Bad-ass Sea Bass

Sunday, 24th July.

Wow.

That's really all you need to say about tonight's dinner at the fabulous Tasca No Cais on Sao Martinho's waterfront.

We're actually no strangers to this place, having been here during a property search in December/January 2007/2008.

This time, however, the trip is purely pleasure (although we do have our eye on an apartment up the road) and it's the food I'm more interested in than the real estate.

I was keen to delve further into the fresh seafood on offer and this place didn't let me down.

First though, it was the morcilla that caught my eye for starters.

It's fair to say that they don't do things by halves here. That was apparent when The Missus' starter of garlic prawns arrived. They were huge, absolutely delicious and there were plenty of them. Shortly after their arrival, my black pudding appeared.

This, again, was huge - probably about a foot long. It was also very tasty. Laced with paprika, pepper and rice, it had a little background heat which really rounded off the flavour.

Massive was the continuing theme as the main event arrived.

I should really go back a little here to when we were ordering.

I had originally intended to go for the sardines. When in Rome, and all that. Or Portugal, as it were. However this place has whatever comes in on the boat on any particular day and they were all out of sardines.

The Missus had already decided on sea bass however we were a little unsure as all the fresh fish was priced by the kilo.

When our waitress advised that there were no sardines, I said I'd have the bream and The Missus said she'd have the bass. This prompted a frown from the waitress who promptly directed us over to the fish counter. Turns out, if you wanted sea bass you got the whole sea bass (or bream or mullet etc) but these weren't the size you'd see in a UK supermarket. These were about as long as my arm. Seriously. The waitress hauled out a bass and weighed it - little short of 2 kilos. Looked like we were all having sea bass after all.

We weren't disappointed. The fish was simply butterflied and barbecued whole and served with new potatoes and shredded runner beans. And delicious it was too; charred, crispy skin and opaque white, succulent flesh. Worth every one of the €66 for the fish alone.

On a side note, while that might sound quite expensive, in reality it's not. Not if you consider the size of the fish. The truth is nothing's very expensive here at all. At least the food and drink aren't. A rare thing these days in any neck of the woods.

Anyway, this photo doesn't really do this magnificent fish justice but at least the chef at Tasca No Cais did.


The Bloke.

Clamtastic

Monday, 25th July.

After a scorcher of a day at the beach we decided to eat in at our apartment tonight.

Inspired by the clams from our first restaurant, I headed first to the previously mentioned local market just around the corner. Unfortunately it would appear that Monday isn't fish day at this particular market and all that was on offer was an admitted impressive array of fruit and veg. The aroma of the peaches was spectacular in itself.

Not to be put off, I ventured on to the local supermarket down the road, returning with a bulb of garlic, a baby leek, a packet of spaghetti, a chorizo, some fresh parsley, olive oil and a large bag of fresh clams from the fish counter. Oh, and a couple of fresh crusty bread rolls from the bakery.

So to dinner. Ably assisted by The Pookster, I sautéd the finely chopped leek and garlic in plenty of olive oil then added the thinly sliced chorizo, releasing the lovely paprika redness into the oil.

Meanwhile, I cooked the spaghetti in a large pan of salted boiling water. With just a few minutes to go, I added the clams to the chorizo until they opened, releasing their juice into the sauce.

After draining the spaghetti, I tipped the clams, chorizo and sauce over the pasta, stirring it through and added a good handful of chopped parsley.

I served this up with some garlic bread that The Missus had knocked up by slicing and toasting the crusty bread before rubbing with a fat garlic clove and drizzling with olive oil, and some very crisp local white wine.

Whilst I didn't have a chance to stop and take a picture of the finished article, it's definitely one I'll be cooking again and deserves a place in The Bloke archives.

Portugal

Saturday, 23rd July.

Right, so we've abandoned the rain of England in favour of the sun of Western Portugal. Sao Martinho do Porto to be exact.

Unfortunately it's only a temporary abandonment but still, it gives us a chance to soak up the sun and sample the amazing food on offer - starting with these wonderful clams which were simply opened in lashings of olive oil with a lot of garlic and coriander.

These were preceded by a cold seafood appetiser of squid, prawns and mussels with onion, peppers and the ubiquitous olive oil which we hadn't ordered but just arrived. As did the bread and olives that also arrived unannounced. Nevertheless, it was all tasty enough so I'm not complaining.

My clams were followed by some fried John Dory fillets which were unexpectedly battered and didn't quite live up to the standard set by the starter however The Missus had prawns in garlic to start which, were great, followed by sea bass steaks served (unusually, I thought) with pasta, which she assured me was pretty good.

So, all in all, a good first choice of restaurant. We've had a wander around the cove and there are plenty more restaurants to choose from, mostly with a good selection of fresh seafood.

Speaking of fresh seafood, I went for a run round to the far side of the cove and discovered the beach littered with mussels, cockle, clam and razor clam shells. A short clamber over some rocks and I found an abundance of mussels, crabs and limpets. I'll definitely be heading back over there with a bag before the holiday is out to gather up a supply of mussels to cook as I did last year in Nerja, Spain. This time it should be easier as there'll be no snorkelling involved.

