Jamie´s 'fifteen' Idea is a good one...

One day, I hope, if I can, I would like to run a restaurant where the cooks are young people with no resources. Specialy if I can make it in a place where they are set aside by the society in general.
If I could make this for my profession, maybe other professionals from other areas could do the same. We can't always wait for governaments to act in favour of their people, 'cause they usualy don't.
We are Humans, remember? Human kind? Nations and countries and territories is a Man's invention. Human kind exists no matter what. Rich? Poor? We, as humans, must act, not just be spectators. If you can, do something, not just talk about it. Just look around you.

Jamie, 'fifteen' you rock.

Iron Chef - Battle Egg (5 of 5)

tadaaaaammmmm !....

Iron Chef - Battle Egg (4 of 5)

and goes on...

Iron Chef - Battle Egg (3 of 5)

well?...

Iron Chef - Battle Egg (2 of 5)

Try these for breakfast

Robuchon a' Galera Macau

Poached egg perfect...

Try this:

Get some water boiling in a deep pan.
Place 2 eggs, whole, or as many as you wish, as long as they fit comfortably side to side, inside the bottom of the pan, for 15 to 25 seconds inside that water. This will make the egg white inside the shell to start to coagulate and it will be easier to do the next step.
In another pan, boil some water, but add some white wine balsamic vinegar, or other.
Take it away from the heat and open those eggs into the water, gently.
Wait 3 minutes.
Take them out using a ladle and place them in very cold, or icy, water, after you have trimmed the eggs, so that they look nice and oval. Be careful not to crack them open.

When you are ready to use the eggs, get some water boiling with salt and let them in for 30 to 45 seconds, this will be enough to heat them up again.

Get them on toast with bacon or anyother use that you want and enjoy your poached eggs.

Our breakfast eggs, a special ingredient...

Today, I had the pleasure of taking a guest by car to the hairdresser because she was already late and the time was running short, so, I took her on my family car, believe me its not de Luxe ...

Well, what matters is that she is a guest from Vila Joya, thus someone very important to us.
She revealed to me that she had never had such delicious scrambled eggs with ham and herbs, and these guests travel a great deal around the world, believe me.

I told her that we only use the best and freshest ingredients, in well balanced recipes. And that was the reason why the eggs tasted so excellent.

I must say now that I did not tell her the real truth.
All that we do, including the eggs, is made with love and care as if we were cooking for our own friends and family.
So the main ingredient is Love. The rest is merely a consequence...

Maria de Lourdes Modesto and our cooking ways...

Remember this:
If you ever would like to know how to make a traditional portuguese recipe, get the Portuguese Traditional Cook book by Maria de Lourdes Modesto.
She has the best recipes from all over Portugal.
Truly, truly portuguese culture and memory.
Portuguese traditional creations in food has practicaly none or little influence from modern french, italian, english or whatever cuisine.
Our recipes go back to Asian, African and Arabian cultures, Portugal was strongly occupied by muslims from south until Douro river, all remixed and adapted to our special tastes in each portuguese region.
Off course that we have some influence from some Iberian cooking culture.
The sweets and special deserts were developed mainly by the monks and nuns from the rich abbeys, seldomly using sugar, eggs and almonds toghether with cinnamon and other spices brought by the portuguese navigators.
Still to be discovered by most of the world of cooks, the Portuguese recipes lack in promotion and adaptation from most of the chefs in Portugal, except for some honorary ones.
To change this, there should be a wider and stronger support from our Ministry of Culture. Promoting our recipes, in lighter versions, presentable ones, according to the nowadays way, considering health and good nurishing habits.

Clams with pork meat, Goat cheese with wild crunchy plants on a broth, shark soup, 'Cataplana', clams and corn mash with fresh herbs, mutton 'ensopado' with mint, river eel cooked with rice using the fish blood and red wine, crusty and flaky pastry cup with a special custard-like filling topped with cinnamon dust that go so well with expresso coffee, to mention a few things that you have probably never heard of.

And our best wines? Considered some of the world's best already, check them out...

Get curious, find out more about it... read M.L.M. She knows...

