Vanessa's Home Kitchen

Farm chicken with polenta

2010-04-17T07:43:00.000+01:00

Another traditional recipe from my region. I had a huge craving this week and had to make it. The family loved and although I cooked a lot of food, there's nothing left.

This recipe asks for farm chicken or cock. Since I didn't have any of those at home and my craving wouldn't allow me to wait for the next day, I cooked a regular chicken, but instead of using a pressure cooker, I cooked it for 2 hours in low heat.
The chicken/cock:

1 big pan
2 onions, finnely chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 cubes of chicken stock
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbspoons of soy sayce
1 tspoon of cumin
1 tspoon of pepper
1 tspoon of ground nut meg
1/2 tspoon of safron
1 lime, squeezed
3 chilli peppers, chopped
parsley and chives (as much as you want)
salt
the chicken: dismembered
Put all the ingredients on a pressure cook (if using farm chicken or cock) for 20 minutes. Don't add water or oil.

Polenta

2 cubes of chicken stock
500g of cornmeal
1 onion, finnely chopped
1 tomato, choppoed
2 chilli, chopped
200mL of coconut milk
parsely, chives and spring onions (as much as you want)
salt

Mix all the ingredients with 1/2 littre of water to boil the 2 chicken stock cubes, 1 tbspoon of butter and 1 tspoon of salt. Add the cornmeal little by little until it is dissolved. Lastely, add the coconut milk and mix it up until it's time to serve (30 min of mixing at least). This polenta tastes very differently because of the coconut flavour. The other ingredients you use to top the polenta and decorate the dish.

Okra and corn stu

6 corn cobs - remove the corn from the cobs
1 tbspoon of oil
250g of chopped okra (about 1cm each piece)
1 onion, chopped
2 cups of water
1 tspoon of paprika
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
parsley, chives and spring onions (chopped)
salt

Cook everything for 15 min. I tend to add a lot of ground pepper for it releases the flavour of the fresh corn.
Serve it all with white rice

Pic: http://stat.correioweb.com.br/arquivos/divirta/materias2007/dondurica_interna_menorrr.jpg

Navarin de mouton

2010-04-12T12:06:00.000+01:00

I found this recipe here and cooked it yesterday, for lunch. Really delicious

Long, slow cooking ensures that the stewing lamb or chump chops become very tender in this lamb stew.

ingredients

serves 4

Dripping or lard for frying

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed with 1/2 tsp salt

1 - 1 1/4 kg (2 - 2 1/2 lb). stewing lamb or 4 chump chops, trimmed of fat

Flour for coating

Freshly ground black pepper

396 g (14 oz) can tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato puree

2 large carrots, peeled and sliced

2 turnips or approx. 1/4 kg (1/2 lb) swede, peeled and chopped

1 bouquet garni

1 tsp spoon sugar

Freshly chopped parsley to finish

method

1. Melt a knob of dripping or lard in a flameproof casserole. Add the onion and garlic and fry gently for 5 minutes or until golden.

2. Coat the lamb in flour seasoned with black pepper. Add to the casserole and brown quickly on all sides. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato puree, then add the remaining ingredients except the parsley.

3. Bring just to the boil, then cover with a lid and transfer to a warm oven (160‚°C/325‚°F or Gas Mark 3). Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours depending on the cut of lamb used (stewing lamb will take longer) or until the meat is tender and almost falling off the bones.

4. Taste for seasoning, discard the bouquet garni and sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.

5. Serve with creamed or jacket baked potatoes with soured cream and snipped chives.

American apple pie

2010-04-09T16:28:00.000+01:00

Dough:

2 cups of flour
2 tbspoons of sugar
150g of butter
4-6 tbspoons of water

Mix the flour, sugar and butter with 2 forks or a potato masher. Add the water little by little until you get a soft, homogeneous dough.

Filling

4-5 acid apples, cut in thin slices
cinnamon
1 cup of sugar
butter
1/2 lime

Put the slices on a bowl and squeeze the lime on them (to prevent them getting brown). Add the sugar, cinnamon and butter mix it all very well.

On a pie tray (better if it has removable bottom), spread the dough with your fingers (remember to leave some behind to make the cover). On a clean counter, sprinkle flour and open the left over dough, in the shape of a circle, big enough to cover the pie.

Fill the pie tray with the apple slices, putting them all in the same direction until you fill the bottom. Procede in the same maner until you are out of slices. Spread the juice that is left behind in the bowl on top of the apple slices. Cover with the dough circle and merge the edges of the pie in the tray and the cover. With a knife, cut little incisions in a radial fashion (about 5 to 7 will do) so the vapour can escape. To make it look better, you can spread some egg yolk on the cover, to give it a brown look after it's baked

Bake it in medium heat (170C) for about 45 min or until golden

As an alternative, you can use bananas and walnuts for the filling and serve it with squirty cream.

Pic: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_glhcWuoAD5U/SlfiMSoWpGI/AAAAAAAAAds/Ke6Jnzbk-7Y/s400/torta+de+ma%C3%A7%C3%A3.jpg

Spaghetti carbonara

2010-04-09T16:08:00.001+01:00

20 min
Serves 2

250g of spaghetti
butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
6 rashers of streaky bacon, chopped
2 eggs
140ml single cream
25g of parmesan, grated

Boil the pasta following the instructions in the bag. Heat a knob of butter in a small frying pan and cook the onion, garlic and bacon for 5-7 minutes, until golden. Turn off the heat and add the cream.

On a bowl, crack the eggs and stir it with a fork. When the pasta is done, drain it and put it on top of the eggs, while hot. Stirr it with a fork so the eggs mix with the pasta and cook. Add the cream with garlic, bacon and onion, stirr it and finish with the parmesan and some black pepper on top.

Pic: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vlJYelP1oaU/Sj78NcFkGMI/AAAAAAAAATI/6mTHVD9a4C8/s320/carbonara%2Bprato.JPG

super crunchy roast chicken wings

2010-03-29T17:54:00.000+01:00

As I said in a previous post, I always buy a whole chicken and cut it myself. Which means I tend to cook my favourite parts and end up with lots of chicken wings in my freezer. I've tried loads of different ways of preparing it but the reception was always lukewarm. Until I decided to roast them as I describe below, which hit a spot here in my house. Ever since then, we look forward to have enough chicken wings to prepare this.

