How to Have a Great Portuguese Christmas Dinner

If you are planning to celebrate Christmas the Portuguese way this year, then you'll want to know the customs and the great recipes.

Christmas in Portugal begins on the eve of January 5^th. Children will often place their shoes along the doorways and windows and fill them up with straw and carrots in hopes that the wise men's horses will find their houses during the night. When they wake in the morning they will find their shoes filled with treats and gifts. In Portugal the normal gift is candied fruits and sweetened breads. Their feast is called Consoda which happens on Christmas morning (January 6^th). They set extra table settings for the souls of those who have deceased. They do this to show their gift to those who've passed, which is believed to bring them good fortunes of good luck for the next year.

Because Portugal's main feast is during the breakfast hours, their Christmas recipes are based more on great Breakfast foods. Here are the top 3 Portugal Christmas Recipes:

Rabanadas - Portuguese French Toast

Here's what you'll need to make this delectable breakfast entrée:

1 Loaf of sweet bread

1 Egg

Olive Oil

Confectionary Sugar

Cinnamon

1 Cup of Milk

Step 1: Slice the bread into however many pieces of French toast you'd like to make.

Step 2: Beat the egg, milk, and cinnamon together.

Step 3: Dip each piece of bread into the egg mixture, and then placed on the oiled frying pan.

Step 4: Fry each piece for just a few seconds each and flip over and do the same.

Step 5: pat dry to get rid of some of the grease and then sprinkle with some extra cinnamon and confectionary sugar.

Portugal Leite Crème (which is an Egg and milk custard, like egg nog) -

Here's what you'll need:

2 cups of milk

7 egg yolks

1 tsp of salt

3 cups of granulated sugar

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp of powdered cinnamon

1/2 tsp of flour

Step 1: Mix the flour and a few spoonfuls of milk together and set it aside.

Step 2: Take the remaining milk and pour it into a saucepan and add the powdered cinnamon. Heat over a low temperature until the milk is hot. Then you'll want to let the milk mixture cool.

Step 3: In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks until light and add the warmed milk. Pour that mixture all back into the saucepan and cook until hot, and remove again.

Step 4: Add the flour-milk mixture and return to the heat to thicken. Once the consistency is where you want it to be, pour the custard into a bowl to cool. Once the custard is cool, it's ready to be served.

Sopa Dourada - "The Golden Soup" (this is a dessert, not a soup).

You'll need:

6 slice of sponge cake

2 cups of sugar

7 egg yolks

2 tbs of cinnamon

1 cup of water

Step 1: Mix the sugar and water, bring to a boil in order to make a syrup texture. Then, remove the mixture from the heat.

Step 2: Using a slotted spoon, dip each slice of the sponge cake into the water/sugar mixture and place them on a dish to cool.

Step 4: Beat the egg yolks and mix them with the rest of the syrup.

Step 5: Bring to a quick boil and stir (this is only to thicken); you don't want to curdle the egg yolks.

Step 6: Pour the custard over the sponge cake and then sprinkle generously with sugar and cinnamon. You'll want to serve this breakfast dessert cold.