2 medium sized courgettes 1 tbspoon of olive oil 1/2 onion, finnely chopped 1 clove of garlic 300g of mince parsley and chives
Cut the ends of the courgettes and then slice then, lenghtwise. Remove the filling with the help of a spoon, shaping them as a boat. Heat up the olive oil and add the onion and garlic, frying it for about 2 min. Add the mince and the fillings of the courgettes. Cook it untill the courgette has melted. Season with sal, pepper, parsley and chives. Let it dry and reserve.
Fill each of the courgette "boats" and put them in a roasting tray, covering them with kitchen foil. Roast it for 15 min or until the boats are cooked.
Serve it with white rice.
Comment: Honestly, this taste as good as the mince with courgette recipe (click here) which is much easier to cook (and I believe it tastes a bit better). This recipe just looks nicer, so it's good to serve for guests, if you want to impress them...On a day to day basis, I'd definately prefer the simpler one.
This salad is a meal on its own and works pretty well on summer days.
1 bag of salad (or lettuce, chopped up) 350g of greek yogurt (1/2 pot) a handful of fusilli pasta 4 cloves salt a drizzle of oil (to cook the pasta) a handful of raisins 1 apple, chopped in cubes (1cm each) a handful of grapes a handful of croutons 2 tbspoons of sugar 6 cherry tomatoes, halved grated parmesan
In a hob, add the pasta, the cloves, the salt and the oil. Add the water and cook it as instructed. Drain it, remove the cloves and wash it in cold water (the pasta needs to be cold for the salad). In a small bowl, mix the greek yogurt with the sugar. If you want it to be more juicy than thick, you can add a bit of water (2-4 tbspoons, depending on how liquid you want it). Try it to make sure it is a bit sweet. In a big salad bowl, add the lettuce, the raisins, the apple, grapes, tomatoes and the pasta. Mix it up and add the yogurt sauce, the croutons and grated parmesan (as much as you like) on top of it all.
Sponge cake: 7 eggs 2 cups of sugar 2 cups of flour 1/2 cup of warm water 1 tbspoon of baking soda
Filling: 1 can of condensed milk same amount of double cream 1/2 envelope of strawberry gelatine 1 cup of squirty cream 1kg of chopped strawberries
Icing: 1 tablet of cooking chocolate (white) 1 can measure of double cream optional: meringyes
Sponge cake: Mix the eggs and the sugar. Add the flour, the baking soda and the water. Put it in a greased cake tray, bake it in medium heat for 40 min.
Filling: In a hob, add the condensed milk, the cream and the gelatine, mixing it until you get a thick cream. Let it cool down. Add the squirty cream and 1/2kg of strawberries.
Icing:
Melt the chocolate with the cream and reserve. Slice the sponge cake and put a bit of the filling, the meringues and the sliced strawberries. Continue to form the cake, finishing it with the sliced cake. Cover with the melted chocolate and decorate it with the strawberries.
Mix all the ingredients, divide into eight and then carefully mould on the tray, as shown on the picture. Brush little of the oil then bake on the oven (gas mark 6) for 30 min, or until thoroughly cooked. On another tray, put the tomatoes and courgette, cut parts down and roast with the kibes. Half way through, put the juice of the kibes on to the veggies tray. Turn occasionally during grilling and brush with a little oil as necessary.
Serve with humus, mint greek yogurt and fried salad (view next posts)
1 kg of chicken breast, sliced in cubes (about 2 cm each) corn flour oil (enough to fry the cubes) 2 tbspoons of olive oil 6 cloves of garlic ginger (at least 5cm) shoyu sauce chopped chives
Cover each chicken cube with the corn flour and fry them in medium heat for at least 3 minutes or until golden. Reserve. In a big frying pan, heat up the olive oil and fry the garlic and ginger until golden. Lower the heat and give it 2 or 3 drizzles of shoyu sauce (it will sizzle), and add the fried chicken. Mix it for 2-3 minutes, checking that the fried chicken absorbs the sauce. If you want, you can add more shoyu sauce. Put in a serving bowl and sprinkle the chives on top of it.
Dough: 1 cup of water 300g of flour 1 tbspoon of butter 2 tbspoons of sugar 1 tspoon of salt 1 yolk (for brushing)
Filling 2 cups of sugar 6 apples 100g of seedles raisins 4 tbspoons of breadcrums juice from 1/2 lime 1 tbspoon of butter
Mix the flour, water, sugar and salt,working it untill you get a soft dough. Let it rest for 30 min. Over a kitchen cloth sprinkled with flour, open the dough, the thinnest the better. Spread some butter on top of the open dough. Spread the filling over the dough and spread little chuncks of butter on top of the filling. Roll the cloth, rolling the dough (like a suiss roll). Put the strudel in a greased tray, giving it the shape of half moon. Brush with the yolk, bake it in medium heat (gas mark 6) for 30 minutes. When ready, sprinkle with sugar. Serve it with squirty cream.
