Helenismos: Shrimp Turnovers, aka Rissois de Camarao

It has been quite a week, weather related that is!

From severe weather warnings last weekend,

to rain and hail earlier in the week,

to beautiful spring time sun and temperatures like,

to another very severe weather and tornado warnings for this weekend!

Ain't that something?!..lol...

J used to say...

"Here in Tennessee you'll get all four seasons in the very same day!"

And he was very much right!

So...

... the week has passed,

and like I said, we had hail,

we had rain and we had sunshine...

And on my great outdoors (lol...)

I mowed, worked on the gardens

(the irises look awesome, don't you think...?),

I still have lots left to bloom...

J always loved irises, the TN state flower:

The iris (Genus Iridaceae) was designated as the state cultivated flower by the Legislature in 1933. While there are several different colors among the iris, the purple iris is commonly accepted as the state flower.@50states.com,

and I make it a matter of honour

to have lots and lots of iris blooms every spring!

Inside things have been busy too... I've finished same projects...

What do you think...?, they look good don't they?,

I'll tell you about them later on in another post,

but I'll tell you one thing right now: both of these projects are related to...

YES!.... a floppy disc!...

LOL... you'll have to wait to learn about it!

Anyways...

I've also cooked a bit, and today's post it's really about it:

a recipe

from my dear Mother's old cook book...

And yes, it's in Portuguese, and a very precious thing to me.

My mom had it filled with handwritten recipes

she would see on TV or hear on the radio,

Christmas and Birthday Cards,

and other stuff she would like

she would just keep it between the book pages...

Translating the title,

it would read "The Master Chef - a Complete Culinary Essay:

Portuguese Regional Cuisine and French Cuisine".

And as an Introduction,

in the very first page... (this is very precious)...

...very vintage like...

... it reads:

"Dear Madam: this is a very, very useful book for all housewives..."

and goes on and on, giving the best kind of etiquette advices,

how to set a table, how to organize a menu, and so on and so on...

I love it!

And I just love to open the pages

and find all those little treasures my Mon kept safe inside of the book...

this next one is one of her handwritten recipes...

I've always loved my Mom's handwriting...

OK... to the recipe now...

I guess I was missing my Mom, and her cooking,

and it came to my mind the Shrimp Turnovers

(that's the best translation I can find for Rissois de Camarao)

she used to make

and they were soo... GOOD!

I might as well tell you right now that mine didn't come out even close to my memories...

don't get me wrong, they were good, just not as good as my Mom's!

OK... here we go... For the ingredients, you'll need:

For the dough:

1 cup water
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon butter
pinch of salt

For the filling:

1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
salt & pepper to taste
lemon juice
1 cup previously cooked small shrimp

To bread the Shrimp Turnovers:

1 egg, beaten
1 cup bread crumbs
vegetable oil to fry

In a medium sauce pan, bring the water, salt and butter to a boil.

Slowly stir in the flour and keep stirring till it forms a ball

(the walls of the pan will get a little crusty).

Remove from heat and keep stirring a little bit more. Let it cool.

In another sauce pan whisk together: flour, milk, butter, salt & pepper.

Let it simmer, always stirring, till it thickens.

Correct the seasoning if needed, add a little bit of lemon juice, and add the previously cooked shrimp (if big shrimp, just cut it down in smaller pieces).

Now, start by rolling the dough,