. It should for a tri-sided croquette.

Line up on parchment until ready to fry. (At this point they can be covered and refrigerated for 24 hours or flash frozen and stored for a couple of months until ready to fry)

Heat canola oil in a large skillet on med/high heat. Place croquettes in oil with lots of room around them. Do not crowd pan. Turn the burner down to medium heat.

Because the croquettes are three-sided, it is easy to turn them as they cook. You want to take your time with this.

The whole process of frying should take 10-15 mins. Be sure each side is golden brown without burning. If they cook too quickly, the inside will not properly cook through.

Drain on paper towels. Normally with fried food, I would tell you to salt at this point, but these are naturally salty, so no need.

Transfer to a serving dish. They can be served warm or room temperature.

Enjoy!

Recipe for Cod Fish Cakes:

(serves 4-6)

3/4 lb. dry salt cod, prepared (hydrated and mashed)

3 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed

2 tsp. minced parsley

1/2 medium onion, finely minced, sautéed

1 egg

kosher salt to taste

1 c. canola oil

Directions:

Combine mashed potato (cooled), minced and sautéed onion (cooled), parsley. Add in mashed fish. Mash together. Add in egg, combine.

Spoon out one soup spoon of mixture. With another soup spoon, form into tri-sided croquettes.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Place croquettes in heated oil to fry. Turn down heat to medium. Fry over 10-15 minutes turning periodically until golden brown. Drain on paper towel.

Enjoy!

*note – this recipe is gluten-free

the portuguese american mom

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

Tag: party

Madrinha’s Coconut Queijadas (Queijadas de Coco)

Madrinha’s Coconut Queijadas (Queijadas de Coco)

Bodo de Leite Parade

Surf’s Up Birthday Party

“UP!” Birthday Party

“Spoon Full of Sugar” 1st Birthday Party!

Codfish Cakes (Bolinhos de Bacalhau)