Vinha De Alhos
In Maui, when Amaryllis met her Portuguese boyfriend, she was introduced to the world of Portuguese cuisine. His father loved cooking Vinha De Alhos! (pronounced vinga doyzh.) Vinha is the vinegar pickle used to soak meat or fish before grilling. Four days before Thanksgiving, Richard takes a clean, thawed bird and places it in the roasting pan. Pour ½ gallon of apple cider vinegar on top and add spices like garlic powder, onion flakes, allspice, and a few cups of water. He places it in a large plastic bag. Return to the refrigerator to marinate in the vinegar bath. He rotates it several times over the next three days to distribute the brine.
Somehow, by osmosis, the turkey absorbs the juices and flavor. Drain all the vinegar and return it to the pan. Under the skin of the bird place pieces of butter. The skin is rubbed with vegetable oil, sprinkled with salt, covered with aluminum foil, and baked at 350 degrees for the first half hour, then lowered to 325 degrees, as instructed (20 minutes per day). The foil is removed in the last hour to brown the skin. Pierces the skin and juices flow! They fill the pan with wonderful juice like never before. The turkey is set aside to cool and all the meat is removed by shredding it or removing it from the bones. Dark and light meats are combined in a large bowl.
The juices are reheated to pour over the turkey!
Ingredients for Vinha De Alhos
1/2 gallon apple cider vinegar
used for turkey, chicken, pork or fish
1 part water
3 parts vinegar
onion powder, salt and pepper
jaimacan pepper
garlic flakes
1 bay leaf
Peppercorns
Rinse the meat and pat dry with paper towels, then add the brine,
soak overnight up to 3 days for turkey; flip each day and spray in the refrigerator. Drain the liquid, place in the roasting pan, salt inside and outside the bird. Fill with butter under the skin of the breasts and rub with oil, then put it in the preheated 350 degree oven for the first half hour. Lower the heat to 325 degrees and cook as directed, 20 minutes per pound. Remove the foil for the last hour, so the bird can brown.
Richard prepares his dressing out of the bird. (It would get too wet inside this type of preparation).
The family is eager to try the Vinha De Alhos (vingadoyzh).
People seem to love their own parents’ style at parties, because that’s what made their memories so rich. Amaryllis likes to please everyone, so now she makes two turkeys.
She makes a turkey the night before, Vingadoyzh-style, and, on Thanksgiving, another filling with her favorite style of bread stuffed with sage, apples, walnuts, raisins, celery, onions, and sausage.
She makes a lingonberry sauce using the fresh juice of an orange that is bright and delicious. His family loves canned and jellied, but this new version was very well received.
Boil 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water, the juice of 1 orange and 1 bag of blueberries until they burst.
Next, see how to make fillings (from the book Amaryllis of Hawaii Loves to Cook “Recipes for Life”.