Anyway, I'm writing this in our fantastic apartment with has everything you could wish for - apart from wi-fi. So this'll be parked up until I get down to one of the bars at the beach later.

For now though, it's croissants and yoghurt for breakfast followed by a mooch round the market around the corner.

Laters.


The Bloke

BBQ Ribs

Barbecue!

So, finally the great British weather relented long enough (only just) to let me put the new gas BBQ to the test. It didn't disappoint.

First up, home-made burgers. I've covered making my own burgers on this blog before here
http://blokeinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2009/06/home-made-burger-and-chips.html. I still do them the same way except l no longer add an egg. I don't think it's needed.

Another thing I often do is put some grated cheddar in the middle of the burger. This melts wonderfully when grilling and gives a great flavour throughout.

The burgers grilled a treat on the barbie, the control of being able to crank the heat up or down instantly is amazing, not to mention having instant fire at the twist of a knob. The fat dripping down into the burners and smoking more than makes up for the lack of charcoal in my humble opinion.

After the burgers came some chicken legs which I'd simply marinaded in olive oil, crushed garlic, lemon juice, chilli and salt and pepper. I'd also cooked these in the oven at 180 degrees (gas mark 4) for 20 minutes to make sure I wasn't poisoning my friends and family.

Next up, a sheet of bacon ribs I'd bought earlier in the day from the wonderful Scotch Beef Shop in Woolton, Liverpool (where I'd also bought the minced beef for the aforementioned burgers as well as some sausages, which I'll come on to later). These ribs deserved a decent marinade so I had a root through my store cupboard and came up with the following:

BBQ Marinade Recipe

4 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
4 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of paprika
Ground black pepper

Mix the lot together, smother your meat of choice and leave to marinade for a couple of hours.

The ribs were followed up by the obligatory bangers. No ordinary bangers here though, oh no. These are hand-made affairs from the butchers mentioned above, pork and pepper and Slimming World approved too so not too much damage on the waistline. The have a whole range of interesting sausages and the shop is worth a visit for these alone.

To counter the meat-fest there was a lot of nice fresh salad doing the rounds, as well as some halloumi griddled on the barbie's side burner all washed down with a jug of Pimms and some Stella Artois Cidre.

Well, now our 2 days of summer appear to be over and the rain has returned so the cover's back on the barbecue, probably until this time next year.

Salud!

View To A Grill

After 2 hours of crawling around, lifting and swearing a lot, the lean, mean grilling machine is ready to do battle.

Let grilling commence!

Baked Trout and Sunny Days

Ah, sunshine! It's usually a rare commodity in these here parts but April and, so far, May have been nothing but glorious.

It's weather like this that makes me think of holiday food and that, more often than not, means fish.

This dish in particular reminds me of sunset at a restaurant on the beach in Mallorca a few years back. At the time the fish in question was actually Gilt-head Bream but, being at the mercy of Tesco fish counter (other supermarkets are available) I chose the fish that looked freshest and that was some nice Rainbow Trout.

Incidentally, best way to tell if the fish is fresh is to look at the eyes. They should be clear and bright. If they look cloudy then avoid at all costs.

Right, back to the trout. I keep it nice and simple. Take a roasting dish or baking tray large enough to hold your fish and scatter the bottom with a finely sliced onion and a bunch of chives.

Next, cut slashes in the sides of the fish on both sides and season the fish with salt and pepper, both inside and out.

Stuff the insides of the fish with a few slices of lemon, thin slivers of garlic and a bunch of fresh parsley.

Lay the fish on the onions and drizzle the whole thing with a good olive oil.

Roast (or bake, if you prefer - no difference as far as I can determine) for around 20 minutes at 180 degrees (gas mark 4 - I think).

Serve the fish whole with new potatoes and crisp blanched veg such as sugarsnap peas, green beans and asparagus. Oh, and how about a cheeky little dry white? Ah, go on then, I'll have a Gavi.

We've also had a raft of bank holidays, with an extra one courtesy of Prince William and his lovely bride, Catherine. We watched the wedding with a drop of fizz round at our good friends, Sles & Jac followed by a barbecue and a certain amount of cider. Cheers Will and Kate!

We finished off the bank hols with a trip up to the Camelot theme park with The Missus, Pooky and I plus Pooky's sidekick, Ubiquitous Katie.

When you've been to Orlando, those sort of places kinda pale by comparison. Still, a good day (along with picnic) was had by all.

Oh, speaking of barbecues, and Orlando for that matter, after being treated to gas barbies in Oz a few years back, Sles & Jac took the plunge and splashed out on a huge 4 burner contraption. We resisted but were tempted again by the one we had in Florida at Christmas.

Last weekend's wedding barbie finally persuaded us that we needed to abandon the charcoal and go gas so we've ordered a four burner piece of our own. It's getting delivered on Friday so putting that together will no doubt be fun. I'll keep you posted....




The Bloke