Clams a Cataplana

Clams a CataplanaRecipe by Dragon
Photos & Video by Peter Minaki

A Cataplana is a Portuguese cooking vessel that is traditionally made of copper and is shaped like two domed clam shells hinged at one end. It is designed to seal tightly so that the food cooks evenly and quickly.

I received my Cataplana as gift from my father a few years back. He had brought it back from his most recent trip to Portugal. I literally squealed with delight when I saw it. I remembered all the delicious seafood dishes I had tried that were prepared in one and I couldn't wait to make some of my own.

This is my favourite dish to make in my Cataplana.The saltiness of the pancetta and chourico compliments the clams and tomatoes perfectly. A real winner! As the cataplana sits on the stove top, it shakes and moves around a little. I think it's quite entertaining to watch and I'm sure your guests will think so too. :) Enjoy!


Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup pancetta, cut into cubes
1/3 cup chourico, cut into cubes
1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons paprika
2 dried piri piri peppers, crushed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, keep 1/2 the juice
3/4 cup Portuguese Vinho Verde or a dry white wine
4 dozen clams, scrubbed and kept in cold water until needed
1/4 cup parsley, chopped & divided
Salt & Pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive oil to garnish

Directions:

1. Over medium high heat in a large skillet, heat the oil, then add the pancetta and chourico. Fry until crispy. Remove the pancetta and chourico then transfer them to a paper towel lined plate to drain.

2. To the oil, add onions, green peppers, bay leaves, paprika and piri piri peppers and saute until the vegetables are tender but not too soft, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the garlic and saute for another minute.

4. Add the tomatoes with their juice and 1/2 the vinho verde. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook for about 45 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste but remember that the pancetta and chourico will also add to the saltiness of the dish so go easy on the salt.

5. To assemble the cataplana, spoon half of the tomato mixture into the bottom of the cataplana (if you don't have a cataplana just use a large dutch oven). Bring the tomato mixture to a simmer in the cataplana.

6. Add the clams evenly over the tomato mixture then top with the remaining sauce. Add the rest ove the vinho verde and sprinkle 1/2 of the chopped parsley.

7. Close the cataplana tightly and let it cook until the the clams open up, about 10 minutes. Remember that cataplana will move around a little on the stove top so keep an eye on it. Shake the cataplana occasionally. Discard any of the clams that haven't opened and stir in the reserved pancetta and chourico cubes.

8. I like to serve the clams right from the cataplana in the middle of the table. Sprinkle the top of the dish with the remaining chopped parsley and drizzle a little olive oil over it. Serve with crusty bread to sop up all the juices.



Here's a video of my Cataplana in action. :)

Calde Verde

Calde Verde (Portuguese Creamy Potato and Kale Soup)
Recipe by Dragon

For me, this soup is Portugal and pure comfort. It is called Calde Verde, a creamy potato and kale soup. It literally means "Green Soup". This soup is so loved in Portugal that it is the country's national dish. I use to devour bowls of this soup as a kid. So, it's no wonder that every time I make it, I feel like I'm home.

I served this soup as part of a Portuguese dinner I recently had in my home. In my opinion, you can't have a true Portuguese dinner without this soup on the menu. Enjoy! :)

Serves: 8

Ingredients:
8 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoons salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large onions, quartered
1 1/2lb potatoes, peeled and halved (about 4)
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 oz chourico (spicy cured sausage)
2 cups water
2 cups kale, finely shredded

Directions:
1. In a large soup pan, combine all the ingredients except for the kale. Leave the chourico in one piece. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 45 to 50 minutes, or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.

2. Remove chourico, slice thinly and reserve. Transfer potato mixture to a food processor or blender and puree in batches until smooth. Transfer soup back to the pot and add the shredded kale. Cook kale until its wilted. Adjust salt if necessary.

3. To serve, ladle soup into bowls and garnish each serving with a few chourico slices and a drop of olive oil.

Piri Piri Shrimp with Brandy

Piri Piri Shrimp with BrandyRecipe by Dragon
Photos courtesy of Peter Minaki
If you're looking for something a little fiery and spicy to serve your Valentine today, you can't go wrong with this beautiful Portuguese dish. This rustic dish is meant to be eaten with your hands.....and you are encouraged to lick your fingers, get a little messy and feed your special someone. Sounds like the perfect Valentines Day, no? ;) Enjoy!

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients:

500 grams of large shrimp, deveined but not peeled
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons of butter (divided)
1 bay leaf
2 garlic cloves
4 dried piri piri peppers, crushed (adjust to your own taste)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
3 tablespoons brandy
juice of 1/2 lemon
parsley, chopped to garnish
lemon slices to garnish
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Combine the olive oil, 1 tablespoon of butter and bay leaf in a saute pan over medium high heat.

