#eskimofinn

Cottage cheese, blueberry cake Ingredients: 500 g  cottage cheese 150 g caster sugar 100 g potato starch 50 g ground hazelnuts with the peel on (opcional) 7 egg yolks 7egg  whites 1 tsp vanilla extract Blueberry sauce: 200g blueberries 80 g caster sugar 1 dl water Preparation: *Butter (the entire tin) and line the bottom of a springform tin (20 cm diameter) with parchment paper. *Put all the ingredients for the blueberry sauce into a saucepan and take to the heat. Boil gently  until the sugar dissolves, 2 to 3 minutes. Keep for latter. *Preheat the oven to 180º, 350F, gas mark 4. *Beat the cottage cheese with the sugar and vanilla until creamy, mix in the hazelnuts if you use them  and then the egg yolks, one at a time, beating between aditions. Add the potato starch and mix. *Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the cheese mixture, with gentle up and down movements. *Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Cover the cake with tin foil if it starts to burn on top. It´s done when a skewer inserted in the middle come out very lightly moist. *Let the cake cool in the tin and then unmold. *Serve it with the blueberries sauce on top.

Ricotta lemon cakes Ingredients: 200g ricotta 2 eggs 80g all purpose flour 1, 1/2 tbs caster sugar 1, 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp ground cinnamon Pinch of salt Zest of one big lemon Soy oil to fry Icing sugar for dusting Preparation: *Put the ricotta, eggs and lemon zest in a bowl and mix well. *Add the remaining ingredients and combine until smooth. *Fill a saucepan with enough oil to deep fry the cakes and heat well. *Fry the cakes turning them over so they cook evenly until golden brown. *Turn the heat down if they turn brown to quickly. *Put the cakes on top of kitchen paper to release the oil excess and then put them on a plate and dust with lots of icing sugar.

Coscorões Recipe adapted from "mão na massa" Ingredients: 16 to 18 Coscorões 1 kg flour 7 eggs (separated) 100 g melted butter 80 g melted lard Juice of 4 oranges Zest of 1 lemon Zest of 1 orange 1 tbs Aguardente 1 tsp baking powder 1 tbs caster sugar Pinch of salt Icing sugar to dust (i used caster sugar but icing sugar is best) Cinnamon to dust Corn or soy oil to fry Preparation: *In a big bowl combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, butter and lard. Mix well until blended. *Add the Aguardente, egg yolks, orange juice and zests and mix once more. *Beat the egg whites until firm and fold them into the dough. *Knead the dough. Maybe you´ll need to add a little bit more of flour just to stop it from sticking to your hands. Knead using the same method used with bread. Push it apart from you and pull it back, several times, knead and punch it until it becomes satiny and smooth. *Make a ball and let it rest for 30 minutes, dusted with flour and covered with a kitchen towel. *Roll the dough into a 2 or 3 mm thick piece. Cut rectangles of dough and make 3 vertical cuts in every one of them, without cutting the edges. *Knead the extra cuts of dough and roll them once more until you use it all. *Heat the oil and fry the Coscorões until golden. *Drain them in kitchen paper and then dust them generously with icing sugar and cinnamon.

*Serve warm or at room temperature with a good spoonful of whipped cream.

Black eyed peas, miced beef and vegetables tacos These tacos are just as delicious made only with beans, for a vegetarian version.. Ingredients: serves 4 8 flour tortillas 200 g black eyed peas 150 g minced beef 4 roma tomatos, deseeded and cut into small cubes 1 small zucchini deseeded and cut into small cubes 1 big onion, chopped 2 cloves of gralic, chopped 2 jalapeños deseeded and chopped 1 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp lemon thyme leaves 1 tsp dried oregano 1/2 tsp chilli flakes 1 bay leaf 1 tbp olive oil Salt to taste Black pepper to taste Chopped coriander Plain yogurt Preparation: *The night before leave the beans soaking in water. The next morning cook the beans in plenty of water for 35 to 40 minutes until tender but nor mushy, add the salt in the last cooking minutes. Drain and keep for latter. *Heat the olive oil in a big frying pan - big enough to accommodate the meat and the beans - and cook half of the chopped onion until soft, add the meat, garlic, jalapeños, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, chilli flakes and cumin an cook for a few minutes (5 or 6) until the meat turns opaque and then add the beans, season with salt and black pepper to taste and cook for a few minutes, stirring so all the flavors come together. *In a bowl stir the chopped tomatoes, onion and zucchini. *Fill each tortilha with a portion of meat/beans mixture and top with another portion of chopped vegetables, chopped coriander and a drizzle of yogurt.

