Rabanadas

This dessert is traditionally served at Christmas time but is great any time of year. Especially in the colder months accompanied by a glass of port wine.
It's basically slices of bread soaked in milk then fried. There's more to them then that, though. But they are delicious and one of my favourite desserts. Here is how to make them.

Ingredients
1,2 lt milk
8 slices of bread
6 eggs
6 table spoons of sugar
Skin of half a lemon
2 cinnamon sticks
Vegetable oil
Ground cinnamon and sugar to taste

Bring the milk to a boil with the cinnamon sticks and the lemon skin. Let it cool down. Beat the eggs until well beaten. Pour the milk into a deep plate so that it's easier to soak the bread slices in the milk. Be careful not to let them soak for too long as they will break and we don't want that. Do this and then pass the slices through the beaten eggs. Next, fry the slices in hot oil until they are golden brown.Turn them over as necessary. Place them over kitchen paper so that the excess oil may be lost, then place in the serving platter. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Enjoy.

Francesinha

This dish was born in Oporto in the sixties by an emigrant that returned from France. He decided to add a special touch to a French sandwich very popular throughout the cafes, the "croque-monsieur". He transformed this sandwich into something with soul that appealed to the tastes of the people from Oporto.Thus was born the francesinha which is one of the most popular dishes in this region appreciated by the rich and poor.


Here is a recipe for francesinha. If you haven’t tried it, get ready for a treat. It was actually considered one of the top ten sandwiches of the world and is a emblematic dish from Oporto. Best served with chips on the side and and a chilled beer. Bom apetite.

Ingredients (for 2 francesinhas):

4 slices of white bread

2 pieces of steak

2 fresh sausages

2 “linguiças” (a type of Portuguese sausage and optional)

2 slices of cheese

2 slices of ham

Sauce:

1 beer

1 glass of Port Wine

1 meat stock cube

2 bay leaves

1 decilitre of milk mixed with 1 soupspoon of corn flour

2 soupspoons of tomato sauce

1 soupspoon of olive oil

piri piri to taste

How to prepare:

Begin by making the sauce: mix all the ingredients together and heat on the stove until the volume has halved and you have a thick sauce, which should take around 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, sprinkle the steaks with salt and grill them.

Lightly toast the slices of bread.

On an oven proof dish, put the grilled steak onto the toast, then on top of the steak, the sausage, the linguiça sausage and the slice of ham. Then put another slice of toast on top, and on top of the toast the slice of cheese. Pour the hot sauce onto the franscesinha and then put it into a previously heated oven to melt the cheese. Serve immediately and with fried chips.