2. When the butter is melted, add the shrimp and cook until no longer pink on both sides, about 2 minutes.

3. Reduce the heat slightly and add the garlic and dried piri piri peppers and paprika. Cook until the garlic is fragrant and soften.

4. Add the brandy and lemon juice. Season with a little salt and pepper to taste. Cook for one more minute then remove from the heat.Add the last of the butter and let it melt into the sauce before plating.

5. Plate the shrimp and pour the sauce over the shrimp. Garnish with parsley and lemon slice. Serve with crusty bread to sop up the delicious sauce.

Seafood Mac n' Cheese

Seafood Mac n' Cheese
Recipe by Dragon

Sometimes a girl needs a little decadence in her life. The other day I felt like spoiling myself with a cheesy, gooey mac n' cheese. But if I was going to indugle then I wanted to go all the way...Seafood mac n' cheese, baby! I added fresh lobster, shrimp and scallops. I wanted it to be creamy and dreamy so I added my own mascarpone cheese....lucscious. And to take it completely over the top I added some Truffle Dijon mustard...mmmmm.

Now, this dish was a bit of work but I'm worth it. Oh yeah...this Dragon knows how to spoil herself. Enjoy!

Serves 6

Ingredients

For the Seafood:
1 small live lobster
1/2 medium onion
10 peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon salt
8 large shrimp, chopped into chunks, reserve the shells
8 medium scallops
1 teaspoon old bay seasoning
1 tablespoon butter

For the pasta:
500 grams macaroni
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/4 medium onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups whole milk
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon old bay seasoning
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (I used truffle Dijon)
1 1/2 teaspoons thyme leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons chives, chopped
250 grams mixed grated cheese (I used mozzarella, provolone & parmesan)
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

For the topping:
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons thyme leaves
1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

1. Fill a large pot with enough water to cover the lobster. Add onion, peppercorns, salt & bay leaves and bring to a boil over high heat.

2. Kiss the lobster goodbye and put it head first into the boiling water. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to medium and cook 10-15 minutes.

3. Remove the cooked lobster from the water and drain it on paper towels. (Keep the cooking water to cook the pasta but remove the onion, bay leaves and peppercorns.)

4. When the lobster has cooled enough to handle, remove the meat from the tail and claws and cut into chunks.

5. Heat a frying pan to medium high and add 1 tablespoon of butter. Sprinkle both sides of the scallops with the old bay seasoning and sear the scallops in the butter for 1 minute per side. This will give the scallops some colour but not completely cook them.

6. Remove the scallops from the frying pan and cut each of them into quarters. Set aside with the other seafood.

7. Add the lobster shells and shrimp shells back to the cooking water and bring to a boil. After it has come to the boil, remove all the shells and discard.

8 Preheat oven to 400F. Add the macaroni to the boiling lobster/shrimp water. Cook the macaroni until it is almost al dente (remember it will cook more in the oven) or about 8 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

9. While the pasta is cooking, melt 1/4 cup of butter over medium heat in a large saucepan.

10. Add the onion & garlic to pan and cook until softened (3 to 5 minutes).

11. Add flour to the butter, onion & garlic and cook for 1 minute while stirring.

12. Add the milk and whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, and cook until sauce has thickened (2 to 3 minutes).

13. Add the nutmeg, old bay seasoning, Dijon mustard and herbs.

14. Remove the pan from heat. Stir in the cheeses and mix until smooth. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Fold in the cooked macaroni then gently fold in the seafood.

15. Transfer the pasta to a shallow baking dish big enough to hold the pasta.

16. To a frying pan over medium, add 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the panko & thyme leaves. Toss to coat the panko in the butter and toast slightly. Top pasta evenly with the panko mixture.

17. Place baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the topping is golden and sauce is bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Mascarpone Cheese

Mascarpone Cheese
Recipe from Baking Obsession

The other night I wanted to make a decadent Mac & Cheese but I was missing one key ingredient, mascarpone cheese. When I lamented that fact on Twitter, one of my followers said 'Why don't you make your own mascarpone cheese?'. What a great idea! I immediately scoured the web in search of recipes and techniques. I settled on this recipe because it used lemon rather than tartaric acid.

The hardest part of making this cheese was waiting for the cream to heat until 190F. The rest was easy peasy and the result was the best mascarpone cheese I've ever had. Enjoy!

Makes about 12 oz

Ingredients:
500 ml whipping (36 %) pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized), preferably organic cream
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Preparation:

1. Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating (it took me a lot long to reach this temperature....be patient).

2. Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see during ricotta cheese making. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir. Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours.

The first time I made mascarpone I had all doubts if it’d been cooked enough, because of its custard-like texture. Have no fear, it will firm up beautifully in the fridge, and will yet remain lusciously creamy.