At least 8 chicken wings
soy sauce
1 lime or lemon (I prefer lime)
rock salt

This is as easy as it gets:

Defrost the chicken wings over night and before preparation (while you get the other things in the cupboards), spray them with a lime (or half a lemon). This is to dehidrate the skin and make it crunchier. Put them on a roasting tray and put some soy sauce on them. The sauce is NOT for flavour but to give them a brown irresistible look when roasted. I use one drop on each wing and spread it on the top surface.
Sprinkle them with rock salt.
Roast for 45 min in 180C.

That's it. It should be so crunchy that you can actually eat the tips of the wings, the bones just fall apart.

It's finger food and kids love it (and it's healthier than the fried version). I generally serve it with coleslaw, salad, bread... things like that

Creamy ladyfingers pudding or "triffle", brazilian style

2010-03-28T20:25:00.003+01:00

My mother makes a perfect one and I've been craving this for some time now. Like all puddings in Brazil, it's very sweet and british palates might not like it (although my family loved it)

For this one you'll need

custard:
1 can of condensed milk (save the can, you'll need it to measure other ingredients)
2 cans of milk
3 yolks
1 tbspoon of corn flour

Filling:
1 or 2 packs of ladyfingers (the crunchy ones)
1 can of milk
2-3 tbspoons of cocoa (depends on how much you like chocolate)
1 tspoon of corn flour

Cover:
3 egg whites,
1 can of double cream

How to prepare:

Custard:
Mix the cornflour with a bit of milk and put it aside. In a pan, mix the yolks, the milk with the corn flour, the rest of the milk and the condensed milk. Let it boil and thicken. You want sort of a runny custard, not too thick but not too runny either. A thick cream when cold is what you are aiming for.
Put it in a lasagna dish sort of tray (we use one that is square, about 15cm each side) and let it cool down.

Once it has cooled down a bit, prepare the filling:
mix the milk with the cocoa and dunk each ladyfinger on it, let it soak a bit and then put it on top of the custard. Cover the custard with cocoa drenched ladyfingers. When you are done, add the cornflour to the cocoa and let it thicken a bit on a hob (again, aiming for a thick cream) and let it cool down. To speed up things I put the pan in a bit of water. When it's about skin temperature it's good enough and just throw the cream on top of the ladyfingers that have been lined on the custard. Let it cool down while you prepare the cover.

Whisk the egg whites and until they are firm (you turn the bowl upside down and they do not fall). To help, always add a small pich of salt to the egg whites before you start whisking them, for it makes it fluffier. Continue whisking and slowly add the can of double cream and 1 tbspoon of sugar. Try it and check if you think it needs a bit more sugar (remembering that the custard and the ladyfingers layer are already very sweet). If you want more sugar, add only 1 more tbspoon and that's it.

Spread this home made "squirty cream" on top of the ladyfingers layer and put the tray in the fridge. It is better when it spends the night there, to make it firm and keep it there until serving time.

This recipe goes a long way and it's easy to make. You can decorate it (if you want) with chocolate or cinamon on top, but we just serve it simpler, like I described.

If you think it may be too sweet (although children will love it to bits), you can make your own custard without the condensed milk.

Chocolate Lady Finger Cake

Starch (to starch clothes)

2010-03-15T11:03:00.001Z

I have a thing for cute embroidered table cloths, tea towels, tray covers, etc... Besides cooking I also love cross stitch (I'll probably post some of my craftwork here one day). And nothing better to conserve my beautifully stitched table cloths than starching them. Not only they look better on the table, starching also prevents wine and sauce stains, making it easier to clean.

Here's a recipe, just like grandma used to make it.

For general starch:
1 tbspoon of corn flour
1 tspoon of salt (to prevent bugs getting to fond of chewing your beautiful things)
1 littre of water

Mix it all in a pan, stirring constantly let it boil (it will become more transparent). Mix it up with the rinsing water....
Here's a problem: in Brazil we normally use washing machines that are vertical, allowing us to open the lid and mix it with the rinsing water. In England however, they all have little circular side doors... And there's no way I can open them.

Brazil

England

What I do is, wash it all normally, prepare the starch, put a bit of water in the bath tub (enough to soak everything I need to starch in) and mix a bit of fabric softener and starch on it. It is much more trouble, I agree, so I tend to let all my "to starch" pile accumulate a bit and do it all at once.

For strong starching (when you really want them stiff): instead of 1 tbspoon of corn flour, use 2.

Also, if you want it a bit starched (like men's shirts) but not too stiff, you can prepare the mix, let it cool off and put it into a spray bottle, spraying the shirt or whatever you want while ironing.

Pics http://happyhomemaker88.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/washing-machine.jpg
http://user.img.todaoferta.uol.com.br/R/Q/EM/PY3WI5/1244433346169_bigPhoto_0.jpg

Rice noodles with chicken and veggetables tempura

2010-03-11T16:46:00.000Z

500g of chicken breast
2 cups of flour
1 can of lager (beer)
garlic, crushed or chopped finnely
2 carrots
4 little caulyflowers
1 onion (chopped lenghtwise, about 0.5 -1 cm wide)
any other veggetable you want to use, like pepper, pumpking, etc...
oil (enough to fry)
cold water
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1 tspoon of mustard (or wasabi - Japanese horseradish)
1 tspoon of grated radish (optional)
1 pack of rice noodles (I buy mine fresh from Tescos)

Wash the chicken breast under tap water and with a bit of lime or vinegar. Cut it in cubes (not too small, around 1-2cm). Season it with the garlic.

