Tomato, avocado and edible crab Salad

Today I bring you another recipe from Chef José Avillez: a great salad for hot summer days, light and fresh, to keep yourself in good shape!

You will need:

400 gr of good quality tomatoes

200 gr avocado

300 gr of cooked edible crab pincers

Basil 

salt 

pepper

salt qs

lime juice

extra virgin olive oil

With the aid of an appropriate tool remove the interior  of the edible crab pincers. Season with extra virgin olive oil, lime juice, sea salt and pepper and reserve.

Cut the tomatoes in tiny half moons, peel the avocado and cut it also into half moons.

In a dish alternate the slices of tomato with the avocado and season it with lime juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper. Add the edible crab and cover with some basil leaves. 

Serve it immediately!

Fresh Melon Soup!

Today it was a typical summer morning, with more than 30ºC outside what better than cold and easy soup to bring the temperature down?

Even if cooking it's not your type you have no excuse to avoid this soup as this could not be easier...

You will need (for two persons)

1/2 melon

ham

salt

Grind the melon , adding a bit of salt and reserve it in the fridge. Serve it cold with small pieces of ham!

Tip: You can also serve it in small shot glasses as an appetizer...

Gazpacho!

It may seem incredible but it took me five years living in Spain to prepare my first Gazpacho... Perhaps because it is almost 11 o'clock in the evening and there are still 30 degrees outside...

You will need (for 4 people):

6 ripe tomatoes

40 g of peeled cucumber

50 g red pepper clean

1/2 slice of bread

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

70 ml of olive oil

2 tablespoons vinegar

1/2 peeled onion

2 cloves of garlic

Crouton

salt and pepper to taste

100 ml water

Peel the garlic, removing the germ (inner part) and clarify three times starting always with cold water. Mince the onion, cucumber, red pepper, tomatoes, bread, garlic and water. Add olive oil, vinegar and mayonnaise. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Mix well and store in refrigerator.

Serve as a cold soup with croutons, or as starter in a shot glass...

Wine of the Week: Korem

This weekend we were in Sardegna for a very special celebration, so, this week's wine is dedicated to my friend Martina. Korem an excellent wine from Argiolas winery.

Wine of the week: Monte das Servas Colheita Seleccionada

And this week's Wine: "Monte das Servas Colheita Seleccionada"

Do you often have a "deja-vu", or you feel you already met somebody but you don't know where from? This was almost what happened when last year, when we went to spend a weekend at Estremoz, Portugal we found the wines from Herdade das Servas, a name that I had in my mind due to a wine tasting that I did six years ago in Vila Viçosa, (Alentejo/ Portugal), with Tiago Garcia one of the winemakers of this winery. 

Despite I've remembered the brand I did not remember its wines, but this would completely change after that weekend and the visit to this winery. Its wines started to be frequent in our home and specially Monte das Servas colheita seleccionada, which was discontinuated and substituted by Herdade das Servas Colheita Seleccionada...

Octopus Salad

The summer is almost around the corner. By this season of the year salads get a special place on the Iberian diets due to the bikini operation or due to the fact that with the hot weather the best you can have is a fresh salad...

Today I bring you a typical spring or summer starter, an Octopus salad:

you will need:

- Octopus

- Tomato

- Shallot

- parsley or coriander

- onion

- clove

- Laurel

- Extra virgin olive oil

- vinegar or lime juice

- salt

You can use pre-cooked octopus, but if you look real flavour you should boil it by yourself. For an 1,5 kg Octopus: In a pan add 9 glasses of water and one of red wine. Add an onion cut in two halves, in each half put two cloves and a laurel leaf and a little bit of salt , and let it cook for about 40 minutes and let it cool

Chop the tomatoes, the shallot, the octopus and finely chop the parsley. mix everything and season with vinaigrette, (3 parts of extra virgin olive oil and 1 of vinegar or lime juice)

Enjoy it!

Do you prepare it differently leave us your comment!

Wine of the Week: Carcavelos

And the wine of this week is...

When we talk about endangered species we normally refer to a plant or  animal species that disappear from our planet every day. Due to the real estate growth in the Estoril Coast, (Portugal), the generous wine of Carcavelos, was recently almost extinct ...

As a result of several efforts in recent years, the production of the Carcavelos is now a reality again!

There is now hope that this was not the only opportunity to enjoy this marvellous wine...