Larousse Gastronomique's new edition: - a must have

Buy the new Larousse Gastronomic 4 new books (Hamlyn ed.), with Joel Robuchon as President of the Gastronomic committe.
If you are a serious cook or if you are just a 'foodie' you must have it.
It is divided in 4 books: vegetables, fish, meat and sweets.
Go and get it now, i just did.

What about omolette ?

Yes, what about omolette?
How do you like it? Plain or with something special? Well done or creammy inside? I make them everyday, and always try to have them creammy inside and my favorites have herbs and tomato and pancetta crunchy bits. I should video one, to show you how I do them.
At the moment, we are quite busy, to say the least, in Vila Joya, where I work, so I don't have much time to make photos or videos of what I am doing, but as soon as it calms down, and I do hope that it doesn't (right, Joy?) ;-) I will make the videos I promissed you, ok ?
Meanwhile, please comment on omoletts, send me recipes, do something! Please...

And are you all cooking your breakfasts? Come on, don't be lazy, get up and have a king's day start !
Be good !

Eggs bennedict en coccote !

Today I tried a new recipe created by me, Eggs Bennedict 'en coccote'. (in a glass)

Recipe, pics and maybe a video tomorrow.

Stay tuned

What a 'Petit Dejeuner' ! (Breakfast, you fools !)

I found out after a couple of days, that my kitchen brothers and sisters did not have a propper breakfast, usually only coffee and that's it, so my breakfast was always at 12 o'clock , they called it lunch, the same system as in Portugal, but I am not used to it anymore, I am a breakfast cook, remember?. So this is the story of one 'trés bon petit dejeuner', pardon my french...

One fine day, Marc Meneau invited me to have a meal in the main room, so, he told me to stop work, at 11 hrs and shower and change. So I did... Breakfast King Size, was awating...

Getting ready for a memorable lunch at L'Espérance of Marc Meneau. It,s 12 o'clock now of April 22, 2007.

Caviar on beetroot, egg white and créme and lemon zest, toghether with a Chablis grand au "Vaudésir" 2002 Domaine Brochard, a white wine from Vézelay ! What a start. I had this 'amuse bouche' at the gardens before I went to the main room. Delicious.

To work out my apetite (!) I had this special cumined Carrot stripe rolled around a foi gras farse. with delicious sauce.

Imagine the sea with all its secrets... and get it all on a presentation dish, Tadam.... ! this is It ! When I saw Adeline preparing the Urchins I had no idea that this woul be the final result... Inside a urchin shell, I had a mouth watering sabayon a little bit brulleé at the top and to contrast it, the urchins corals in cold sea water gellatine. To eat and dream away, weted by a "Chassagne Montrachet "Morgest" 2004 Domaine Borgeot"... I just have to close my eyes to remember... and...

After this, I had a Lobster with 'Liveche' (wild Cellery) sauce and 'Petit pois au lardons' green peas with microscopic pieces of bacon (I had cut some previously at the kitchen for mise-en-place). I was soaway from this world that I did not take a photo, so you will have to take my word for it.

And this is the tenderest, mouth watering, savouriest piece of lamb I have ever had, and with a special wine , of course... Sauvigny lés Beaune "Narbantons" 2004 Domaine Guillemot. Confectioned by Julien Boyet, I belive. So... Now I am starting to feel quite full but I have to find space, and so easily, for the next show... desert, starting with cheese !

A Comté millesimme 1999 cheese, with cellery and apple cumined salad ! To be remembered...

This desert starred at Sofia Coppola's Movie 'Marie Antoinnette' by the hand of Chef Marc Meneau who was the consultor for gastronomy. And now I was about to eat 'history'... Imagine strawberrys picked up that morning tocheter with a ginger foam, and other wonderfull things I can't reveal. The desert wine was Pinot Gris d'Alsace "Vendanges Tardives" 2000 Domaine Rolly-Gassman The perfect light desert for a perfect breakfast at the garden's of Éden that is L'Espèrance of Françoise and Marc Meneau. Coffee and petit fours were next...

Mainly, I was just looking at this tastefull dish, I was so complete that I just took a Lychee and had my expresso, calmly finishing my Pinot Gris d'Alsace... It is now 2:26 PM... And I start work again at 5, time for a walk or a siesta? You guess...

Thank you, Grand Chef and thank you Madam Françoise Meneau and all my dear friend cooks for this memorable Breakfast !