In a deep bowl, add the flour and the beer, little by litthe, mixing it with a fork. You want to obtain a thick cream that will cover the chicken easily. You'll probably use about 80% of the beer can in this. It is important to keep this dough very cold, so if you want you can do it inside a tray with ice.
Dunk every piece of chicken in it, making sure there is a generous cover in each. Fry until golden and put it aside, on top of some 4 layers of paper kitchen towel, to absorb the excess of oil. Keep it warm

Peel the carrots and cut them lenghtwise. Cut all your veggetables. Boil them slightely (2 min). Using the same dough as before, cover them all and fry them for 2-3 min. I prefer to put a big chunk of mixed veggetables in the frying pan, so they fry together and make a little "disk" of fryied veggies. Remove the excess of oil on the kitchen towel.
For the sauce, just mix it all together (the mustard, the soy sauce and the radish)

I serve them like this: on a bowl, I put the rice noodles (about 1-2 handfulls) and heat it on the microwave or the hob. I like to add a little boiling water to them after they are hot, and I add about less than 1/4 cup of boiling water - not enough to cover it, just enough to keep it moist and a bit wet. On top of it I put the chicken, on top of the chicken the veggetables tempura and them the sauce.

Serve it hot and it's far easier to eat with chopsticks.

Frango Xadrez (Chinese chicken)

2010-03-03T09:42:00.000Z

Time of preparation: 45 min

2tbspoons of olive oil
2 onions, chopped in cubes
2 crushed garlics
500g of chicken breast, chopped in cubes
salt
1 green pepper in cubes
1 red pepper in cubes
1 yellow pepper in cubes
1 cup of canned mushroons, halved
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 tbspoon of corn flour
1/2 cup of water
2 tbspoon of roast peanuts

1. On a big frying pan or wok, add 1tbspoon olive oil, onion and garlic and fry until golden
2. Put it on a plate and put it aside
3. Add 1 tbspoon of olive oil to the same pan and fry the peppers and mushroons for 5 min
4 Put it aside
5. Same pan again, fry the chicken until golden
6. Put all the ingredients back on the pan and mix them constantly with a wooden spoon for 3 minutes
7. Mix the soy sauce, the corn flour and water, stirring it well
8. Add to the chicken mix and stirr it until you get a thick sauce
9. Put it on a serving dish and sprinkle with the peanuts
10. Serve it hot

Pic: http://www.plansol.com.br/vilhena/images/receitas/frango_xadrez.jpg

Chicken, spinach and yellow pepper rice

2010-03-01T20:39:00.000Z

I was expecting some guests this weekend and I set up my mind to prepare them stuffed orange peppers (at my husband's request). Unfortunatelly they couldn't make it and I'm stuck with a lot of orange peppers in the fridge. Googling around to found a recipe that uses the peppers, I came accross this one. Just cooked it for dinner and it's absolutely delicious. Very subtil in the flavours, so we grated some parmesan on top to give it a bit more body, just before serving.

Ingredients

1 tbsp Olive oil
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and chopped
300 g plump short or medium-grained white rice
150ml white wine or verjus
1-1.2 litres chicken or vegetable stock
125g chicken, cooked
40g spinach leaves
black pepper

Method

1. Place the stock in a small saucepan and bring to simmering point.

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the yellow pepper and fry, stirring often, until the pepper has softened but not browned. Add the rice and continue cooking and stirring for 1-2 minutes, until the rice is translucent and shiny.

3. Pour the wine or verjus into the pan of rice and simmer until it has almost evaporated. Add a ladle of the hot stock to the rice and cook, stirring constantly, over a low heat until the liquid has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock to the rice a little at a time and stirring until the liquid has been absorbed, for about 17 minutes.

4. When the rice is almost done, add the chicken and the spinach leaves and stir to mix evenly. Allow to heat through for 2-3 minutes, then adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper and serve hot.

Chilli con Carne

2010-02-17T20:32:00.000Z

I've been meaning to cook chilli con carne for a while now, but I kept postponing it for spicy food may not be the best idea when pregnant. Besides, the baby doesn't seem to like beans for whenever I eat them I feel terribly sick.

So I was really glad when I found this recipe, from Jamie Oliver which takes chickpeas or cubed potatoes instead of beans. I just cooked it for dinner

Jamie: "What a classic dish this is. Most of my mates love the chickpeas, but butter beans or even cubed potatoes will work well in their place. Feel free to pep up this dish with more chilli depending on your taste. This will make enough for six portions, so simply freeze the extra if you're only cooking for four - it's so damn good the next day, even on a jacket potato!"

Taken from Jamie's Ministry of Food

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 medium onions

2 cloves of garlic

2 medium carrots

2 sticks of celery

2 red peppers

Olive oil

1 heaped teaspoon chilli powder

1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin

1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 x 400g tin of chickpeas

1 x 400g tin of red kidney beans

2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes

500g good-quality minced beef

1 small bunch of fresh coriander

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

400g basmati rice

1 x 500g tub of natural yoghurt

1 x 230g tub of guacamole

1 lime

1. Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, carrots and celery - don’t worry about the technique, just chop away until fine.

2. Halve the red peppers, remove the stalks and seeds and roughly chop.
3. Place your largest casserole-type pan on a medium high heat.
4. Add 2 lugs of olive oil and all your chopped vegetables.
5. Add the chilli powder, cumin and cinnamon with a good pinch of salt and pepper.
6. Stir every 30 seconds for around 7 minutes until softened and lightly coloured.
7. Add the drained chickpeas, drained kidney beans and the tinned tomatoes
8. Add the minced beef, breaking any larger chunks up with a wooden spoon.
9. Fill one of the empty tomato tins with water and pour this into the pan.
10. Pick the coriander leaves and place them in the fridge.
11. Finely chop the washed stalks and stir in.
12. Add the balsamic vinegar and season with a good pinch of salt and pepper.
13. Bring to the boil and turn the heat down to a simmer with a lid slightly askew for about an hour, stirring every now and again to stop it catching.

To serve chilli con carne

1. This is fantastic served with fluffy rice.
2. Just divide the rice and chilli into big bowls or serve in the middle of the table and let everyone help themselves.
3. If you don't fancy rice it's equally good with a nice hunk of fresh crusty bread, over a jacket potato or with couscous.
4. Put a small bowl of natural yoghurt, some guacamole and a few wedges of lime on the table, and sprinkle the chilli with the coriander leaves.
5. I love to add a nice green salad to round it off

Hot Chilli Sauce for Gumbo

2010-02-15T00:31:00.001Z

Goes with the Chicken Gumbo

15 habanero (scotch bonnet) chillies, roughly chopped
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and mashed
240ml English mustard
50g brown sugar
60ml white wine vinegar
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp chilli powder
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together then purée in a blender before funnelling into a bottle. Place in the fridge and allow to stand in the fridge for at least two weeks before using. Store in the fridge (but it will keep for ages).