Eggplant and cod involtini Is always good to remember that for peeling tomatoes easily all you have to do is a light cross shapped cut on top of each one and deep them into boiling water for 15 seconds or a bit more depending of the tomatoes quality (a few at a time, depening on the size of the pan). Remove them for the water, let them cool a bit and then pull the skin. As for the olives I used black ones with the pit still on, because they are so much tastier than the alredy pitted ones. And It´s so easy to remove the pit, if they are tender like the ones I use, you just have to crush each one between your fingers. When making this recipe, you will probably end up with cod mixture and tomato sauce leftovers. With the cod you can fill some tomatoes and bake them in the oven until soft and bubbly, they are really, really delish. As for the sauce, you can freeze it and use latter in pasta dishes, homemade pizzas, etc. The possibilities are endless :) Ingredients: serves 4 2 large eggplants (aprox. 700 g), about 9 to 10 slices 300 g of salted cod loin, cut into small  pieces and already soaked in water and drained (without the skin and bones) 1 big onion, finelly sliced 1 garlic clove, minced 2 tbs chopped parsley 1/2 tbs dried oregano 80 g of black olives, pitted and finelly chopped 2 tbs olive oil for the onions (I use extra virgin ) Extra virgin olive oil for the eggplant slices S. Jorge island cheese for the topping (you can use parmesan) Salt to tatse Freshly ground black pepper to taste Olive oil for drizzling Tomato sauce: 500 g of ripe tomatos 3 tbs extra virgin olive oil 1 medium onion, finelly chopped 2 cloves of garlic,minced 1 tbs dried oregano 1 bay leaf 1 tsp honey Salt to taste Freshly ground black pepper Preparation: *Heat the grill. Cut the eggplants into thin slices, but nort so thin that it can´t hold the filling. Brush the slices with the olive oil and put them in the grill, cook until soft and crisscrossed, turning them over when needed to stop them from burning, about 2 to 3 minutes each side. *Make the filling. Fry the onion in the hot olive oil until really soft and almost starting to gain color. Add the garlic, mix and add the cod. Cook for a few minutes, just enough to evaporate the water released by the cod, Stir in the olives, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat. While you make the tomato sauce the flavors will blend and come to life. *For the tomato sauce, peel and dessed the tomatoes and cut them into small cubes. Cook the onion in the hot olive oil until soft, add the minced garlic and stir in the tomatoes, bay leaf and oregano. Let it simmer with the pan covered, for 20 minutes, stirring from time to time. Stir in the honey, cook for 5 minutes more and take from the heat, remove the bay leaf, let it cool a bit and blintz until smooth. Check out the seasonings and make any needed adjustments. *Preheat the oven to 190º, 375F, gas mark 5. *Fill each eggplant slice with the cod mixture (about 1 tbs per slice), rolle it up so the filling is secure and put them into a baking dish. Pour over the tomato sauce, sprinkle with S. Jorge island cheese, according to your personal taste and drizzle with olive oil. *Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes until bubbly and beautiful. *Serve with some  garlic rice or simply with a great salad.

*In each tortilla put a bit of the sauce, then some lettuce strips, the fish, radishes, cucumber and pepper, onion rounds, a bit of the sauce and sprinkle with the coriander and jalapenos. Drizzle with lime juice, wrap the tortilla and serve whole or cut in half.

*Put the burgers together as you prefer, using the tomato, goat cheese, onion rounds, green leaves and sauce.