My father made all sort of interesting liquors. I'd find myself staring at lines of antique jars, filled with the most delicious tones. My mother had a garden, that one month was dotted with carrot tops and gems of lettuce in different shapes and shades, and a few months later a plantation of corn and potatoes would thrive quite naturally.
As a child, I remember sitting quietly, watching my mother, while she gently mixed pots of incredibly fragrant dishes. One that always caught my eye, especially because I was allowed to help with, was the Rissol. I remember her making them so delicately, my little hands had to gently lift them so as to not crush them. To date, these remain one of my favourite Portuguese dishes, and I've kept true to her recipe, as I've yet to taste rissois as good as the ones she makes.
Dough
50ml of Milk
50ml water
1/4 Tspn Salt
20gr Butter
100g Plain Flour
In a pan, pour milk, water salt and butter and bring to gentle boil. Just when it starts to boil, add the flour in one go and mix to form a ball of dough. Turn onto clean surface and cover. Let it cool...
For the filling:
1 Shallot, finely chopped
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1\2 tomato, chopped
150gr Raw choped prawn
1 Bay Leaf
125ml of Milk
2 spoons flour
1/3 cup Chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
Soften half the shallot in a pan and garlic on a low heat. Add tomato and after a few minutes add chopped shrimp. Add Prawn shell stock, allow to simmer.
In a bowl, mix flour and milk, add to pan to thicken the filling. Add chopped parsley and finely chopped onion. Allow to cool completely.
To make the Rissole:
Bread crumbs
1 egg
Dust flour on your working surface and rolling pin. Roll the dough out, Place teaspoon of filling. Fold over and cut out a half moon with cup or cutter. Cut out disks of about 10cm diameter. Pinch the edges together to seal the rissole.
Beat the egg with a bit of salt and pepper, put the breadcrumbs in a tray. Dip the rissole in the beaten egg, than in the breadcrumbs.
Fry in fairly hot oil. Bom Apetite!