Azoresgal~Life on an Island

 I must say, that sometimes , I feel I bit guilty about being a stay at home mom, mostly when it´s cold outside, and I send everyone out the door in the early chilly morning. The kids go off to school, and Mr. G off to work, and Luna and I get to hang out in a toasty, warm home and wait for them to come back. We are a couple of weeks shy of winter, but they leave when it's dark, & arrive when it´s dark at the end of the day. Now we, in fact do not get snow, we might get the odd hail storm, but it does get chilly for us. So when they do come home, I want them to eat something warm and comforting. Pot roast is one of those comfort meals I  love to make for them. It is really easy to make, do not be scared, aside from browning the meat, everything else just goes into the pot. It´s also a one pot meal, and you know you can´t beat that, little to no clean-up. It just needs time, to bubble away in the oven, while the super delicious smell of the roast wafts through your h...

“Alcatra” is a traditional dish from Terceira, the island I live on. It is a pot roast that is cooked in large unglazed red clay pots. The pots are seasoned, and with each use get darker, and darker.  The simple spices, combined with onions, bacon and wine are what make this dish  flavorfull and so good. "Alcatra" is the Arabic word for "piece", and  it is  made with pieces of beef (round, shank, chuck). The additon of meat with bone in, makes all the difference, as the bones will give it more flavor. Every village, and everybodies grandmother has a different recipe for Alcatra, this one happens to be my grandmother's version. Shortly after I married, I took all of my ingredients, a notebook and pen over to my maternal grandmother's house. Where, while she put everything together, I wrote down her words of wisdom. Now I must say, she may or may not have forgotten something, but I follow this recipe as is, I don't mess arond with it, it's her recipe, ...

This is the first meal I made when Mr.G and I returned from our mini vacation. Now, even though eating out everyday with hubby was fantastic, I truly did miss my kitchen and cooking for my family. With that said, the cleaning up, that, I didn't miss so much ! I used my regular meatloaf recipe, flattened it out, layered some cheese and ham on it, rolled it up jelly roll style, and baked it. Very simple, but really good , the kid's loved it ! Ingredients 1 kilo/2 lb. lean ground beef/pork 1 pkg. (6 oz.) Stuffing Mix for Chicken ( I use 2 bags of croutons, because we don't have this here) 1 cup water 2 eggs beaten salt and pepper to taste equal parts brown sugar and ketchup slices of ham and mozzarela cheese ( use any kind you like) Heat oven to  190º/375* Place meat, stuffing mix (or croutons), water,  and eggs  in bowl. Mix with fingers just until blended thoroughly, add salt and pepper if needed . Pat the meat mixture out onto a piece of waxed pa...

This one is a keeper, all the wonderful flavors of stuffed green peppers, but oh so very quick to put together. Even the kids loved it, and they won't go near stuffed peppers with a ten foot pole. I added bacon to the recipe, because....well because bacon makes everything taste better. Next time, I think I will add in some chopped Linguiça/chorizo, I have a feeling the great smoked flavors will be an added bonus to this casserole. Stuffed Green Pepper Casserole 500 gr. ground beef 2 small packages diced bacon (optional~I added that in) 2 small onions chopped 2 medium green peppers, seeded and chopped 1 and 1/2 cups tomato sauce 1 cup rice (uncooked) 2 cups chicken broth  OR 2 cups boiling water + 2 chicken cubes shredded cheese Directions -In a little bit of olive oil, brown the ground beef, bacon, diced onions, and diced green peppers. - Remove from heat, to the pot add, the uncooked rice, the tomato sauce, the chicken cubes and the boiling ...