Chourico & Peppers

This past weekend, I took a trip to Mello's Chourico to pick up my supplies for the couple of recipes I had on board.  Every time I go there I'm more and more impressed.  The chourico is just so fresh!  The family who owns the company also runs the store, so you'll meet them if you stop in :)  Local and fresh is always best!  (You can buy chourico from Mello's online!  They will deliver it to your door step....nothing better than that! http://www.melloschourico.com/)
This recipe can be made in a crockpot or a dutch oven, but the key is the longer it cooks the better.

Chourico & Peppers

2 lbs. of chourico ( we like to use Mello's hot chourico-gives it an amazing kick ) cubed
2 green peppers cubed
2 onions cubed
1  14oz can of diced tomatoes with the liquid
2 cans of tomato paste
3/4 cup of red wine ( we always use Casal Garcia! )
Salt to taste

Brown your chourico, peppers, and onions together.  Once they have cooked a little (not all the way, you just want a browning to them for flavor)  Add all the ingredients except the salt.  Mix together and let it sit in the crockpot on low for about 6 hours, or on low-med heat in your dutch oven for about 3 hours.  Once it's just about done, add salt to taste.  You can serve this in a roll, as shown, or over rice or pasta!

You can really adjust this recipe anyway you want.  Want it to have more liquid?  Try adding some tomato sauce or more red wine.  Want more veggies?  Add some red and orange peppers as well.

Meatless Monday

Kale Soup with beans

Put down the chouriço everyone!! It's Meatless Mondays! You can still make your sopa de couves delicious without chouriço or pork by adding extra yummy flavors like carrots or even sweet potatoes. Experiment with your vegetables and see if you can bring a new dish to your table. 

Ingredients:

• 1 quart of water, vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 large onion, roughly diced
• 4 cloves or minced garlic 
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 2 sweet potatoes, cubed
• 4 celery stalks chopped
• 2 carrots peeled and chopped
• 1 large bunch kale or collards, remove stems, wash well  and chop
• 1/2 cup  of small pasta like mini bowtie or elbow
• 1 (15 ounce) can of white or red beans
• 4 tablespoons olive oil 
• s+p to taste

Directions: 

1.  To make your own flavorful broth, begin by sauteing onions and celery with olive oil until softened, then add in your minced garlic. Saute until you start to smell the garlic. Add 2 cups of water and bring to a slow boil. Cover for 10 minutes. Remove pot from flame and with an immersion blender, blend your celery, onions and garlic until smooth and water becomes this cloudy delicious broth.  

2. Now add the rest of the water, potatoes, kale or collards and  s+p.

3. Bring to boil and cook covered for about 25 minutes.

4. Add your beans and carrots and cook for about 10 minutes. I smash half the can of beans for a thicker brother. .

5. After cooking the beans and carrots you can add your small pasta and simmer for 5-8 minutes.  

6. Taste for s+p.

Hope you Enjoy! 

Favas

There are a million versions for making favas.  Some have wine, some have tomato, some add chourico.  This is the recipe we use.  Feel free to play around with it and find the best balance for you and your family :)

Favas

1/4 cup of Olive Oil-Portuguese if you can

1 large onion-chopped

1 tablespoon or more to taste of pimenta moida

Parsley

2 cans of fava beans with the liquid-Portuguese brand if you can

1/2 tablespoon of paprika 

Put the oil in a pan and let it heat up.  Add in onions and saute.  Add in Pimenta Moida and paprika.  let it come together for a minute and then add the favas.  You can bundle the parsley and leave it on top or if you'd like you can chop it and stir it in.  

Let it simmer for 45 minutes or more.  The longer they cook, the better they taste!

This is good for a couple people.  Please double or triple if making for a large family.

Enjoy :)

Ervilhas com Ovos Escalfados

Ervilhas com Ovos Escalfados


Eggs with poached eggs was cooked in our home a couple times a month. It's a pea stew that has molho to soak up bread and an egg for each person, sort of like a special treat on top. I love this dish and I'll be making it forever. 

Ingredients: 
2 lbs frozen peas
1 medium onion diced
4 garlic cloves chopped fine
2 plum tomatoes or 1/2 cup of Chunky tomato sauce
1/3 cup of red wine
1/4 teaspoon paprika 
olive oil
4-5 eggs
half of a chourico link sliced
s+p to taste

Drizzle olive oil onto pan and saute chourico on one side. When browned flip them over with tongs and add your diced onions with s+p and paprika. Saute till softened and golden brown. Add your garlic last and saute for 1 more minute

Add the wine to deglaze the pan and scrape off the good bits from bottom of pan.  