The filling:
Peel the apples and remove the seeds. Cut it in thin slices, put it in a bowl and add the breadcrums. Heat up the butter (until golden) and add to the apple mixture. Add the raisins, sugar and lime juice. Mix it well and fill up the strudel
This one I learned to eat while living in Portugal. It goes really well with meat, but most of the time I'd just eat it by itself. In Portugal you can find esparregados frozen and ready to eat. Enjoy!
Time of preparation: 20 min
1 bag of spinach 3 tbspoons of olive oil 2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely salt 1/2 cup of milk 1 tspoon of flour
Cook the spinach in water, following the instructions (3 min in 3 tbspoons of water). Drain it and squeeze it well. Slice it or blend it. In a frying pan, heat up the olive oil in medium heat and add the garlic. When the garlic begins to get golden, add the spinach and mix it well. Mix the milk and the flour until the latter has dissolved. Add the mixture to the pan and lower the heat. Mix it well untill it gets thicker.
Cuca is a german sweet bread that my mum used to make at home. It is crunchy and sweet and can be filled with jam, chocolate or just plain. This is the first variation from the ordinary recipe, which uses yeast. If you use yeast it tastes more like sweet bread. If you use baking soda, it tastes more like sponge cake. This one is with baking soda (which makes this recipe faster and easier) and no filling, so basic cuca today.
Time of preparation: 1 hour
4 cups of flour 2 cups of sugar 1 cup of milk 4 eggs 2 tbspoons of butter 2 tbspoons of baking soda
Crums: 1 cup of sugar 1/2 cup of flour cinnamon 1 tbspoon of butter
Mix the eggs, the sugar and all the other ingredients until you get a homogeneous cake mix. Grease a tray, put on the cake mix and put the crums on top. Take it to a preheated oven for approximately 40 min (200 C). Stab it with a fork or toothpick to make sure it is ready.
For the crums, mix the ingredients in a big bowl and sprinkle the crums on top of the cake mix.
My biggest mistake when making this recipe is that my cake grew too much and swallowed the crums. If this happens to you, divide the cake mix in 2 trays.
Vaca preta is a beverage made of vanilla ice-cream and coke, drank mostly in summer time. People in Brazil usually go to Ice Cream Parlors on summer, sit on the side walk and order banana-splits or vaca preta and enjoy it.
It is sooo very easy to make! Time of preparation: 2 minutes
2 balls of vanilla ice cream 2 cups of coke 1 tall glass cup straw 1 spoon (best if it is a long one, for ice cream)
In a tall glass cup, put the ice cream and add the coke, filling it up to the border. Add the straw (to drink the soda mixed with coke) and the spoon, so people can mix it more and eat the left overs of the ice cream. In Ice Cream Parlors, in Brazil, this beverage is served with the small bottle of coke used to fill the glass on the side, so you can refill it.
There's nothing more traditional in Brazil than this delicious and easy to make candy. There is no birthday party without it in my homecountry! Children love it, adults love it, it is a hit!
If you are interested in its history, you can click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigadeiro
Time of preparation: 20 min
1 can on condensed milk 1 tbspoon of butter 2 tbspoons of cocoa powder (the one children drink with milk) chocolate sprinkles
Mix all the ingredientes and take it to medium heat, mixing it vigorously. When it begins to boil, lower the heat and continue to mix it vigorously, until it reaches the point when the candy comes off the pan on it's own. Let it cool down.
To roll them: Spread butter on your hands and grab a small amount of the candy (1/2 tbspoon) and roll it in your palms, making small balls. Sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles and serve it in paper trays, like in the picture.
If you are not preparing it for a party, we generally don't roll it, but put the candy on a soup plate and let it cool (You can leave it on the fridge for up to 5 days). We also put a bit more butter (2 tbspoons instead of one) so it becomes creamier and easier to eat with a spoon. Eat it with friends: each one grabs a spoon and digs in.
This is a typical rural brazilian candy. We have a word game that goes something like this:
Which sweet is sweeter than the sweet of sweet potatoes? The sweet which is sweeter than the sweet of sweet potatoes is the sweet made of sweet of sweet potatoes!
