Portuguese Christmas desserts I like

By José Conçalves (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 

(www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

MEXIDOS RECIPE that I learned from my mother

(A typical recipe from the north of the country, it's also called FORMIGOS.)

Ingredients:


3 small common breads (two days old or more)
1,4 L water
200 gr sugar
50 gr of butter
1 small glass of Port Wine
1 small glass of honey - you can had more if you like
Half a lemon peel
1 cinnamon stick
a pinch of salt
100 g pinenuts
150 g walnuts
100 g raisins ( you can use almonds too)


How to prepare it:

Cut the bread in fine slices.
In a small bowl add the Port wine and the raisins.
In a pan put the water to boil.
When the water is boiling add put the bread and cover. Let it rest for some minutes. Then use the blender.
Now you have a paste. Add the pinenuts, the walnuts, the sugar, the lemon peel and the cinnamon stick to this paste and let it boil always stirring. Fire must be slow so the water evaporates slowly.
When this paste is smooth add the honey and keep stirring. The paste must be consistent till the end, sometimes it takes more than half an hour to get there.
At last you add the raisins and the Port Wine. This must be done in the very end so they keep in shape. Keep stirring for more 5 minutes.
Add the salt and taste the paste to see if it needs sme more.
Put in a plate. Eat cold.

Some people make decorations with cinnamon.I don't do that.

Bom apetite!

By Carlos Botelho (Susana Monteiro) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) 

or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

RABANADAS (It's like French toast)


Ingredients:


1baguette (a loaf of bread)

1 egg

200 ml (3/4 cup) milk

Olive oil

Sugar and cinnamon


How to prepare it:

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 it and then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon;

Eat a lot, forget about diet and wish Christmas never ends!

ARROZ DOCE - Sweet Rice

You can learn how to prepare it in my previous post!