Creole Seasoning

2010-02-15T00:29:00.001Z

This is what brings the Gumbo to life!

2 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried thyme leaves
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp white pepper
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp celery seed
5 tbsp sweet paprika

Add all the ingredients to a food processor or coffee grinder and pulse until well-combined. Place in a jar and store in your spice cupboard (this will keep for several months).

Chicken Gumbo Recipe

2010-02-15T00:28:00.002Z

That's a lot of Gumbo. If you cut the ingredients in half you still get a decent "serves 4" recipe.

2 whole, boned, chicken breasts

6 strips bacon, cut into 2.5cm pieces
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1l chicken stock
6 plum tomatoes chopped
100g sweetcorn (best if from the cob)
300g okra, cut into 1cm pieces
1 large bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 celery sticks, chopped
70g uncooked rice
1.2l water

Hot Chilli Sauce to season
black pepper to season
Creole Seasoning, to season
parsley to garnish

Fry the bacon in a large pan then remove and set aside. Dredge the chicken in the flour and brown on all sides in the pan. Pour the chicken broth over the browned chicken in the pan and bring to a boil. Add all the remaining ingredients (except the seasonings - last 4 itens on the list above) and simmer for 30 minutes. Taste and season before serving (add the bacon back at the end of cooking if you wish).

Pic: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lPBRHZBGm-M/SmS2NyYARGI/AAAAAAAAB14/TVWyS0n9-Kk/s400/Chicken+Gumbo.jpg

Coleslaw

2010-02-12T03:11:00.001Z

According to Wikipedia, "The term "cole slaw" arose in the 18th century as a partial translation from the Dutch term "koolsla", a shortening of "koolsalade", which means "cabbage salad".[2]

An old wives-tale for the origins of coleslaw, came from London in the late eighteen hundreds, where stories were told of it being "Coles Law" to combine cabbage, carrot and mayonnaise. This was told in hope that children would eat coleslaw and obey the laws he had put in place. Cole, was a brutal man with a big chest and children were afraid of him"

I found this recipe here and there´s even a video explaining how to do it.

•300 g of white cabbage, thinly sliced

•2 carrots, peeled and grated
•2 spring onions or scallions, thinly sliced
•2 tbsp of mayonnaise
•2 tbsp of sour cream
•1 tsp of mustard
•2 tbsp of vinegar
•1 tsp of sugar
•salt and pepper
•1 large bowl
•1 small bowl
•1 metal spoon
•cling film

20 minutes

Step 2: Make the dressing
The secret to a fantastic coleslaw is in the dressing. To make the dressing put the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, vinegar, sugar and salt and pepper into a small bowl and combine with the large spoon until the mix forms a rich, creamy dressing.

Step 3: Add the dressing to the vegetables
Put the cabbage into the bigger bowl, then the carrots and finally the spring onions or scallions. Mix all the vegetables up and then pour the dressing on top. Mix together again until all the vegetables are smothered in dressing.

Step 4: Cover and chill
Next, cover your coleslaw with cling film or saran wrap and put it in the fridge for an hour to chill slightly. This will allow the vegetables to marinate in the dressing, which will make it taste even better.

Pic from http://farm1.static.flickr.com/101/285977983_17431c3381.jpg

Marrow Ratatouille au Gratin

2010-02-10T20:11:00.000Z

Found this one here and it´s very very good.

1 Marrow (peeled & deseeded)
4 Tomatoes (peeled & chopped) OR 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 Onion (chopped finely)
2 Garlic cloves (chopped finely)
Generous Handful of Assorted Herbs (parsley, thyme, basil etc)
Grated Cheese

Method

Heat the onion & garlic in some olive oil over a medium heart until they begin to brown. Cube the marrow & add to the pan. Cover & leave to sweat for around five minutes. Add your tomatoes & herbs, cook for around thirty minutes, top with cheese, melt under the grill & serve.

Créme Caramel (Pudim de leite condensado)

2010-02-08T13:37:00.000Z

This is the easiest possible thing to cook, if you are just starting. It is also good to know in case you have people coming and are short on time.

1 can of condensed milk
same amount of milk (1 can's worth)
3 eggs

Syrup (Caramel)

1 cup of water
2 cups of sugar

Mix the sugar with the water in a hob. Heat in medium heat, without stirring, until it becomes a dark colour (about the colour of whisky or rum).

Put it in your oven proof tray and wooble it around, until you get the caramel all over. Let it cool down. This is the trick. If you mix the cream with hot caramel, it will cook the first and ruin it.
Cream

Mix it all in the blender and put it in the tray. Bake it in medium heat (180C) in bain marie (put the tray inside a bigger tray, with water) for about 30-40 min. The top will change colour and look dark. Check it it's done by sticking a toothpick in the middle of the cream: it's done when it comes off clean. Let it cool down, take it off the tray and keep it in the fridge until serving time.

Stuffed peper

2010-02-06T08:41:00.000Z

I'm not much of a fan of pepper, but my hubby loved it!

200g of mince
1 cup of rice
2 cups of meat stock
1 cup of chopped parsley
3 tbspoons of olive oil
4 red peppers
1/2 onion, chopped
salt

Wash the peppers. Cut the lid off (put it aside), remove the seeds and wash them again. Dry the peppers in a paper towel. Put aside. On a hon, heat up 2 tbspoon of olive oil and the fry the onion. Add the rice, mince and fry the meat. Add the parsley and the meat stock. Lower the heat, put on a lid and let the rice cook. Pre-heat the oven (medium heat) Put the rice with mince inside the pepper, cover with the lids and secure it with toothpicks. Spread the rest of the olive oil. Put them in an oven proof tray and bake for 25 min.

Alternatively you can put them inside some tomato sauce, cover the tray with a lid and let them bake for 20 min.

