The New Portuguese Table

I got a new cookbook this weekend. I'm not sure how many of you know that I'm Portuguese, well Portuguese-Canadian. Anyway, I've been searching for a good Portuguese food cookbook in English for a very long time, and I finally found one that has recipes that I know and love and new ones that I cannot wait to try. The New Portuguese Table by David Leite is full of gorgeous pictures, and tidbits of food info from the different regions of continental Portugal and the islands, Azores and Madeira.

If you're curious on the recipes, I'll be sharing them on my other blog, Wandeca Cooks.

Any fans...

of meat and potatoes? But want a different take on it? I tried a new recipe this weekend and it was a success! It's over at Wandeca Cooks.

Julie and Julia

The last time I went to the movies I saw the preview of the movie, and I couldn't resist looking for the book - once I found out it was based on one, that is.

Here's the blurb for Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell:

With the humor of Bridget Jones and the vitality of Augusten Burroughs, Julie Powell recounts how she conquered every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and saved her soul. Julie Powell is 30-years-old, living in a rundown apartment in Queens and working at a soul-sucking secretarial job that's going nowhere. She needs something to break the monotony of her life, and she invents a deranged assignment. She will take her mother+s dog-eared copy of Julia Child's 1961 classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and she will cook all 524 recipes. In the span of one year. At first she thinks it will be easy. But as she moves from the simple Potage Parmentier (potato soup) into the more complicated realm of aspics and crepes, she realizes there's more to Mastering the Art of French Cooking than meets the eye. With Julia's stern warble always in her ear, Julie haunts the local butcher, buying kidneys and sweetbreads. She sends her husband on late-night runs for yet more butter and rarely serves dinner before midnight. She discovers how to mold the perfect Orange Bavarian, the trick to extracting marrow from bone, and the intense pleasure of eating liver. And somewhere along the line she realizes she has turned her kitchen into a miracle of creation and cuisine. She has eclipsed her life's ordinariness through spectacular humor, hysteria, and perseverance.

For a memoir, I enjoyed it. It was funny and insightful, and full of yummy french recipes - it's not a cook book, but she does go into detail, and most of the time it left me hungry . Ok, it didn't make me want to go out and try them, but it was interesting to see how the author managed to create them. At times I thought she had beaten more than she could chew, but I found her tenacity, her need to complete her goal inspiring.

After reading the book, I definitely want to watch the movie. I'm wondering how it will turn out. Here's the trailer, you can also find it here.



Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell (4/5) Memoir; Published: Little, Brown and Company (9/2005); 2009 100 + Reading Challenge (80);

Slow Cooking Thursday

It's Thursday and it's time for Slow Cooking Thursday, which is hosted by Sandra of Diary of Stay at Home Mom.

Potato and Leek Soup

4 cups chicken broth
3 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 1/2 cups chopped cabbage
1 leek, diced
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup sour cream
1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

Combine broth, potatoes, cabbage, leek, onion, carrots, parsley, salt, caraway seeds, pepper and bay leaf in slow-cooker; mix well.

Cover; cook on low 8 to 10 hours or on high 4 to 5 hours.

Remove and discard the bay leaf. Combine 1/2 cup hot liquid from slow cooker with sour cream in small bowl. Add sour cream mixture and bacon to soup; mix well.

Enjoy!

Don't forget about checking out more slow cooking recipes, by visiting here!

Slow Cooking Thursday

It's Thursday and it's time for Slow Cooking Thursday, hosted by Sandra of Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

Jamaican Beef Pepper Pot

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubes
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 lb steing beef cubes
6 slices bacon, chopped
2 onions, choped
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups beef stock
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
1 each sweet red and green pepper, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp wine vinegar
1 tsp hot pepper sauce

Place sweet potatoes in slow-cooker.

In large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat oil over high heat; brown beef, in batches. Add to slow-cooker.

Add bacon to saucepan; fry over medium heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Drain off fat. Add onions and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 minutes. Add stock, 1 1/2 cups water, tomato paste, thyme, salt and pepper; bring to boil. Pour into slow-cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or until beef and potatoes are tender.

Add red and green peppers. Whisk flour with 1/2 cup water; whisk into slow-cooker. Cover and cook on high for 15 minutes. Stir in vinegar and hot pepper sauce.