So, as you can imagine, this is a very sweet candy and it can be used as jam on bread or cake or eaten by itself with a spoon, or you can put it in candy trays and serve it.
Here's how to do it: 2 kg of sweet potato 1 1/2 kg of sugar 1 cup of milk 100g of grated coconut 1 bottle of coconut milk (optional)
This is the tradicional recipe, but I always reduce the amount by 3 since we can't eat that much.
Cook the potatoes and remove the skin. I blend it with a hand mixer, not for long (10 seconds) since I like to chew the small bits. If you want jam, blend for longer. If you are reducing the recipe, measure the cups of sweet potato you are using and use the same amount in sugar. Mix it with the grated coconut and cook it in medium to low heat, until the mix gets loose from the pan. Add the coconut milk and mix it until you can turn the pan upside down and the candy comes off completely.
Chicken parts (drumsticks, thighs, breast chopped in cubes, pretty much whatever you want to add) 2 tbspoons of oil salt pepper basil (I always add a cube of chicken stock instead of the salt, but this is optional)
The dough: 1 egg 1 tbspoon of water 2 tbspoons of cachaça (a brazilian distilled beverage) or rum (blanco/white) 1 tbspoon of corn flour 2 1/2 tbspoons of flour 1 tspoon of baking soda salt (a little bit) optional: pepper, chives and parsley (I prefer to use it)
oil (enough to fry the chicken pieces)
Heat up the oil and cook the chicken in a similar fashion to the saffron chicken 30 minutes will do if you are using chicken parts with bones (drumsticks, for example) or 15 minutes if you are only cooking chicken breast.
Drain the sauce and let it cool down while you prepare the dough.
For the dough, just mix all the ingredients with a fork and you'll get a thick dough. One by one, cover the chicken pieces with the dough and fry it in medium heat for aproximately 3-5 min each side, or until golden.
chicken drumstick and thighs (2 of each) 2 tbspoons of oil 1/3 of onion, chopped 1 cube of chicken stock 50-100mL of boiling water 1 tbspoon of ground saffron chives and parsley ground pepper
Heat up the oil (medium heat) and add the onion and the chicken parts. Let it fry a bit for about a minute (be careful not to burn the onion) and add the boiling water and the chicken stock. Lower the hit, cover the pan and let it cook for 15 minutes. Turn over the chicken parts and add the saffron, chives and parsley. Cover it up and let it cook for another 20 t0 30 minutes. If the sauce is too thick or too low, you can add a bit more water. The chicken parts don't need to be covered up in water, for they will cook with the steam and heat of the small amount and produce a delicious sauce.
Serve with white rice covered with spoons of the chicken sauce.
135g/4¾oz plain flour 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt 2 tbsp caster sugar 130ml/4½fl oz milk 1 large egg, lightly beaten 2 tbsp melted butter (allowed to cool slightly) or olive oil, plus extra for cooking To serve: maple syrup
1. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter. 2. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Any lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing. Let the batter stand for a few minutes. 3. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a knob of butter. When it's melted, add a ladle of batter (or two if your frying pan is big enough to cook two pancakes at the same time). It will seem very thick but this is how it should be. Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over and cook until both sides are golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm (½in) thick. 4. Repeat until all the batter is used up. You can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven, but they taste best fresh out the pan. 5. Serve with lashings of real maple syrup and extra butter if you like.
For extra-fluffy pancakes substitute self-raising flour for plain flour and still use the baking powder.
2. Add a large handful of fresh blueberries to the batter before cooking.
You can also add one teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the buckwheat batter and serve with caramelised apple slices and thick double cream.
In the blender, mix the eggs, sugar, butter and add the four and baking soda.
Grease a cake tray (long and thin) with butter and flour and put the cake mix on the tray. Bake it in a preheated oven (180 degrees) for 20 minutes. Let it cool down and put the cake over a wet tea cloth. Spread the caramel over the cake and roll it with the help of the cloth. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and, if you want, decorative sprinkles.
Why brazilian rice? Because it is loose and dry. It is neutral and goes with pretty much everything. Brazilians have a different way of cooking rice, which makes it sooo good, you can pretty much cook it with any dish.