Sardines pate

2010-01-30T18:23:00.000Z

When I lived in Portugal I loved the little tuna and sardine pates that were served with a bunch of olives and a basket of bread as soon as you sat in a restaurant. I've been trying to find a good recipe and this one is pretty close to what I used to eat there. I think it tastes different in England because of the quality of the sardines that we find here (not as good as portuguese ones).

serves 4
1 can of sardines (in oil)
2 boiled eggs, peeled
1 tbspoon of softened butter
3 tbspoons of finnely chopped parsley
1 pinch of paprika
1 small onion, finnely chopped
sweet mustard (as much as you like)
piri-piri sauce

Drain the sardines, chopp the eggs and put them in a bowl. With a fork, shred the sardines with the eggs, butter, onion, parsley, paprika, mustard and a few drops of piri-piri.
Put it all in a food mixer and let it chopp it all until you obtain a thick cream (not liquid) - check the pic. Put it in serving bowls and cover with plastic film. Leave it in the fridge until it's time to serve. Serve it with bread, toasts, olives and cucumber pickles.
Original recipe and picture: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kSv05jSv-xg/Rp-n5JmmC0I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/-qp_PDcASc0/s400/pate-sardinha.jpg

Easy quindao

2010-01-27T18:57:00.002Z

Quindao is a brazilian dessert with portuguese roots. Therefore it takes a huge amount of sugar and eggs (the original recipe takes 12 yolks!). With the pregnancy advancing, I started to crave sugary foods and I wanted quindao. I checked my fridge and I only had 8 eggs (damn!).
Luckly I found this recipe which is much easier to prepare. It is not as good as the real thing (nor as caloric) but it will do for someone who has never had quindao before and wants to give it a try but is not confident enough to cook 12 yolks in one go. It is really delicious.

Time of preparation: 45 min
easy

5 eggs
3 cups of sugar
100g of grated coconut
1 cup of warm milk
1 tbspoon of butter

Blend it all, grease a flute tube tray with butter and sugar and pour it in. Bake it in medium heat oven (around 180C) in a tray full of water for 30-45 min (or until you stick a toothpick on it and it comes off clean).

Let it cool down and take it of the tray while still warm. Keep it in the fridge until serving.

Duck rice

2010-01-20T14:04:00.001Z

This is a very traditional portuguese dish and I remember that whenever this was on the menu that's all my portuguese colleagues would eat. It's very similar (in the preparation) to the chicken and chorizo rice

Serves 4 people
easy

1 Duck (I used the left overs of the duck I roasted sunday. If it's just for two people, it's more then enough)
400g of rice
250g of ham
1 chorizo
1 onion
olive oil
salt and pepper
Cook the duck, ham, onion and chorizo in salted water. Add pepper to taste. When cooked (or in my case, softned - took about 25-30 min for the carcass to be soft), drain the meat and put aside the broth. Cut the duck in pieces, slice the chorizo and the ham. Remove the bones from the duck. Cook the rice on the water you used to cook the duck.
After cooked, put half the rice in a oven proof dish greased with a bit of butter, cover it with the duck, chorizo and ham pieces and cover it all with the rest of the rice. Sprinkle some of the duck water on top of it all and put it in the oven or grill to golden it.

Serve hot.

Sophie Grigson's crisp slow-roast duck

2010-01-17T16:21:00.000Z

I bought a duck crown around new year (couldn't let the offers go by) and I've been looking for a good roast duck recipe. My husband has never been a big fan of roast duck because most of the time they taste greasy and slimy, not crispy.

I found this one and decided to give it a try for lunch today and Oh my God! It was delicious. Athough I used duck crown instead of the duckling suggested and that the duck crown was supposed to serve 4 it only served the both of us because we kept coming for seconds and thirds. We have to admit this was the best roast duck we both had.

Here's the recipe.

1 duckling, around 2.3-2.7kg (5-6lb)

500g (1lb 2oz) turnips (we used potatoes, which we roasted on the duck fat with parsnips and carrots)
Salt and pepper

Sauce

1 large carrot, diced
1 onion, chopped
2 sticks celery, diced
1 bottle fruity red wine
1 bouquet garni ( a few stalks of parsley, 2 good sprigs of thyme, 2 bay leaves, 1 small sprig sage tied together with string)
750ml (1 1/4pts) duck stock or chicken stock
2tbsp redcurrant jelly (I didn't have any so I skiped this step)

1.Pre-heat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7. Wipe the duck dry with kitchen paper. Prick the skin all over with a skewer, or a fork if the tines are sharp, so the fat can run out more easily as it cooks. Season generously with salt and pepper. Sit the duck on a rack over a roasting tin and slide it into the oven. Turn the heat down to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and leave it to cook for 2 1/2hrs.

2.During that time, all you need to do, whenever you feel like it, is drain off the fat that's gathered in the roasting tin (it's brilliant stuff for sautéing potatoes).

3.Once you've got your first crop of fat, take 1tbsp of it and heat in a frying pan. Add the carrot, onion and celery and sauté until the vegetables are tender and lightly browned. Now add the wine and the herb bundle.

4.Bring to the boil, stirring thoroughly, then boil hard until reduced by half. Add the stock and boil again until reduced by about a third to a half, giving a syrupy sauce. Stir in the redcurrant jelly until it has melted, then strain into a small pan. Add a little salt and pepper and simmer for about 2 mins. Taste and adjust seasoning. Re-heat when needed.

5.Peel the turnips (or in my case the potatoes, parsnips and carrots), cut into 2cm (3/4in) cubes and blanch in boiling water for three mins. Drain and run under the cold tap. Leave to drain thoroughly.

6.About 40 mins before the duck is done, drain off most of the fat, leaving a bit in the tin. Add the turnips and turn them in the fat, then leave to roast with the duck.

7.When the duck and turnips are cooked turn off the oven and leave the door open. Let them rest like this for about 15 mins.

8.Using a sharp knife or poultry shears, cut the duck into four pieces, cutting first from head to tail end, along the breastbone and through the backbone to give two halves, then dividing each half in two.

9.Serve quickly while still warm with the roast turnips and reheated sauce.

Chicken rice, Minas Gerais style (Galinhada mineira)

2010-01-16T21:26:00.000Z

Time of preparation: 2h

This is a big recipe for a gathering, for example.. for just my small family I reduce it by half.

