Scrumptiliumptious!

It is such a pleasure making a favorite recipe from scratch. Taking all those wonderful simple ingredients and putting them together to create something marvelous. And when a particular recipe brings back joyous memories and a sense of connection to your heritage, well then it’s even better. Today I made a classic Portuguese recipe called Carne de Porco a la Antejana, which is a pork and clam dish served with fried potatoes. Being half Portuguese myself, my family would take many trips over the Atlantic to visit relatives in Portugal. And I remember when I was 8 or 9 years old, we ate at this marvelous restaurant in Aveiro right by the beach, and had this dish. I can still remember the décor of the restaurant, the sound of children playing along the beach and the smell of the salty ocean water. So today, I revisited this moment in time by creating this dish. And the best part of it is, making it for those who shared that same experience with you long ago who appreciate it as much as you do.

The dish may sound a bit strange, but it’s really quite delicious. It’s make with seared cubed pork loin in a white wine and tomato sauce and you steam the clams over the dish and cover it with chopped parsley. You serve it with cubed fried potatoes, which absorb the delicious sauce. The best recipe I’ve found is Emeril Lagasse’s. Just note to cut the cooking time in half (2 hours is not necessary trust me!) and cover the pan!, otherwise you’ll have no sauce (just dry paste, which is no good).

Bon Apetite!