Time of preparation: 25 min 2 portions
1 cup of long grain rice 2-3 tbspoons of oil 1/2 onion, chopped salt (about half to 1/3 of a tbspoon) boiling water
Here's where the difference starts: there is no brazilian rice without onion. The onion is what is going to give it a special scent and flavour. In a pan (best if it is not a thick one), heat up the oil in medium heat and add the onions, the salt and the rice. This is the seccond difference. Brazilians fry the rice before they add the water, which makes it loose. Fry it for about a minute, mixing it to make sure they are covered with oil and salt. Add water, enough to cover the rice and, when you look at the pan, the water is up to 1 to 2 fingers above the line of rice. Try the water and check for salt. Lower the heat, put on the lid (but do not cover the pan: leave it at an angle, so the water can evaporate). Let it cook for 20 min and try the rice. If it is a bit chewy, you can add a bit more water to cook it more. If it is soft and there's a bit of water still in the pan, uncover the pan and mix the rice, to help the water evaporate.
If you put too much water, don't panic. You can put the rice in a sieve and let it drain when ready.
If it is not right the first time, don't panic. This rice takes a bit of getting used to it. Eventually you'll find the right amount of water to the rice and it will be perfect.
1 whole chiken, chopped until the carcass 1 big pan 1 big onion, chopped 5 cloves of garlic, chopped 5 medium sized potatoes, in chunks of about 2cm 2 tomatoes, chopped (with skin and seeds) 3 carrots, chopped a handful of sliced leeks a handful of parsley a hadful of chives 1/4 to 1/3 of cabagge, chopped 3-4 spoons of oil 2 cubes of knorr chicken stock salt and pepper pasta (a handful) Boiling water (about 2 litres)
Why a whole chicken? Because when you buy a whole chicken and chop it yourself, you pay less and get more meat. Also, we are going to use the carcass, which is what provides the flavour for this soup. If you don't know how to cut a chicken, you can check this link (an explanation with pictures)
If you checked the link above, we are going to use D and E pieces (at the end of the page). If you checked the video, we are using the back of the chicken. Also, if you want more meat in the soup, you can use the breast (the bottom part of it or the cartilage, if you trimmed the meat off it).
Ok, the soup:
Heat up the oil in medium heat and add the onion and the chicken. Fry it a bit (for about 1-2 minutes, be careful not to burn the onions), add the garlic, fry it a bit more (some 30 seconds tops) and add the boiling water, enough to cover the chicken. If you want more soup, just add more water. Add the 2 knorr cubes, and everything else (apart from the pasta) and let it boil. When it boils, check for salt (it generally needs a bit more) and cover the pan with the lid, reducing the heat. You'll notice that it pretty much tastes like salt water. Let it cook for 30 minutes and the ingredients will cook, giving the soup a delicious scent and taste. After 30 minutes, remove the carcass or pieces of carcass from the soup, placet it on a chopping board and, with the help of 2 forks, remove all the meat from the bones. It gets easier to do it the longer it cooks. After you've been through the carcass, dispose of the bones and return the meat to the pan. Add the pasta (whatever pasta you want, fusili, farfale, etc) and let it cook for some 15 more minutes. We don't want pasta al dente here. This is soup pasta and the softer the better. Check for salt and serve hot.
BE CAREFUL: this soup is soooo good, that everytime I cook it we burn our tongues because it is so delicious we can't wait for it to cool down! And although it is soup, this is a meal on its own, because there are so many pieces to chew that no one would be hungry after it. Serve with some bread.
Makings of salad (can be just lettuce or those salad bags) 2 medium strawberries, chopped in small chunks 2 tbspoons of olive oil 2 tbspoons of sugar 2 tbspoons of balsamic vinegar 1 onion (medium size) in thin slices
For the caramelised onions:
On a nonstick pan, heat the olive oil and add the onion, the sugar and the 2 spoons of balsamic vinegar. Stir well in medium heat for 15 minutes. The volume of the onions will reduce drastically. Lower the heat and let it cook, stirring occasionally for 15-30 more min (depending on the stove). If you think it is getting too dry (there should be a small sticky juice), add 1 or 2 more spoons of vinegar. It is done when the onions are cooked and soft. Turn off the heat and let it cool down.
For the salad: In a plate, distribute the salad, the chopped strawberries. If you want, you can also add croutons and raisins. Distribute the caramelised onions on top of the salad. Add 3-4 tbspoons of water to the pan, to scrape the flavour goodness from the bottom. Distribute this sauce over the salad.
Suggestion: you can serve this salad with toasted bread topped with goat cheese (slightly grilled) on the plate.
700g of lamb (not the ribs) 6 cloves of garlic a few sprigs of parsley 1/4 cup of olive oil rock salt
with a mixer, mix the garlic, parsley and the olive oil until you get a green sauce. Massage the lamb with the mixture and salt it with the rock salt. Place it on a grill and roast it at gas mark 6 (medium high) for 40min to an hour (depending on the oven). It is done when it's crisp on the outside and pink (but not red) inside.