5 cups of long grain rice (I use just 2)
800 g of chicken breast (I use just 150-200g)
800g of chicken parts (wings, thighs, drumstick, etc) - I use parts of 1 chicken only or even half that

4 tomatoes
3 onions
parsley and chives
3 limes
olive oil
pepper
salt
Prepare the beans as normal, cooking it and put aside. Slice the sausage , fry it and put aside.
Cut the chiken in pieces (about 1-2cm) and season them with salt and garlic. In medium heat, heat up the oil in a sauce pan and fry 2 chopped onions. Add the chicken, moving it constantly. When the sauce dries up and the saucepan botton starts to look dark brown add a bit of water, enough to soften this dry brown sauce and continue to mix it. Repeat this several times. It is important to have patience, for you need to dry it and soften it several times, until the chicken itself becomes darkened (it takes 20 min to 30 min).

Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to caramelise the chicken.

Add the rice, mix it well and cover it with boiling water up to 2cm on top of the rice line. When it boils again, lower the heat. Cover the pan and let it cook in low heat. When the rice is cooked, turn off the heat and keep the pan covered.
Slice the tomatos and the onions in small cubes. Add parsley, chives and season with lime, olive oil, black pepper, salt and a bit of water. Put it on a fridge (as if making a vinaigrette)
Serve it all with a good spicy sauce (such as tabasco sauce) on the side.

Honey roast pork

2009-12-31T20:51:00.000Z

Fit for a king!
I found this recipe here, but I adjusted it a little bit.

Time of preparation: 2 hours
serves 6-8

1kg pork belly (or any other cut that roasts and crackles|)

I used ginger chopped like match sticks (as much as you like)
cloves (a bunch, about a handful)
1 tbsp cracked coriander seeds
340g runny honey
1 stock cube
4 medium brown onions
1 bunch of sage
4 bay leaves
Olive oil
Rock Salt
200ml cold water

Preparation

Stab the pork with a sharp long knife and place cloves and the match stick like ginger in the meat. Rub a little olive oil into the pork and season with salt. Place the pork on to a wire tray and then place into the roasting dish. Roast in the oven for approximately 2hrs on the bottom shelf at 160C.

Meanwhile, make the honey glaze by adding the rest of the water, honey, coriander seeds, and 1 stock cube to a saucepan and simmer until reduced by a third. The mixture will thicken and become syrupy

Cut the root off of the onions and cut in half (take the outer skins off if preferred). Add a little sunflower oil to a frying pan, heat then place the onions in the pan flat side down. Add the bay leaves, sage and leave for a few minutes until they start to brown and caramelize. Then place the pan in the oven for 25 minutes until onions are golden brown.

To serve, using a pastry brush glaze the pork with the honey reduction. Then slice lengthwise into (about 1in wide) and arrange onto a large plate. Place the roasted onions around the meat and garnish with the roasted sage leaves.

In the recipe, the chef makes his own gravy, but since I prefer to use rock salt the juices that run from the meat are too salty and I prefer to use regular gravy that I buy at the supermarket.

It was absolutely delicious for a New Year's dish!

Borscht

2009-12-14T15:19:00.001Z

It's been some time I've been trying to find a good Borscht recipe, especially because my husband has been to Russia and had the real thing. I was afraid to disappoint him. So I decided to try this recipe, that I found here and, what do you know?, he loved it. He said it's just like what he had there (which is not the chef's soups, that all is mixed up and blended). Apparently Borsch has to have chewable pieces.

Here's the recipe.
Time of preparation: 2 hours

INGREDIENTS

4 fresh or vacuum packed beetroot approx 600g
White cabbage 4oz 100g
4 Small potatoes
1 Medium carrot
2 Medium tomatoes
1 Medium size onion
Beef (any cut) 14oz 400g
Fresh dill 8 sprigs
Garlic 2 cloves
Parsley (garnish only) 8 sprigs
Vinegar 1 teaspoon
Butter or margarine 2 tablespoons
Sour cream (optional) 2 tablespoons 2 tablespoons
Salt and pepper to taste - -

COOK'S NOTES: The backbone of this meal is beetroot so try and get some fresh, it does make a difference. Fresh beetroot is sweeter than any other type. Failing this, the vacuum packed beetroot is a very good alternative.

The use of beef is traditional in Russian Borsch but poorer Russians would make this dish with just the vegetables. Alternative vegetables to the carrot, potato, cabbage and tomatoes include parsnips and turnips, in fact any root vegetable can be used. The beef is a good addition, but by no means necessary.

The cut of beef is not important, in fact the cheaper cuts give the dish more flavour. If the cut is too fatty, simply remove it before serving the Borsch.

1 large pan
1 frying pan (small)
1 pan (small)

PREPARATION
If using meat off the bone, cut into cubes (see picture below).
If using meat on the bone, cut so that it can fit in the pan.
Roughly chop the onions. Finely chop the dill.
Top and tail the beetroot and peel it (if using fresh beetroot). Slice beetroot into strips and then cut them in half (see picture below).
Chop up the tomatoes.

One hour after starting the meat broth:
Roughly chop the carrots. Finely cut the garlic.
Finely cut the parsley. Cut the potatoes into strips.
Peel the layers of the cabbage apart then slice into strips

METHOD

Put the beef, dill and the chopped onion into a large pan and cover with 3 litres of cold water. Cook for 1½ hours in low heat. I put the potatoes on too, because I prefer them very soft if on soup.
Half an hour after starting the beef broth cooking, melt a tablespoon of butter in a pan. Add the beetroot, tomatoes and vinegar to the pan. Simmer at low heat for 1 hour stirring occasionally. If there is not enough liquid, add some of the broth.

A quarter of an hour before the beef broth is finished cooking melt 1 tablespoon of butter or margarine in a frying pan. Add chopped carrots and garlic. Cover the frying pan and sauté for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When the beef broth is cooked (after 1½ hours) remove any fat floating on the top (use a spoon). Add the chopped cabbage, potatoes, sautéd carrots and garlic. Stir well. Cook for 15 minutes.

