Recipes

Conquilhas

Cockles fried in olive oil with garlic garnished with fresh coriander or parsley.

Ingredients:
. 1,200Kg of cockles (conquilhas)
. 1dl of olive oil
. 3 cloves of garlic
. 1 bunch of parsley or coriander
. 1dl of dry white wine
. 1/4 lemon
. salt to taste
. pepper to taste, and water

Preparation:
1. Wash the cockles in cold water. After they have been washed, place the cockles in a bowl and cover them with sea water. Should there be no sea water use normal water with salt.

2. In a separate pan, place the peeled garlic and the olive oil and cook until soft. Take the cockles out the salt water and wash them again.

3. Add the cockles to the olive oil and let them open.

4. Add the white wine and cover the pan until the cockles are quite open.

5. Season with salt and pepper and serve the cockles covered with chopped parsley or coriander. Garnish with lemon segments.

Arroz de Polvo

Sliced octopus prepared with tomatoes, onions and served in a wet rice bed and garnished with fresh coriander.

Ingredients:
. 1,6kgs of octopus
. 2dl of red wine
. 150grs of onions
. 1,5dl of olive oil
. 2 gloves of garlic
. 350grs of fresh tomatoes
. 1 bunch of parsley or coriander
. 320grs of rice
. 1 green pepper
. Chilli sauce (piri-piri) to taste
. salt to taste and water

Preparation:
1. Clean the octopus of its skin and wash carefully. After it has been washed, cut it up into small pieces.

2. Peel the onions and garlic and mince them. Take the stems off the tomatoes and scald the latter in boiling water.

3. Place the olive oil, cloves of garlic and onions in a pan and put it on flame. Fry until brown.

4. Add the green pepper and then the tomatoes. Add the octopus and let it fry for a few minutes.

5. Add the wine and a little water. Cook. Season with salt and piri-piri.

6. When the octopus is cooked, add the rice and cook for a further 15 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley or coriander.

Cuttle Fish Fried with their Ink

Cuttlefish fried in olive oil with garlic and using their own ink.
Although it may not sound very appetising this dish is actually very tasty.

Ingredients:
. 1,200Kg of cuttlefish
. 2dl of olive oil
. 2 bay leaves
. 4 cloves of garlic
. 800grs of potatoes
. 1/2 lemon
. salt to taste
. pepper to taste

Preparation:
1. Wash the cuttlefish in cold water, being careful not to burst them. Drain them. Season with salt and pepper. Place a deep pan on the flame. Pour in the olive oil and warm it up.

2. Peel the cloves of garlic, mince them and add to the olive oil in the pan. Add the bay leaves. Let the garlic brown without burning.

3. Add the whole cuttlefish, cover the pan and fry on a low flame. Stir once in a while so as to prevent burning. Fry the cuttlefish on both sides.

4. Serve garnished with young potatoes boiled in their skin and lemon slices or segments.

Caldeirada

Similar to the French “Bouillabaisse” is made with a selection of fresh fish and cockles, boiled in a sauce made from onions, tomatoes, garlic and fresh herbs (coriander or parsley).

Ingredients
. 1,4 kg of fish (rascaço, grey bream, dogfish, frog-fish, gurnard, skate, etc.)
. 400 grs of cockles (amêijoas)
. 600 grs of ripe tomatoes
. 2 dl of olive oil
. 300 grs of onions
. 3 cloves of garlic
. 1 green pepper
. 1 dl of dry white wine
. 1 bunch of parsley
. 1 bay leaf
. 400 grs of potatoes
. Salt and pepper to taste
. water

Preparation:
1. Prepare the fish and wash it in water. Clean away the skin and tripe. Cut it up into small slices and season with salt.

2. Wash the cockles carefully, place them in a bowl and cover them with see water or, lacking this, drinking water seasoned with salt. Let the cockles open up and become rid of the sand that may exist next to the edible part. Wash them in cold water.

3. Slice up the onion, tomatoes and green pepper.

4. Peel, wash and slice the potatoes.

5. Place the fish, onions, tomatoes, green pepper, potatoes, garlic, bay leaf and parsley in a pan in alternate layers. Finally place the cockles.
Pour the white wine and a little water over the ingredients. Add the olive oil and pepper.

6. Correct the seasonings, cover the pan and cook over a low flame.

Dom Rodrigos

A preparation made with the yolk of eggs, almond paste, sugar and water, presented in a shredded manner wrapped in silver paper.

Ingredients
. 250 grs of fios de ovos (an egg-yolk sweet)
. 50 grs of husked, grated almonds
. 250 grs of sugar
. 0.5 dl of water
. 4 egg yolks
. cinnamon to taste

Preparation:
1. Place 200 grs of sugar in a pan and cover it with water. Place it on the flame and boil for two minutes until the sugar forms pearl-like drops when dripped from a spoon.

2. Take off the stove and stir in the almonds. Let everything become lukewarm, then add the egg yolks and place on the flame again, stirring until the mixture thickens. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon.

3. With the remaining sugar and water, make a syrup by boiling until the sugar forms a string when dripped from a spoon.

4. Pour the syrup into a frying-pan and place it on the flame. When it boils, add the ‘fios de ovos’ (traditional sweet made with shredded egg yolks) and, on the latter, the previously made mixture of sugar, almonds and egg yolks.

5. With the help of two spatulas, mix the ‘fios de ovos’ and the mixture until they are completely blended.
Let everything brown and then take it out of the frying-pan.

6. Distribute the mixture in equal amounts among 6 tin squares, join the four angles of each square and roll them up.

Morgados
Exquisite cake made with almonds and eggs.

Ingredients
. 200 grs of husked almonds
. 200 grs of sugar;
. 3 egg yolks
. 10 grs of ovos moles (an egg yolk sweet)
. 20 grs of fios de ovos (en egg yolk sweet)
. 100 grs of Malabar gourd preserve
. 0.5 grs of glacé Royal (1)
. flour, butter or lard ;
. Sugar flowers and leaves - (1) Blend of icing sugar egg-whites and lemon
. juice (about 100 grs of sugar to 1 egg-white).

Preparation:
1. Place the sugar and a little water in a pan and put it on the flame.
Boil the sugar for a few minutes until it forms a slightly thick, unbroken string when dripped from a spoon.

2. Then add the almonds (previously peeled and passed through a grinder three times).

3. Gradually stir in the egg yolks, and keep on the stove until the bottom of the pan can be seen when the mixture is pushed away with a spoon. Let it cool off.

4. Place the flour on the moulding board; on it, spread two thirds of the mixture, giving it the shape of a round box.

5. In that box place half the «fios de ovos», then the Malabar gourd preserve and the «ovos moles» and finally the other half of the «fios de ovos». Cover this with the remaining mixture.

6. Take a tin mould with the same height as the cake. Grease it with lard or butter, powder it with flour and adjust it to the cake.

7. Place this in a tray and bake it in the oven until it is brown.

8. Take the mould off the «squire», scrape off all the flour, cover it with glace Royal and decorate to taste with sugar flowers and leaves.