Holiday Cooking Blogger Style!

Well it's that time of year again and I'm so thrilled that the wonderful lady at "Overwhelmed with Joy" is hosting this again.

Last year I shared a couple of recipes from my Portuguese Culture, they were some of the most common Holiday meals served during Christmas.

We don't have Thanksgiving in Portugal so Christmas is pretty much the biggest family get together, there's tons of food everywhere and family and huge christmas trees surrounded by an ocean of gifts. Yes, when you have a huge family it literally takes over the living room, but it's so much fun.

So I'm sharing a few more recipes with you AND giving you the link to my Holiday Cooking Blogger Style First Edition last year in case you missed it and want the recipes that were shared there.

Rabanadas - Portuguese Christmas "French Toast"

* 1 baguette loaf of bread
* 1 egg
* 200 ml (3/4 cup) milk
* Olive oil
* Sugar and cinnamon

Cut a baguette into 1 cm (1/2") thick rounds; remove the crusts; dip into an egg beaten with milk - 1 egg to approximately 200 ml (3/4 c.) milk.
Fry in hot olive oil in a skillet for a few seconds on each side drain; sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

The next recipe is one that we had many times for Christmas Eve, it's like a bread but stuffed with ham and bacon or sometimes even Chourico........it's SO good.

Bola de Carne - Meat Bread

Ingredients
6 eggs beaten
½ glass of vegetebale oil
pinch of salt
1 lb of flour
2 package of dry east ( Dissolved in warm water)
1 “chourico” (chourizo from Spain or Italy can serve the propose) sliced
¼ of smoked ham cut in pieces


Beat the egg together with the yeast and oil. Mix with the flour and salt.
Knead and place in a greased bowl to rise. This makes a moist sticky dough.
Put in a greased bowl turn to coat and cover. Let it rise to double, about 2 hours.
Traditionally the meat is spread in a single layer in the middle of the loaf. I prefer to mix it throughout the loaf .
Prepare you bread pans and divide the dough in two pieces.
Mix the meats in the dough and place in the loaf pans to rise a second time.
Let rises for about 1/2 hour and then bake in a preheated 450 deg. Oven for 30 to 40 minutes.

And lastly here is a soup that I think every portuguese person knows.......it's sooooo good and I remember eating it many times during the holidays. My greatgrandmother used to make it and it was to die for.......rich and filling and just wonderful.

CALDO VERDE - PORTUGUESE KALE SOUP

Serves 4

½ lb of shredded kale
1 lb of potatoes
1 small chourico sliced (a good hard smoky sausage can be used
even pepperoni in a pinch)
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
4 tablespoons olive oil
pinch of salt

Peel the potatoes and heat in a quart of water with the garlic and chourico. When the potatoes are well cooked make a puree and continue to heat. Meanwhile wash the shredded kale and add to the puree and boil. Add half the olive oil and cook the kale. When ready to serve season to taste. Add the remaining olive oil (use as much as you like) and serve with the bread.