Shrimp Appetizer

I have another shrimp recipe ( having posted my Shrimp Fettuccine recipe a few weeks ago) that I am excited to share with everyone. I like to make this as an appetizer or even as a light dinner. I'm only here in Portugal for one more month so I want to explore the cuisine of this beautiful country. Shrimp is an ingredient that every portuguese kitchen uses. You can have shrimps as a starter or even as a main dish. I think people will love today's recipe, because the shrimp, the tomato, the garlic, the coriander and the lemon go great together. In the future I'd like to try to taste and make other kinds of sea food and I'll try to share these experiences with you guys. 

INGREDIENTS:

500g shrimps

4 cloves of garlic

8 cherry tomatoes

coriander leaves

lemon

Optional: 

white wine

Peel the shrimps ( buy frozen raw shrimps if possible) ( you can buy pre peeled to make this step easier ) and set it aside in a bowl. Chop up the garlic, the tomatoes and the coriander leaves. Take a big frying pan, put some oil in it and then fry the shrimps with the garlic on a high heat. When the shrimps have turned pink ( they are done very quickly and you don't want to overfry them , because they will harden and lose their lightness ) you can add the tomatoes, coriander and squeeze some lemon juice in it. Add a splash of wine (this step is optional) as well. Season with salt and pepper and you can serve it with toasted bread or baguette.

Definitely try to make these shrimp appetizers and share them with family and friends. Take a picture of it and tag me on instagram or twitter.

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Pastel de Natas

Pastel de Natas is known as a Portugues speciality which is mentioned in every guide book as a must try. I personally love them and I've eaten them so many times. To taste the real ones you must go to Belém in Lisbon and find a shop/cafe called, Pastéis de Belém. A few weeks ago we went there with my family and the "pastel"s were so tasty that I decided to give it a try at home. To make my life easier I used puff pastry which I bought in the store. I started making them and I found out that it is not as easy as it may seem. I think mine turned out pretty good for the first try, but I will improve my recipe to perfection.

INGREDIENTS:
1 pack of puff pastry
300ml cream
3 tablespoon of flour
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons of granulated sugar  (but if you like it sweeter you can add more)

cinnamon

For the top: 

powdered sugar

cinnamon

(Also you will need a blow torch to burn the tops)

Take 1/4 of the cream and the flour and stir until smooth. Then pour the rest of the cream, sugar and some cinnamon (to your taste) in a bowl and place it on medium heat. Stir until everything has dissolved and then take it off the heat and let it cool a bit. Then place the egg yolks one by one while constantly whisking.
Take the puff pastry and roll it out on your working surface (put a little flour under it and on top) and then roll it up and cut it into 12 equal pieces. Get your muffin tin, butter the insides and distribute the dough evenly with your finger. Then fill them with the cream we made earlier up to 2/3. Put the tin in the oven and bake it on 180°C (350°F) for about 30 minutes (keep an eye on them so they don't get burned).

When they are done, place them on a plate and let them cool a little. Then dust the top of each pastel de natas with powdered sugar and burn the tops with a blowtorch a little. To finish off dust some cinnamon on top. 

 Pastéis de Belém

 

I think you can decide which one is mine and which one is the original one from Belém, but still I had fun making these sweets and everyone who tasted it said it was pretty good :)

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Arroz doce

For my first real Portuguese recipe, I decided to make arroz doce which is a delicious dessert. Whenever I go to a portuguese restaurant I always order this to finish a great meal. It is sweet and cinnamony. This recipe has a little bit of a twist, because I used 

sweetened condensed milk instead of sugar and I have no regrets, it tastes amazing. If you want to make a portuguese dessert, but you don't want something too complicated, then this is the recipe for you. Also if you come to Portugal you must try arroz doce. 

INGREDIENTS:
4 cups of water
2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 tablespoon  of salt
210g of rice
480 ml of milk
100g of sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
cinnamon

Get a saucepan and bring your water, butter, salt to a boil. Then add the rice and on a medium to low heat let it cook for 25-30 minutes (until the rice cooks and absorbs the water), then add the warm milk (boil it a few minutes before). Let this cook for 5 more minutes and then add the sweetened condensed milk gradually while steering the mixture. In a separate bowl take your egg yolks and a few tablespoons of the rice mixture and quickly whisk them together so the eggs don't cook. Pour the mixtures back to the saucepan and let that simmer for another 5 minutes. Taste it and if you feel that it could be sweeter then add more of the sweetened condensed milk. Let it cool completely and put it in the fridge to chill and serve it with cinnamon on top. 

I hope you feel inspired to make this portuguese recipe and if you do then be sure to write a comment or take a picture of it and upload it to instagram and don't forget to tag me in the photo .(@breakfast_at_katas).