Azoresgal~Life on an Island

This easy mushroom sauce is excellent with steak or roast beef. Try and get the mushrooms nice and caramelized, it will give the sauce a great color. Even better is if you use the same pan where you fried your steaks. All those great little bits left behind, will allso give your sauce flavor and color. Fresh mushrooms are great here, but don't hesitate to use canned.




1 cup sliced mushrooms, (or more)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
splash of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 cup beef broth**
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons cold water
salt and pepper, to taste


Sauté mushrooms in butter and oil for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally; add a splash of Worcestershire sauce ,add red wine and simmer for a few minutes. Add beef broth and simmer to reduce a bit, about 5 minutes. Combine cornstarch and cold water and whisk until smooth. Stir into the mushrooms until well blended. Season to taste and simmer for about 1 minute, until thickened. If too thick, add a …

This is such a great sandwich, a favorite at our house. Steak, onions, peppers and cheese a winning combination in my books ! After making this atleast once, you can certainly eyeball everything, and add mushrooms or hot peppers. Wrapping them, and baking them a little bit just takes them over the top ! I really hope you give them a try !





700 grams boneless steak
3 tablespoons vegetable oil/ or butter or more
1 very large onion, halved and sliced
2 large green bell pepper, cut in strips
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoon Worcestershire  sauce
4 to 6 soft bread rolls
500 grams cheese, grated ( a good melting kind)



To make the steak easier to slice, set it in the freezer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
 Remove the steak from the freezer and cut it into very thin slices, and set it aside.


Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet.
Add the onion and peppers and sauté over medium heat for about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soften…

Cheese, jalapenos and beer in a bread !! What ?? Seriously those ingredients alone had me convinced this would be really good. That and the fact that I still have tons of jalapenos, which Mr. G keeps nagging reminding me to use up ! So I got to it, and found this recipe on the magical world of Pinterest. You know the place, don´t pretend you don't! This bread,it's a keeper, its sitting on my kitchen counter right now, just took it out of the oven. It smells wonderful, and tastes ( I know because I ate a big warm slice of it...I had to taste test it for you) even better. It's best to eat it all the day you bake it, that won't be hard, because it's a quick bread, it will not be as lovely the day after. So go on..go try it !







3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 whole jalapenos, finely chopped (seeds removed)
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
12/ oz (355ml) bottle/can beer

3 Tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a l…

Pumpkin, sugar, and  cinnamon, oh my.... these are such a lovely treat. They are a favorite at our house on the weekends, and a great way to use up all the pumpkin we had this year. These little gems taste like pumpkin pie, with less work. Try and resist the urge to make them any bigger than, a teaspoon, they will not cook all the way through. I hope you give them a try.








1½ cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ginger
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ cup cooked pumpkin
¼ cup milk
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
½ cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon Heat frying oil to 375◦ Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.  Mix pumpkin, milk, oil vanilla and egg.  Stir in dry ingredients just until moistened. Drop by teaspoonfuls into hot oil, 5-6 at a time.  Fry for 1-2 minutes, on each side, until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels. Mix cinnamon and sugar.  Roll warm donuts in mixture.
recipe source

A simple recipe for mexican rice that is delicious, and I think better than anything you can order in a restaurant. But that's just my opinion...you have to make it and decide for yourself ! Break out the Margaritas while you are at it !







3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 small onion diced small
1 cup long grain rice, uncooked
1 tsp. fresh minced garlic
1/2 tsp.  salt
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 c. tomato sauce
2 cups water + chicken cube
3 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh cilantro


Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute the diced onion, till soft. Add the rice and gently stir until rice begins to lightly brown. Add the garlic, salt, and cumin and stir the rice till it looks golden. Add the tomato sauce, water + chicken cube, and cilantro and turn the heat up to medium high. Bring the mix to a boil then turn the heat to low and cover the pan with a lid. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.

I have a confession to make...uhm...this was the first time I ever ate lentils ! Shocking I know...and I really have no clue as to what took me so long to try them. This soup was delicious ( might have something to do with the bacon ) and real fast to make. In 30 minutes it was ready to serve for dinner, and the hubby and I enjoyed it very much.The wonderful  Mr.G had the light version sans creme fraiche and sans parmesan cheese, grated on top. You all know I went for all the toppings, go big or go home, I say !




2 teaspoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
2 slices of bacon, finely chopped
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
¾ cup (150g)  lentils
1.25 litres (5 cups) chicken stock
Sea salt and cracked black pepper

Finely grated parmesan and sour cream, to serve

Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add the oil, onion, bay leaves and bacon and cook for 4 minutes or until lightly browned.
Add the thyme, lentils and stock, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils start to …

Last weekend our family went to a baptism for the youngest cousin in the family. Following the ceremony we were  invited to lunch. Amongst many wonderful dishes served at the venue, were these lovely little apples. These delicate ruby gems, were not too sweet, and had a fantastic syrup, the perfect pairing to the pork loin. They were poached in red currant syrup, this syrup is very common here in Portugal. There are many brands, and they are used for all sorts of beverages, very similar to grenadine. I have never been drawn to fruit poached in wine, it just has never appealed to me, so these beauties inspired me to go home and give them a try. I must say.... mine could give the catering company a run for their money ! They were amazing.







4 medium apples ,Pink Lady, Golden Delicious, or Braeburn apples,(peeled, cored,cut in half)
500 ml water
200 ml red currant syrup ( xarope de groselha)
150 grams sugar
2-3 anise star
4-5 cloves


Combine water, red currant syrup, and sugar in a large he…