As a suggestion, roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, squash or sweet potatoes on the roasting tray, under the grill. These vegetables will absorb the juices from the lamb while they roast.
1 small tin of tuna (or 2 if you prefer more tuna) 4 tomatoes, sliced 1 onion, sliced 5-6 medium potatoes, sliced (thick slices, about 0.5cm) olive oil olives (optional), sliced coriander salt and pepper
This is a very easy recipe and it's delicious. In a medium pan, with lid, distribute the slices of potato, covering it with the tomato slices, the onion slices, tuna, coriander, salt and pepper (and olives if you want). Put a dash of olive oil on top of it (the more the merrier) and repeat the process untill you run out of ingredients. Put the lid on and cook it in low heat for 20 to 40 min (depending on the stove). It's not necessary to add water, for the tomato juice cooks the potatoes. It is done when the potato slices are cooked.
Line a rectangular baking tray with butter and flour. Pre-heat the oven (medium: 180 degrees)
In a big mixing bowl add the sugar, honey, butter and eggs. Mix it very well (preferably with a mixer). Repeatedly add one cup of flour and 1/3 of the milk, always mixing. After the last cup, stop mixing. Add the baking soda and the spices and mix them delicately. Put the cake mixture into the baking tray. Bake it for 15min in a medium oven and then lower the heat as much as possible and bake it for some 20-40 min more (depending on the oven). To make sure it is done, stab it with a toothpick or a fork. If it comes out clean, it is done. Let it cool down and turn it out onto a plate. Cover the cake with the chocolate cover.
Cover:
Put water in a pan and heat it. When it boils lower the heat. Put the broken up chocolate into a glass bowl and put the bowl in the water. Add 3 spoons of butter. Mix the chocolate with the butter untill completely dissolved (around 4 minutes). When melted, spread over the cake with the help of a round edge knife.
If you want it in little cubes (my favourite way), cut the cake, and use 2 times the amount of ingredients for the cover. Stab each cube with a toothpick and dunk it into the chocolate (fondue style).
Let it cool on top of grease proof paper or aluminum foil lined with butter
Time of preparation: 35 min 3-4 leeks chopped (more or less finger width) 2 tbspoons of butter 6 tbspoons of flour 300mL milk 3 cloves 1/4 of onion, finely chopped nutmeg salt and pepper
For the white sauce: Heat up the milk with a bit of salt, pepper, the cloves and the onion. Before it boils, turn off the heat and cover the pan. Let the milk absorb the spices for some 5 min. In another pan, melt the butter on a low heat, not allowing it to change colour. Add the flour and mix it up vigorously. Little by little add the milk: a bit of milk, mix vigorously until absorbed, always on low heat. Procede like this until you use all the milk. Add a bit of nutmeg and let it cook for some 5 min, mixing it up occasionaly. If you think it needs more salt, add now. Don't forget to remove the cloves.
In another pan, add boiling water and a bit of salt, and cook the leeks for 5 min. Drain and add to the white sauce.
When I lived in Portugal, I fell in love with the cuisine and I miss it a lot. Here's a simple recepi of rice with rapini. If you don't know what rapini is, click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapini
2 cups of long grain rice 3 tbsponn of olive oil 1/2 shoot of rapini 4 cups of water 1/2 onion, chopped 1 clove of garlic, chopped salt
Fry the onion and the garlic in the olive oil. Add the rapini (we only use the pointed leaves). Add water and season with salt and pepper. When it boils, add the rice, lower the heat and let it cook for 20 minutes.
2 courgettes washed with skin (cut off only the "lids") 500g of mince 1/2 onion, chopped 1 cube of meat stock salt and pepper
Cut the courgettes in cubes. In a pan, heat up 2 table spoons of oil and put the onion, the cube and the mince it. Let it fry (mixing it up) for some 3-4 minutes. Add the courgette, reduce heat and put the lid on. There's no need to add water since the water of the courgette is enough to cook, and creates a delicious sauce.
Serve with white rice, putting some sauce on it. It's simple and delicious.
Hello! This is my online cooking book, where I post the best recipes I found and cooked. Everything you see here has been cooked by me and approved by a very especial food critic - my husband.
I hope you enjoy this blog and feel free to post coments, criticism, suggestions or doubts.
Vanessa
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By the way, most of the pictures you see here are not mine, but only ilustrations of the recipes. I'm not very good at presenting a plate and most of the time there's no time to take a picture before we eat.
