Recipe: The World's Best Favas

Favas be big beans-BIG BEANS! It's a dish that seems to be an acquired taste. Which basically means that cowards or the uninitiated don't care for it. I like it however. I like it quite a lot and the recipe below is responsible for more than a few converts to the dish. Most recently, my beautiful wife who LOVED them. It's one of those meals that can be had in as many variations as the number of families that make it. This is my version of course and I am telling you that these are the World's Best Favas. THE WORLD'S BEST FAVAS!

One little Portuguese cooking trick that I use in this dish may seem like it wouldn't make a big difference, but it really does help to create THE WORLD'S BEST FAVAS. That trick is sweating the onions and garlic instead of sauteing them. You'll notice how profound that difference is when you pop the cover off the pan at the end of that 20 minutes. The aroma is HEAVEN! HEAVEN PEOPLE! Which incidentally is where they probably serve a lot of these favas because if I haven't mentioned it yet: THESE ARE THE WORLD'S BEST FAVAS!

What else can I say about this recipe?

How about this: IT'S GOT CHOURICO IN IT!

Chourico, as in EVERYTHING IS BETTER WITH CHOURICO. Including these favas which happen to be THE WORLD'S BEST FAVAS!

Pay attention to the details at the end, the bread, sweet butter and chilled Dao are MANDATORY!

'Nuff said on my part.

The World's Best Favas

1lb. of dry favas beans (soaked then simmered or pressure cooked to tenderness)
2 Tbs Portuguese olive oil
4 onions (halved and then thinly sliced)
8 cloves of garlic (minced)
3 sticks (about 20+ ozs.) of chourico (sliced in 1/4" disks)
1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
3 tsp hot crushed red pepper (the wet stuff)
4 Tbs fresh parsley (chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat a large saucepan over low heat.

Add olive oil and spread it around the pan. Add the onions and garlic and sweat them covered in the pan for 20 minutes. Don't open that cover. Keep the flame on low and don't burn it!

Add the chourico and mix in well. Raise the heat a little and continue cooking for 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the crushed tomatoes and crushed red pepper and continue at a good medium simmer for about 45 minutes.

Add the fava beans and continue cooking for 30 more minutes or until the beans are tender and creamy inside.

Add all but 1 tablespoon of the parsley to the favas and mix throughout. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with the last tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley and serve with a good crusty peasant bread, sweet butter and some chilled red Dao wine (that's right I used "chilled" and "red wine" in the same sentence! DO IT!).

It's even better the second day!

Recipe: Shrimp Mozambique (Camarao Mocambique)

So...just how does a recipe from Mozambique end up in the Portuguese section of Chop Onions, Boil Water? You probably don't care, but I'm going to tell you anyway because if I didn't, all the space below the period at the end of this sentence would be white and I just can't have that.

This recipe begins way back in 1498 when the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama visited Mozambique. Apparently he liked what he saw, communicated it, and subsequent "explorers" visited the country and established settlements for trading and waging war against, and enslaving the uppity locals in a brutal feudalism that eventually evolved into a less-brutal-but-no-more-attractive colonial government. This of course led to conflicts for independence and fast forward to 1975 when the good people of Mozambique finally won their self-governance. So there's your Portugal-Mozambique connection.

Now lets make the Portugal-Mozambique-Recipe connection: Way back yonder when the Europeans were running around "discovering" people and cultures that already knew they were there, they started bringing back things they begged, bought or stole from the inhabitants of "THE NEW WORLD". Useful things like corn, potatoes, gold, captives, etc., and for the purposes of this story: chilies. Some of those chili seeds that were brought to Europe from the New World by European explorers, then made their way to Africa with Portuguese traders. There the peppers were spread by man and nature and flourished all over the continent and the local cuisine.

One small dried variety of these pepper pods called "Piri-Piri" by the local folks in Mozambique (sounds like "peedy-peedy" in Portuguese but means "pepper-pepper" in the African Swahili language), were used in making hot sauces and dishes, one of which would evolve into the recipe below. Portuguese, inhabitants, travelers, military men and mercenaries fell in love with the dish and brought it back with them to the homeland. Other Portuguese traveling abroad later would bring this dish to American shores, specifically the shores of Southeastern New England where the recipe is hugely popular. That's my story and I'm sticking to it until I learn otherwise.

See? Portugal-Mozambique-Recipe-America-Internet-The World.

This dish is great for group dining. It is rich, spicy and tangy. Be sure to have plenty of rice or a good crusty bread around because the resulting sauce is too good to pass up!

Incidentally, this is also prepared as a chicken dish using grilled tenders or breast meat sliced similarly.

Shrimp Mozambique

15 to 20 saffron threads
1/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of Portuguese olive oil
2 lbs. shrimp (uncooked, shell on)
10 cloves of garlic (coarsely chopped)
1/2 bottle dry white wine (Portuguese vinho verde is EXCELLENT for this dish)
1 tsp. colorau (colorau is Portuguese paprika. You can substitute sweet Spanish paprika or regular paprika in that order)
2 Tbs hot crushed pepper (the red wet kind)
How ever many dashes of Portuguese piri-piri you like (recipe below) or your favorite red hot sauce (Frank's© or Tabasco©).
2-3 Goya® seasoning packets (seafood type)
Juice from one lemon
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup fresh parsley (chopped, loosely packed)
Salt and pepper to taste
A good crusty bread or some rice

Put the saffron in the water and let steep overnight.

