Barbecue vinaigettre

This vinaigrette has become a classic whenever we have a barbecue. Perfect to go with a sizzling hot barbecued picanha.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion
• 1 large tomato
• lots of parsley and/or coriander
• white wine vinegar
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
  
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

1. Chop the onion finely
   
2. Pour boiling water over it and let it stand for a couple of minutes before straining (this will remove the strong onion taste)
3. Chop the tomato and the parsley and/or coriander and add them to the onions
4. Add vinegar and olive oil
5. Season with salt, pepper and a touch of sugar.
   

Mashed potatoes

I hate ready-made powdered mashed potatoes mixes almost as much as I love the real thing made from fresh ingredients. It's not such a big deal to make, so don't be lazy and try it out.

Ingredients (for 5)

• 6 large potatoes (preferably the dryer quality brown-skinned ones used for frying)
• 2 glasses fresh unskimmed milk
• 3 or 4 tablespoons butter
• salt
• pepper
• nutmeg

1. Peel, slice and steam the potatoes until soft.
2. Warm up the milk with the remaining ingredients.
3. Just before the milk boils, turn off the heat and add the cooked potatoes to it.
4. Mash the potatoes in milk, adding a little extra cold milk if necessary.

Picture of mashed potatoes can be found in meat balls recipe.

Perigourdin potatoes

Picture of perigourdin potatoes

Really easy to make, really good to eat. I learned this one from Joëlle, during our holidays in the Dordogne in the early noughties, then I adapted a bit. Perfect with confit de canard, but goes well with many other meat and fish dishes.

Ingredients

• potatoes
• sliced mushrooms
• garlic
• olive oil
  
• fresh coriander
• salt
• pepper

1. Peel, slice and steam the potatoes until cooked
2. Chop the garlic coarsely and stir-fry it in olive oil
3. When the garlic starts "dancing" in the oil, add the sliced mushrooms
4. Season with salt and pepper
5. After around five to ten minutes, add the steamed potatoes
6. Add the fresh coriander last

Cenourinhas do Algarve (Algarve carrots)

These cenourinhas can be a side dish, but they also make excellent party food. The first time I tried them was at a party at Teresa's house. Her mother, Tininha, had made this excellent traditional carrot recipe from the south of Portugal. The cenourinhas were so good that I did a little research and learned how to make them myself.

Ingredients

• 1 kg carrots
• 1 very full tablespoon powdered cumin
• 3 cloves chopped garlic
• 2 coarsely torn bay leaves
• 2 cloves
  
• salt
• pepper
• white wine vinegar
• olive oil

1. Peel and slice the carrots
2. Steam them until soft, but do not overcook
3. While they are still hot, season them with the remaining ingredients
4. Let the carrots cool and serve at room temperature
   

Batatas a murro (Portuguese "punched" baked potatoes)

This is the traditional Portuguese way of baking potatoes. The Portuguese usually serve them with baked salt cod or octopus or even roast pork. A very practical side dish if you are already using the oven to cook something else at the same time.

Ingredients

• medium-sized potatoes (2 per person)
• coarse sea salt
• olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic

1. Wash the potatoes and place them in a baking dish on top of a bed of coarse sea salt
2. Bake until soft (around 30 minutes - the salt speeds up the cooking)
3. Remove the excess salt and punch the potatoes with a wooden spoon so that the skin breaks
   
4. Heat up the olive oil and the garlic in a shallow frying pan
5. Mix in the punched potatoes and serve.
   

Potato salad

Sunday is a lazy day. We're fetching some take-away barbecued chicken for dinner - a Portuguese speciality that is really so simple that the Portuguese don't often advertise it abroad. I am making some potato salad to go with it.

Ingredients (for around four or five people)

• 10 potatoes
• 2 onions
• a stalk of celery
• 2 pickled cucumbers
• 3 hard-boiled eggs
• cream
• vinegar
• olive oil
  
• nutmeg
• white pepper
• salt

1. Peel, dice and steam the potatoes until cooked
2. While the potatoes are cooking, chop the onions, place them in a large bowl (the one you will use for serving); cover them with boiling water for around five minutes then strain
   
3. Chop the celery and the pickles and add them to the onions
4. Add salt, nutmeg, white pepper
5. Add vinegar, olive oil and cream till the bottom of the bowl looks soupy; mix well
6. Add the cooked potatoes while still hot and mix them in the dressing
7. Chop the hard-boiled eggs and mix them in them last
   
8. Let the salad cool naturally and serve at room temperature