Two years ago we were in Portugal, and if you know anything about Portugal you know they have delicious food and wines. One of the highlights was an evening we spent with our nieces in Porto. We were treated to a very elegant gourmet dinner. One of the delights was a drink they introduced us to- a white Port Aperitif. It’s an out of this world before dinner drink – light and refreshing and great for summer entertaining. I’ve mentioned the recipe to a few of you that have stopped by our Tasting Room. Here it is: Equal parts white port, equal parts club soda, a twist of lemon, a cinnamon stick,and some crushed ice.

Enjoy and as they say in Portugal  – Saude!

Folar is a traditional Portuguese  bread that is stuffed with linguica , slab bacon and presunto (Portuguese sausage and ham). There are various renditions of this recipe, but the one that I will share with you was my Mother’s. It is customary to serve this bread at Easter, but it is also eaten year round  and served at many family celebrations. I try to keep the tradition alive by making it at Easter. I make several small ones, unlike my Mother who made one that was so big it barely fit in the oven ,one to eat when it first comes out of the oven, one for breakfast on Easter morning , one for the dinner guests, and a couple to send home with the kids.

5 lbs. flour

2 dozen eggs

1 1/2 sticks of salted butter

1/2 cup olive oil

salt ( a few pinches)

1 cup of warm water

2 packages of yeast

Mix the yeast with the warm water in a small bowl. Melt the butter. Beat the eggs ( key is to let the eggs sit at room temperature before beating).

Add the other ingredients and slowly add in the flour. Beat everything together.

Kneed the dough and then let the dough rise in a warm place until it doubles in size.

Separate the dough into how many breads you want to make. Roll out the dough on a floured counter and add the meat. Roll it up to form the shape of the loaf, tucking the ends under. Place on a floured cookie sheet and let it rise again from 30-60 minutes.

Bake at 350 until the crust gets hard ( 40-45 minutes for small loaves and 1 hour for larger breads).

 

 

 

With this winter deep freeze, there is nothing that warms you more than soup. Kale seems to be the trend now. The Portuguese have always been great fans of kale in their diet so I guess we were in the know. I will share a simple soup recipe that includes kale. There are so many variations of Portuguese kale soup and I  suppose that you can Google and find them, but the one I am going to share with you has been in my family forever and is very easy to make. It  is known as Poor Man’s Soup or the national soup of Portugal.  It’s simple and quick to make and also freezes well.  A warning I don’t measure precisely, but don’t worry you don’t need to when making soup.

Fill a large pot with water about 3/4 full.

Peel about 3 medium potatoes and one onion- quarter them and add to the pot along with 2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped.

Boil them for about 15-20 minutes and then puree with a hand blender.

In the meantime stack a few kale leaves at a time ( don’t use the curly kind) on top of one another, roll them like a cigar and cut them as thinly as possible.  Use about one pound of kale. Wash and add to the pot once you have pureed the potatoes and onions. Don’t worry if it seems like too much kale because it will shrink as it cooks down.

Add abut 8 ounces of thinly cut linguica , a Portuguese sausage that you can find in most grocery stores now. Add some salt to taste  about 1 1/2 teaspoons. You can also add ground black pepper if you like, but you don’t have to and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, about a 1/4 cup. Stir and let everything come to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer for about an hour.

The soup actually tastes better if you serve it the next day.

Tip- you can buy the kale already chopped up in most Portuguese bakeries or grocery stores in Hartford, Bridgeport and Waterbury.

Hint: serve with crusty bread and red wine and you have yourself a meal. Enjoy!