Beef olives have nothing to do with olives that you pick from a tree, but it is thought that the name comes more from its shape than anything else. In some countries one uses the German word rouladen or roulades, and in others olives. Whatever you call them, they are deeelicious and Tante Inge’s recipe is to die for!

We had this fantastic dish in a restaurant in Chaves and we loved it so much I just had to try it myself. It is now a firm favourite in our household. The recipe apparently originates in the Algarve, with the black pork coming from the Alentejo, hence the name. It is downright deeelicious!

I have wanted to make these for years and somehow never got round to it, which is a real shame as they are deeeelicious and easy to make to boot. There are many recipes out there for these delicious studded meatballs, but we are quite happy with my version. Try it and tell me what you think!

Joerg and I are trying to eat a low carb diet as much as possible, so I came up with this recipe and we think it’s superb! We didn’t miss the lasagne sheets at all. I used sausage instead of minced meat, well because I happened to have loads of it!!

This is such a quick and easy recipe that one can hardly call it a recipe. But what it absolutely is, is deeelicious.

My very good friend, Nynke, asked me for this recipe about, ooh, a month and a half ago…sorry Nynke! I’ve been meaning to write about it for years as it is truly deelicious and easy to boot, and I still haven’t managed to do it, sigh. But today is the day! Hopefully Nynke hasn’t given up on me just yet! I have no photos of the lamb, but of the lovely Nynke and her cat!

Bobotie is South Africa’s national dish and I never tire of it. I have put some of my own little twists to it, but the basic recipe is the traditional one. We had the deevine Rob and another new friend Guel for dinner a couple of days (make that months!) ago and they were a little worried about what to expect, but enjoyed it so much they have asked for the recipe. Thank you for the complement! So here it is!

(Today’s recipe: Mão de Vaca com Grão, or Cows Hoof with Chickpeas)

I love languages and the fun one can have with them. When we asked our lovely waitress what the daily lunch special was, she said, “it’s Hand of Cow”. At first I thought I’d misheard, but no, we were having either Hand of Cow or something that was like cuttlefish, but not cuttlefish. We’ll have one of each, I bravely said.

I saw this recipe from Rachel Allen in the Sunday Times Magazine and have adapted it to suit us. Her original version is no doubt super, but I wanted a one-pot meal. She roasts the butternut in the oven first, something that is always good, so give it a try that way too.

Now that’s what I call cooking. You take a heat resistant baking dish, pour in some local schnapps, set it alight, put in your cured chorizo sausage which you keep lifting with your fork and voila, you have dinner! I ain’t seen nothing like this before.