Add your peas and tomatoes. (I'm waiting for my tomatoes to grow so I opted for jarred chunky sauce.) Bring up to boil, then back down to a low simmer for 15 minutes. 

Make a hole using a spoon to drop each crack egg into. 

Cover and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes. The yolks should be cooked through. 

Serve with a hearty piece of bread. Preferably broa. That's my choice :)  

Happy Cooking, 

Caldo Verde

Caldo Verde

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup of good olive oil 
3 garlic cloves minced or chopped 
4 medium or 2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
8 cups of water, or half homemade chicken stock and half water 
1/2 pound kale or collard greens, stems removed, cut into very, very fine julienne (i end up putting half in the food processor)
Good salt:  kosher, sea salt or rock sea salt                                                                                                              Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the chouriço and cook until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove the chouriço to a plate. 

 2. Add the onions into the pot and season with salt and pepper. Saute until they’re translucent and very soft. Add garlic after to prevent them from burning and cook for 2 minutes more. 

3. Add your 8 cups of liquid (I always have my electric kettle full of hot water on standby). Then drop in the potatoes and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are almost done, 15 to 20 minutes. 

4. When potatoes are almost done lower heat so that you can puree with an immersion blender. Do not puree completely. Leave them a little chunky for a more rustic comfort feel. You can also add the chouriço here to blend as well. Since I do not eat meat I add the cooked chouriço at the end and my husband gets to eat the chunks of chouriço that way.

5. Add the shredded greens and bring everything back to a boil and cook down greens for 15-20 minutes. Season with more salt, if needed, and pepper.

6. Ladle the caldo verde into bowls and enjoy.

Keep in mind when I make soup I'm only cooking for my husband and I. I always make enough for seconds with leftovers for each of us the next day. I don't make enough for a feast and left over soup in the fridge for a week. We all know our mothers are good for that. So keep that in mind with the amount of ingredients I use for soup. If you are a family of 6 and you want seconds, then double this recipe :) 

Enjoy!

Steph's Favorite

Hello my foodie friends :) 

I have so many favorite Azorean dishes, but if I had to pick one. It would be my family staple Sopa de Feijão com Couves. Translated it's Bean Soup with Greens. Soup was always an option. Traditionally that's how Azoreans ate most of their vegetables. At moms If there isn't soup on the stove, it's in the fridge. At my house I try to make soup at least twice a week. You feel better after having a bowl, even if you were feeling fine :P  It's comfort food at it's best. Here is the recipe. 



Sopa de Feijão com Couves

1 bunch 1½ lb fresh collard greens (washed, trimmed of center rib and torn into 1-2 inch pieces)
1 small onion finely chopped
3 potatoes (peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes)
¼ cup of pasta such as elbow macaroni
1 half link of Portuguese chourico and piece of pork fat for flavor
8 cups of water
¼ cup of olive oil
3 gloves of garlic, (peeled and crushed)
2 cans Red or White Kidney beans (IMPORTANT STEP - mash 1 can of beans for thicker broth. I use immersion blender)
Season with salt and pepper to taste


Place large pot over medium heat. Add whole or sliced Chourico, pork, onion with olive oil and sauté for 10 minutes. Add garlic last, you don’t want it to burn. Meat doesn’t need to cook, just release flavors. Then add just enough water to cover Chourico and bring to a simmer for 20 minutes to bring out flavors into the water to make a flavorful broth.
Prepare the greens by washing them thoroughly and tearing the leafy portions from the steams. Tear into bite size pieces into a colander to rinse. Discard stems.
Add the rest of the 8 cups of water to pot.
Add the collard greens. Cook on Medium heat for 30 minutes.
Now add diced potatoes. Continue to cook on same heat for another 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes test the collards. They shouldn't have a bite to them. They should be soft.
Add beans (half smashed) and pasta.  Mix thoroughly. Let simmer for 10 minutes or until pasta is cooked making sure they don’t over cook as they will soften in the hot soup.
Serve with pop seco (Portuguese rolls)


In my home we omit the meat and pasta. Still tastey! Try and it out and let me know what you think