On the menu tonight was: Piri Piri Lobster with Saffron Linguinehttp://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/piri-piri-lobster-with-saffron-linguine-recipe/index.html Green Cabbage Caldo Verde http://allrecipes.com/recipe/green-cabbage-caldo-verde/detail.aspx and for dessert, Easy Portuguese Cookies http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-portuguese-cookies/detail.aspx
We started this morning with the Easy Portuguese Cookies. I had picked out the recipe for one reason...key word: EASY...what I failed to do is read the entire thing because, lo and behold, you had to roll these out. Now, those of you who know me or follow the blogs know that I hate to make cookies and I have a dough rolling handicap. This is where Bob stepped in and helped out. He rolled out the dough with our handy-dandy rolling pin...the one where you can actually drink the contents after rolling out whatever it is your rolling out...and got that dough under control! Let's hear it for Bob!!Portugal is located in southwest Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the western-most country of Europe and borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and Spain to the north and east. The Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are part of Portugal.
Here is the starring ingredient of the Green Cabbage Caldo Verde...linguica sausage. The actual recipe called for chorico, but I couldn't find it so I used this instead.
I used my immersion blender, for the first time, to get the soup to the right consistency. I bought that thing a couple of years ago at a yard sale for a buck and I think it was well worth it!
Portugal has a Mediterranean climate. Port and Madeira wines originated from there. Lisbon is the capitol and also Portugal's largest city. Portugal has a well-developed fishing industry and it has the highest fish consumption per capita in Europe and the fourth largest in the world.
This is the base for the noodles for the lobster dish. I used half of the saffron called for, because, let's face it...that stuff is EXPENSIVE!! I got a bottle of it for Christmas this year and I'm glad I did otherwise I could have never brought this dish in under budget!
Saffron will also dye stuff an interesting shade of yellow. I contemplated dipping the whole thing in the water because I thought this was a pretty shade of yellow. I wonder if it would work for Easter eggs?
This is the base for the noodles for the lobster dish. I used half of the saffron called for, because, let's face it...that stuff is EXPENSIVE!! I got a bottle of it for Christmas this year and I'm glad I did otherwise I could have never brought this dish in under budget!
Saffron will also dye stuff an interesting shade of yellow. I contemplated dipping the whole thing in the water because I thought this was a pretty shade of yellow. I wonder if it would work for Easter eggs?
Breakfast in Portugal is traditionally coffee and a bread roll. Lunch often lasts over an hour and is usually between noon-2:00 or 1:00-3:00. Dinner is generally served late...at 8:00 p.m. or later.
Here are the ingredients for the Piri Piri Lobster with Saffron Linguine...I had to make modifications to this recipe. I could not find piri piri anywhere...I looked at 3 different markets to no avail, so I used 2 seeded and minced serrano chiles instead. I also used fetticcine instead of linguine because it was 25 cents cheaper at the store. The recipe called for yellow and red pear tomatoes, again, they were nowhere to be found, so I used 3 chopped romas and I used shallots in place of the onion. The lobster tails I had on hand, they've been hanging around in my freezer for months now and I decided to break into my stash for this blog.
Here is the finished Green Cabbage Caldo Verde soup...this is a hearty, filling soup that would have been a meal all by itself...Bob loved this and so did I. Our neighbor, whose name is also Bob, said he ate so much of it he felt like he was going to bust!
Piri Piri Lobster with Saffon Linguine (Fetticcine)...absolutely delicious! Yes, it does taste as good as it looks.
And those Easy Portuguese Cookies!! This was a meal to be remembered for quite some time!
I should have whacked his hand, but he rolled those suckers out, so who am I to tell him to wait until after dinner?!?!?
My grocery bill this week came to $10.71. That left $9.29 to go into the Beach Bag...the total after 15 weeks is $101.59.
Here are the ingredients for the Piri Piri Lobster with Saffron Linguine...I had to make modifications to this recipe. I could not find piri piri anywhere...I looked at 3 different markets to no avail, so I used 2 seeded and minced serrano chiles instead. I also used fetticcine instead of linguine because it was 25 cents cheaper at the store. The recipe called for yellow and red pear tomatoes, again, they were nowhere to be found, so I used 3 chopped romas and I used shallots in place of the onion. The lobster tails I had on hand, they've been hanging around in my freezer for months now and I decided to break into my stash for this blog.
Here is the finished Green Cabbage Caldo Verde soup...this is a hearty, filling soup that would have been a meal all by itself...Bob loved this and so did I. Our neighbor, whose name is also Bob, said he ate so much of it he felt like he was going to bust!
Piri Piri Lobster with Saffon Linguine (Fetticcine)...absolutely delicious! Yes, it does taste as good as it looks.
And those Easy Portuguese Cookies!! This was a meal to be remembered for quite some time!
I should have whacked his hand, but he rolled those suckers out, so who am I to tell him to wait until after dinner?!?!?
My grocery bill this week came to $10.71. That left $9.29 to go into the Beach Bag...the total after 15 weeks is $101.59.
Now on to new business: Bob starts radiation on Monday and we talked it over last weekend and decided to let all of the readers choose which 2 countries get put up for vote on Sundays on the Recipe Exchange. We did a test run this last weekend. Band Mom Becky chose Sweden and Maggi chose Denmark. Swiss Phil apologized to everyone that voted for Sweden because he never picks the winning country...well, Phil...eat your words! 53 people voted and Sweden it is next week...29-24! Hey, Phil...your country won!! LMAO!
I need to clear up what became an issue last week about authenticity of these dishes. I have never claimed these are authentic recipes, and I never will. If they are, that's an extra added bonus for me. I only want to attempt to pay tribute to these great countries that I hope to, someday, visit. I can only do so much, I am limited as far as ingredients and utensils and space. I also have to factor in propane usage, as well. A lot of thought goes into each dish I pick out. Quite a few of you have emailed me recipes, and for that I am extremely grateful, but, as much as I'd like to make each and every one of them, it won't be possible. I'm not the only one here who has a say in matters. I am not going to prepare a dish that I know Bob won't eat. That would be ridiculously silly of me to do that! I don't have money to throw away like that. So if you have sent me a recipe and I didn't make it, I'm sorry...but I'm only trying to do the best I can.
On a happier note, yesterday and the day before, I got emails from AllRecipes saying that they have accepted 4 of my recipes to publish. I'm super excited about this, as you can imagine!
http://allrecipes.com/personalrecipe/62242855/twinkie-tiramisu-trailer-trash-style/detail.aspx This was the recipe I came up with when I did the Italy blog with the help of Keri!
I'm sure the links will change after they are done being edited, but you can get to each one by clicking on the above links!
Thanks, everyone, for reading and until we meet in Sweden next week...try to say something nice to at least one person a day and peace to you all!!
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