Place a deep saucepan on medium-high heat, when the pan warms, add the olive oil. When oil begins to shimmer add the shrimp and sauté until they just turn pink.

Remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon and keep the juices and oil in the pan. Put the shrimp aside and keep them warm.

Add the garlic to the pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes. DO NOT BROWN OR BURN THE GARLIC IT WILL GET BITTER.

Add the saffron and water, wine, paprika, crushed pepper, hot sauce, Goya seasoning and lemon juice. Bring this mixture to a boil, adjust to a lively simmer and allow it to reduce and thicken slightly.

Return the shrimp to the pan and continue simmering, stirring frequently for about 2-3 minutes.

Add the butter to the pan stirring frequently. Once butter melts, stir one more time, remove from heat and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish well with chopped parsley and serve over rice or by itself with a good crusty bread for dipping in the sauce which you will want to do again and again and again.

Piri-Piri Sauce

2 to 6 hot chili peppers (like Thai bird's eye or Szechuan peppers)*
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 tsp of coarse sea salt
1 cup Portuguese olive oil
1/3 cup cider vinegar

De-stem but do not de-seed the peppers and then chop them coarsely (Wash your hands afterward and be careful not to touch your eyes fool!).

Combine the chopped peppers, red pepper flakes, salt, oil and vinegar in a bowl and mix together well. Then transfer to a suitable vinegar dispenser jar and allow to steep for a day or two.

Shake well before use.

Piri-Piri is great on a lot of different foods. Even shrimp that has been simply sauteed, broiled or boiled.

*If you want a mild sauce use less, if you want a fiery sauce use more.

Recipe: Azorean-Style Pork Cutlets

In 2003 my wife and I were invited by our friend Sherri to travel with her and her family to Sao Miguel, Azores-Portugal. We were to stay with her grandmother and aunts in the tiny village of Lomba de Sao Pedro. I jumped at the chance because my great grandmother was from the same island, and growing up in Fall River, Massachusetts you hear so much about the Azores. How could I not go?

Upon arrival, we were introduced to Sherri's grandmother Maria Elvira and her aunts and then directed to the cozy room we would be staying in. Once settled we made our way to the kitchen which was located at the center of the house. The whole family was there smiling and catching up and we were brought into the conversation. Many times our host inquired whether or not we were hungry or thirsty. At one point sensing our polite protestations Maria Elvira offered in Portuguese: "A casa pequena, mas o cora grande." They are all Portuguese words I knew but I had never heard the phrase before. It means "The house is small, but the heart is big." If this was a promise it was surely kept for I never had such a gracious and generous host. She prepared breakfast and dinner for us on most days, and often encouraged us to take cheese sandwiches with us on our daily trips around the island.

I have noticed that words used to describe bad food and cooking always come easy and are accurate. However, to try and craft words to describe great food is impossible. That is because great food transcends language. Such was the case with Maria Elvira’s cooking. It was great, all of it, and I tried to taste everything she had to offer and often that was quite a lot. Dinner was always a perception/reality kind of thing. You would perceive that you were going to eat Portuguese-style pork cutlets, however in reality, you were going to start with cutlets, then favas would come, then olives, bread, cheese, fish and anything else one of the aunts might walk in with! Pork, fish, beef, chicken, chourico, morcella, eggs, pudding, homemade ice cream. All of it sublime, all of it prepared by 70-something-year-old food magicians in a traditional Portuguese kitchen. We always left the table near bursting. I would walk outside and sit down and then the dessert offerings would come! It is a lucky thing for Portuguese men that they farm and do other active work, or else they would weigh 500lbs! Maria Elvira was not only generous with her food, when I asked how she made things, she was always generous with her recipes and her methods.

My time on Sao Miguel was filled with many fond memories of charming and generous people, great food and the island's beauty. In honor of Maria Elvira, I present my recipe for Azorean Style Pork Cutlets which is based on, but could never be nearly as good as the ones she served us the night before we left for the U.S. She also made sandwiches of the leftovers for our trip home.

Azorean-Style Pork Cutlets

1-1/2 to 2 lbs pork loin (cut into 1/4" cutlets)
2 cups white wine
4-6 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 tsp colorau (or regular paprika)
2 Tbs Portuguese olive oil
2 small bay leaves
1/2 cup shallots (chopped)
1 medium pimenta salgada (chopped)*
1/3 cup parsley chopped

In a large bowl, add the wine, garlic, colorau and bay leaves and mix together well. Add the pork cutlets and marinate 30 to 40 minutes.

Place a large, deep pan on medium-high meat. Add olive oil. When oil begins to smoke, brown the sides of each cutlet and set aside to keep warm.

Add the chopped shallots to the pan and simmer until they begin to brown lightly.

Increase the heat to high and immediately add the marinade to the pan to deglaze it.

Adjust heat until the mix is at a high simmer. Add 1/2 the pimenta salgada and a 1/3 of the chopped parsley.

Continue simmering the sauce until it is thick and rich. Remove the bay leaves.

Reintroduce the meat and coat it well in the sauce as it warms.

Remove from heat and let sit for about 5 minutes.

Plate with the gravy spooned over it and garnished with chopped parsley. Pair it with rice or potatoes or serve it in rolls as a sandwich. Offer the remaining pimenta salgada on the table so your guests can use it to season the cutlets to their own taste.

*If you cannot find pimenta salgada and do not want to make your own, use pickled red pepper instead and be sure to include salt to the recipe.