Add the cooked beetroot. Stir well and cook for another 5 minutes.

Lancashire hotpot

2009-12-11T14:06:00.001Z

I found this recipe here and it's sooo good! Just cooked it last night.

ingredients
serves 4

1 kg (2 lb) potatoes, peeled and sliced into rings
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Beef dripping or lard for frying
1 kg. middle neck lamb chops
2 lamb's kidneys, cleaned and chopped
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme
600 ml (1 pint) hot beef stock

method

1. Put half the potato rings in a layer on the bottom of a deep ovenproof casserole. Season well with salt and pepper.
2. Melt a knob of dripping or lard in a frying pan. Add the chops and kidneys and brown quickly on all sides. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon.
3. Lay the chops and kidneys on top of the potatoes, add the onion and sprinkle with the thyme. Pour in the hot stock. Put the remaining potatoes in a layer on top.
4. Season again, cover with a lid and place in a moderate oven (180‚°C/350‚°F or Gas Mark 4). Cook for 2 hours, then remove the lid and return to the oven to brown the top layer of potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Serve immediately, straight from the casserole, with a seasonal green vegetable or buttered carrots.

Pasta with canned sardines

2009-12-10T17:36:00.001Z

Easy
Time of preparation: 20-30 min

1 pack of pasta (I prefer spaguetti)
1 can of sardines (I think the ones in olive oil go best)
1 cup of double cream
1 cup of milk
1 tbspoon of corn flour
1 shrimp stock cube (I didn't have one and used vegetable and it was good!)
1 onion, finnely chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 pepper chopped
1 tbspoon of butter
2 cloves of garlic, finnely chopped
coriander and parsley (a pinch of each)
salt and pepper

On a pan, add the onion and garlic, heating up with the butter. Let if golden. Add the sardines WITH the sauce, add the other ingredients (apart from the double cream). When everything is cooked (around 10-15 min later, add the double cream. If its still thin, mix the corn flour with the milk and add it to the mix. Mix it all up until it thickens.

Cook the pasta al dente.
Distribute the pasta on plates or a big bowl and add the sauce. Mix it all up. Sprinkle some parmesan on top.

OBs: I didn't have double cream when I cooked it, so I just used the milk and corn flour. It was delicious anyway.

Collard green pancakes with mozzarela and mince

2009-12-07T17:52:00.000Z

10 leaves of collard green
1 litre of water
3 ripe tomatoes, peeled
1 medium onion, chopped and mashed
1 pinch of oregano
salt/pepper
1 pinch of cumin
1 pinch of grond nutmeg
2 tbspoons of olive oil
200g of olives, sliced and no seeds
500g of mozzarela
500g of mince
1 tbspoon of butter
1 tbpoon of tomato extract
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 tbspoon of flour

Boil the collard green leaves (do not break them) in the water for 15 min. Drain them and fry them, both sides, in a frying pan with a bit of heated olive oil and the butter. Open them over a chopping board.

Season the meat with the cumin, nutmeg, salt, pepper and tomato extract. Cook it (medium heat).

Open one leaf and remove the tip of the stalk. Put one slice of mozzarela and 1 tbspoon of the cooked mince. Sprinkle with oregano. Roll it like a pancake, hiding the corners inside. Do the same to all the other leaves. Put the "pancakes" in a oven proof glass or ceramic tray.

Sauce:
Chop the tomatoes and add them to a pan with salt, olive oil, the onion, olives, the milk and the flour. Let it boil and thicken. Throw it on top of the collard green pancakes. Put it on a pre-heated oven (medium heat, 180C) for around 10 min. You can sprinkle parmesan on top if you want.

Serve with white rice.

Chicken breast in spinach sauce

2009-12-02T07:57:00.000Z

Chicken breast (the recipe asks for 10 steaks of chicken breast, but it's just 2 of us, so I just made 4)
1/2 lime or lemon
salt/pepper
butter

Spinach sauce

1/2 a pack of spinach (supermarket packs) or 1 bunch of spinach, cooked and drained
1 tbspoon of finnely chopped onion
1 clove of garlic, finnely chopped
2 tbspoons of butter
1 tbspoon of flour
700ml of milk (I used less, since I made half the recipe for just 2 people...so I used around 300ml)
salt and pepper
parmesan to sprinkle on top of it all
double cream (about 2 tbspoons) - optional...I made mine yesterday without and it was really good (I didn't have any at home and my spinach wasn't going to last another day)

Blend the spinach and the milk. In a pan, fry the garlic and onion in the butter. Add the spinach and milk mix. In a small glass, mix the flour in a bit of milk. Add to the pan stirring well. Let it thicken and check the salt and pepper. If you are adding the double cream, turn off the hob and add it.

Season the chicken breast with the lime/lemon, salt and pepper. Fry them in butter. Serve the chicken and put the sauce on top. Sprinkle it with (a lot of) parmesan.

Bolo prestigio (chocolate and coconut cake)

2009-11-29T14:59:00.000Z

Yesterday was my birthday and, believing I deserve a treat, I made one of my favourite cakes. If you live in UK, the name of this cake translates as "Bounty" (the chocolate) cake, because it's a chocolate cake filled with coconut...mmmmmm

The cake:

2 cups of flour
3 tbspoons of cocoa powder (the one you children drink with milk)
3 eggs - separate the whites and whisk them into egg whites (very fluffy and firm)
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of milk
2 tbspoons of butter
1 tbspoon of baking powder

Mix the yolks, the sugar and the butter. Add the milk and the chocolate, adding the flour last with the baking powder. Mix it gently and them add the egg whites, envolving them in the cake mix without mixing too hard.

Bake it in an medium heat oven (around 180C) in a greased tray.

Filling

1/2 can of condensed milk
1/2 cup of grated coconut (the one we buy in supermarkets)
2 cups of milk
sugar (to taste)

Mix it all in a pan and let it boil and thicken. Some people loose their patience here, because it does take some 30 min for it to thicken properly and cheat with cornflour. Don't, it does taste better if you give it time. It is thick enough when you incline the pan and the filling comes off of it.

Topping

1/2 a can of condensed milk
200g of butter
2 tbspoons of cocoa

Mix it all in a pan, boil and let it thicken a bit.