Slow Cooking Thrusday

It's the first Thursday of the year! And it's time for Slow Cooking Thursday, hosted by Sandra of Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

Wine-Braised Veal(osso bucco) Shanks

3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
8 pieces veal hind shank (1 1/2 inches/4cm thick) about 4 1/2 lbs (2 kg)
4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp crumbled dried rosemary
3/4 cup white wine or low-sodium chicken stock
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken stock
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1/2 cup halved pitted green olives
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp capers, rinsed
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

In shallow dish, stir together flour and half each of the salt and pepper. Tie kitchen string around each veal shank; press into flour mixture to coat. Reserve remaining flour. In skillet, heat 1 tbwp of the oil over medium-high heat; brown veal, in batches. Transfer to slow-cooker.

Drain fat from skillet; add remaining oil. Fry onion, garlic, rosemary and remaining salt and pepper over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Scrape into slow-cooker.

Add wine, stock and lemon rind to slow-cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or until shanks are tender.

Add olives, lemon juice and capers. Whisk together remaining flour with 3 tbsp water; stir into slow-cooker. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until thickened. Sprinkle with parsley.

My Kids Favourites Goodie Bar

SKOR TOFFEE CHOCOLATE BARS

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 (300 ml) can sweetened condensed milk (Eagle brand)
2 tbsp butter (butter)
1 (300 g) pkg Chipits milk chocolate chips
1 (225 g) pkg Chipits Skor toffee bits

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Cream first 3 ingredients until well blended and mixture comes together.
Press evenly into a 9X13 cake pan.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until light golden.

Cool on wire rack while preparing filling.

Heat sweetened condensed milk and 2 tbsp butter in heavy saucepan, stirring
constantly over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, or until thickened. Spread
over baked base.

Bake 12-15 minutes longer, or until golden.

Sprinkle Chipits milk chocolate chips evenly over top. Bake 2 minutes more,
or until chocolate is shiny and soft.

Remove from oven. Spread chocolate evenly.

Sprinkle Skor Toffee Bits on top, pressing lightly into chocolate.

Cool completely. If necessary, chill just to set chocolate before cutting
into bars.

Store at room temperature.

Slow Cooking Thursday

Once again it's Thursday, and it's time for Slow Cooking Thursday over at Diary of a Stay At Home Mom.

Chocolate Croissant Pudding

1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetned cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 plain croissants, cut into 1 inch pieces, divided
1/2 cup chocolate chips, divided
Whipped cream

1. Coat 1 quart casserole, suffle dish or other high sided baking pan that will fit in your slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Beat milk, eggs, sugar, cocoa, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl. Layer half of the croissant pieces, 1/4 cup chocolate chips and half of the egg mixture into prepared dish. Repeat layers with the remaining croissant pieces, chocolate chips and egg mixture.

3. Place rack or trivet into your slow cooker; pour in 1 cup of water. Place dish on rack. Cover; cook low for 3 to 4 hours.

4. Remove dish from slow cooker. Spoon croissant pudding into bowls. Top with whipped cream.

Makes 6 servings.

Don't forget to stop here for more yummy recipes.

Slow Cooking Thursday - Cajun Red Beans & Rice

This is my first time participating on Slow Cooking Thursday. So I decided to share one of my family's favorite: Cajun Read Beans & Rice. I got this recipe out of a cookbook, Secrets of Slow Cooking.

Cajun Red Beans & Rice
Serves 4 to 6
6 to 7 quart slow cooker

1 lb dried red kidney beans
1 lb spicy smoked pork sausage
2 green bell peppers
2 ribs celery
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
2 tsp flour (opt.)
1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper, to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place the beans in a medium saucepan, cover with cold water by 2 inches, and place over high heat. Boil for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and let it soak for 1 hour.

Slice the sausage on a sharp diagonal into 1/2 inch lengths. Core the peppers and cut them into 1 inch pieces. Dice the celery and roughly chop the onion and garlic.

Add the sausage, vegetables, and the bay leaf to the slow cooker. Drain the beans and add them to the cooker. Pour enough water to just cover the ingredients, about 1 1/2 quarts. Cook, covered, on the low setting for six hours, until the beans are soft and starting to break apart. With a large spoon, ladle off and discard some of the liquid if the mixture is too runny; stir the beans, smashing some of them against the side of the cooker to thicken the liquid. Or, you can use an immersion or stick blender to break up some of the beans, or combine the flour with a bit of the liquid and stir it into the beans.

Season to taste with the cayenne, plenty of salt, and black pepper. Continue to cook, uncovered, in the high setting for 1 more hour.

Meanwhile cook your rice.

Serve the beans and sausage over the rice.

Enjoy!

Don't forget to visit Sandra over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom to join the fun or to find more yummy recipes.