Portuguese-style octopus rice (arroz de polvo)
Arroz de polvo is what Portuguese coastal towns do with octopus when the grill is taken: simmer it tender, then cook the rice in its deeply flavored broth with tomato, pepper and paprika until...
Hi, I’m Maria — born in a small village in northern Portugal and now cooking from my kitchen in the USA, where I live with my husband, our two kids and Max the dog. On Maria’s Cookbook I share the recipes I grew up with — from my Trás-os-Montes family table to my grandmother’s Azorean kitchen — along with Mediterranean favorites and dishes I’ve fallen in love with along the way.
Arroz de polvo is what Portuguese coastal towns do with octopus when the grill is taken: simmer it tender, then cook the rice in its deeply flavored broth with tomato, pepper and paprika until...
Arroz de cabidela is Portugal at its most fearless: chicken braised in wine and garlic, rice cooked in the resulting broth, and — the defining gesture — the bird’s blood whisked with vinegar and...
This is the soup-style açorda alentejana — the brothier, lighter cousin of the thick bread stew (my skillet version is also on the site). Here, a fragrant broth of garlic, cilantro and olive oil...
This is the garlic bread of my childhood — not slices under broiled butter, but a whole rustic loaf hollowed out and filled with a molten mix of cheese, garlic, mayonnaise and cream, with...
If you grew up near New Bedford, Fall River or anywhere the Azorean diaspora settled, you know these as “Portuguese muffins” — the griddled rounds sold in every New England market. In São Miguel,...
Papos secos are the bread of Portuguese daily life: the crusty, cloud-crumbed rolls that carry breakfast butter, lunchtime bifanas and every prego no pão ever served. Ask for “um pão” anywhere in Portugal and...
Poland takes mushrooms seriously — foraging is practically a national sport — and zupa grzybowa, the traditional mushroom soup, is where that devotion shows. Earthy, creamy and finished with dill, it is one of...
Mushroom and leek soup is the earthy member of my leek-soup rotation: mixed mushrooms browned properly with thyme, sweet leeks underneath, an optional splash of wine, and a finish of cream if the evening...
Some nights call for a meal that asks almost nothing of you and gives back plenty. Pan-cooked salmon over basil-and-lemon mashed potatoes is exactly that: two components, one pan and one pot, and a...
I met Kohlrouladen on a trip to Munich — a cozy restaurant on a side street, a menu I could barely pronounce, and a plate of cabbage rolls that instantly justified the whole vacation:...
© Maria’s Cookbook · Family recipes from Portugal, the Mediterranean and beyond. All rights reserved.