Syrup

1 cup of guarana - a brazilian soda. If you can't get your hands in some, you can make the syrup I used for this post but use rum and let the alcohol boil (you just want the flavour)

If using the alcohol syrup: Make a small amount of sugar syrup by boiling about 1/4 cup (60 ml) water with 2 tablespoons sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Let it cool completely, then add a good pour of your favorite liquor (use rum for this one). Wet the sponge cake base with the syrup.

Decoration

200g of chocolate sprinkle
optional: chocolate shavings and cherries

To arrange it all

Cut the cake in half. Wet one half with the half the syrup. Spread the filling on top and put the other half of the cake on top of it. Spread the syrup on top of the cake and spread the topping all over. Decorate it with the sprinkles of whatever you prefer.

Chicken pie

2009-11-27T17:23:00.000Z

Dough:
4 eggs
1 cup of oil
1 cup of milk
3 cups of flour
1 tbspoon of baking powder
salt

Filling

1/2kg of cooked and threaded chicken
6 tomatoes
1 onion
1 can of peas
1 can of sweet corn
optional: a handful of olives (chopped)
Mix the dough ingredients in the blender. Transfer it to a bowl and add the filling Mix it delicately and transfer it to a greased tray.

Bake it in a pre-heated oven (medium heat) for around 30 min. Check with toothpick (if its clear, its done)

Nega maluca - brazilian chocolate cake

2009-11-25T20:22:00.000Z

Nega maluca is a difficult name to translate. Maluca means crazy, easy enough. Nega is a tender nickname that we use to black people (now being referred to as african-brazilian). But nega is also used as a nickname for white people...especially between friends and couples. But when it comes to this cake, I'm pretty sure it's about a tender way to refering to this black delicious cake, which is one of the cornerstones of brazilian cakes. Every child in Brazil loves and eats this a lot. I made one last week and my husband was a bit suspicious at first, because this cake takes oil instead of butter, but then he couldn't stop eating.

Here's the recipe, which is easy enough

3 eggs
1 and a 1/2 cups of sugar
2 cups of flour
1 cup of chocolate (children's chocolate to dissolve in milk. If you use cocoa powder (cooking) like I did, use half a cup)
1/2 cup of oil
1 tbspoon of baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1 cup of hot water

To cover the cake:
4 tbspoons of milk
1/2 a cup of children's cocoa (same thing here. If using cooking chocolate, 1/4 of a cup)
1 tbspoon of butter
1 cup of sugar

In a mixer, mix the eggs, sugar, oil, chocolate and flour. Add the hot water and at last the baking powder.
Bake it for 40 min to and hour in a medium heat oven (around 180) - my cakes always take an hour at least!
Remove it from the tray while still hot (but manageable)

Topping

Put all the ingredients in a pan, put in on a hob, mixing it thoroughly until it boils. Pour it hot on top of the cake.

Roast chicken thighs - portuguese style

2009-11-25T19:35:00.000Z

I cooked this for lunch today and it's soooo easy and delicious we had to repeat. As with most of the posts in this blog, the pic is not mine, I found it on google images, but mine looked just like it. Besides, most times there is no time to take pictures because we just devour it all...And I'm not that good in decorating anyway. There are much more talented people around.

4-6 garden variety potatoes, peeled and in quarters
2 tomatos, in quarters
1/2 lime, divided in 4 pieces (or 1 lime in quarters)
6 garlics WITH their skins (but you can mash them with your hands a bit)
olive oil
rock salt
4-6 chicken thighs (but I used drumsticks too and it's also good)
black olives

Spread the potatoes in an oven proof tray (better if it's a pretty one, for it can be served just like that when done) and do the same to the tomatos. Put each piece of lime in the corners of the tray and spread the garlic around too. Place the chicken pieces in the tray, in a very spread fashion, so that you have chicken...potatoes...chicken...potatoes.
Give it all a good wash with olive oil (remember, portuguese style - the more, the merrier) some pepper if you want and spread rock salt on top of it all.
Roast it all in 180-190 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove it and spread the olives on top of it (I use a handfull and give it another drizzle of olive oil). Roast for another 10-15 minutes.

Serve with some salad

Chicken with Creamed Corn II

2009-11-13T12:03:00.001Z

My mum came to visit last month and helped with cooking (she does cook very well). She corrected one of my recipes, the creamed corn. I never really got that recipe from her, I just cooked it as I remembered it, using double cream. Apparently she never used cream and all she did was use corn flour. So here's her take on that.

Breast chicken steaks or fillets, seasoned with salt and pepper
1 can of corn or frozen corn (defrosted)
1 can of milk
1-2 tbspoons of cornflour
salt

Blend the corn and the milk for some 15 seconds (more if you don't want little pieces of corn)
Add it to a hob and add the cornflour. Mix it until it boils and then reduce the heat, letting it cook (don't forget to mix it, always) until it reaches the consistency you want (a cream).
Check the salt. Turn off the hob, put the lid on.
Fry the steaks on a hot frying pan. Since I'm pregnant, I'm overcooking them all.

Put the steaks on a plate, the cream on top of them and some parsley (optional) to decorate it all.

Serve it with white rice and broccoli salad

PS: both are delicious, but I think I slightely prefer the double cream one. But it's a close call

Hamburger

2009-11-07T17:39:00.001Z

Two saturdays ago I woke up late and missed Saturday Live Kitchen, which was kind of a bumer, because I really enjoy that show (the only cooking show that I actually enjoy). Anyway, there was this other guy latter, that stated that recipes are not supposed to be followed absolutely but are more like a basic desing, etc etc...He was quite proud of his own back garden and he did make a soup that looked absolutely delicious (but I was not paying attention).

I was paying attention, however, to the hamburger recipe that I saw him make. It was a chicken hamburger, but I didn´t have chicken mince so I tried with regular mince. It was fabulous!!!

So, here´s the recipe:

mince
bread crums "to increase the amount of hamburgers"
bacon (better if streaked, chopped)
parmesan (rather than eggs to keep it all together) (about 1\3 to 1\2 a cup)
herb mayo - now, here he did his own but I'm pregnant and raw eggs are a no no. