Portuguese Family Salsa Recipes

PORTUGUESE SALSA

Steps:

• Thinly slice peppers, celery and green onions. You can use a food processor with the slicing blade if you have one (buddy-up the green onions with the celery so they cut cleanly!).
• Throw everybody in a bowl and add couple good splashes of olive oil + red wine vinegar, a dash of salt and a good dash of pepper!

PORTUGUESE DRESSING

Steps:

• In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a large bowl. In the same skillet, saute the sausage, poultry seasoning, garlic powder and allspice for 2 minutes., Add the sausage mixture, stuffing cubes, broth, egg and parsley to the beef mixture; mix well. Transfer to a greased 3-qt. baking dish. Drizzle with butter. , Cover and bake at 325° for 45 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until lightly browned and a thermometer reads 160°.

PORTUGUESE FAMILY SALSA

Steps:

• The trick to this salsa is the chunkier the better! This is not the "tomato paste with a few peppers" salsa you get at your local Mazatlan. This is the freshest Pico de Gallo you can imagine. How good it tastes is solely based on your tasting the results each step of the process (the most enjoyable part!).
• So, get out your largest cutting boards, your sharpest knifes, small bowls for each ingredient, your grater, one big steal bowl, and a wooden spoon. This can be a fun kids or couple project if you want to include others.
• Essentially hand dice everything in their own neat little piles to be placed in their own respective bowls (except for the tomatoes which should be placed in the big bowl). Grate the carrots and cabbage with large holes next.
• Open the two 4 oz cans of "La Victoria" diced jalapeños three quarters of the way and then drain the juices one at a time into the bowl with the tomatoes. Once drained, dice up SOME of the contents of the cans, but don't use too much. It is easier to get the spiciness you require by tasting with only the tomatoes up front. As soon as you can sense a light aftertaste/tangyness of jalapeños, you are there. I like mine a bit on the hot side and typically dice about two solid tea spoons of actual jalapeños. I only use one and a half cans of the juice. When this step is complete, pile in the onions, carrots, cilantro, and cabbage. Squeeze in some lime juice, add some salt to taste, and it is finished!
• This salsa is a simple/healthy recipe, but so delicious. If invited to a dinner party, I will often drop by our local market and grab all of the ingredients (no bags necessary), whip up a jar and bring it along with blue chips. People can taste the difference right away between store bought and fresh homemade organic salsa.
• Ps. Always keep the bottom of the batch at home for yourself though. Day two is even better.

LINGUICA (SMOKED PORTUGUESE SAUSAGE)

Steps:

• Rinse fatback thoroughly and soak in warm water for 30 minutes. Remove and chop into small pieces.
• Pour olive oil in a small pan and saute garlic for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Do not let it brown. Remove from pan and put into a large bowl. Add fatback, pork butt, wine, paprika, milk, vinegar, salt, sugar, liquid smoke, marjoram, white pepper, black pepper, and red pepper and mix until everything is well combined. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours, or overnight.
• Test the sausage flavor by frying a small bit of it in a pan and tasting it. Adjust spices if needed and place back in the refrigerator, covered, for 2 more hours.
• Run water through hog casings and rinse out as well as possible. Soak in warm water for 30 minutes.
• Set up sausage stuffing attachment on KitchenAid®. Squeeze out water from a length of casing. Tie one end in a knot, then roll onto sausage making fitting like a condom. Turn KitchenAid® onto medium speed. Feed cold sausage mixture a little at a time into the funnel. Use one hand to keep casing tight and one to feed meat mixture. Twist off links as you get to desired length. Repeat with remaining hog casings and sausage mixture.
• Add several handfuls of hot coal into a smoker to get a base temperature going, then let the temperature die down to about 140 degrees F 60 degrees C). You need a cold smoke to smoke the sausages so it doesn't cook and the skin doesn't get browned.
• When smoker has the right temperature, add hickory wood chunks. The temperature will spike again, so let it cool back down to 140 degrees F (60 degrees C).
• Using toothpicks, hang sausages in the smoker as far away from the direct heat source as possible. Maintain temperature at 140 degrees F (60 degrees C) as best as possible. It's difficult - don't sweat it if you get spikes. Just open the smoker door and let heat escape accordingly.
• Smoke until links are deep red and skin is starting to firm, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Remove from smoker and let rest for 30 minutes. Cook like any other sausage before, either pan-fry or grill, before serving.

LINGUADO COM SALSA VERDE/ PORTUGUESE FISH IN PARSLEY SAUCE

Steps:

• Roughly chop the parsley and the garlic.
• Boil (or microwave) the potato (or use a leftover cooked one) and mash with the parsley, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper, and then add enough water to the mix and beat or whisk to produce a saucy consistency.
• Salt and pepper the flounder fillets. Combine the wine and fish stock in a frypan and heat, once it's simmering add the fish in one layer and poach the fish gently for 7-10 minutes until the fish is cooked though. (cooking time depends on the size of the fillets).
• Serve the fish immediately with the parsley sauce.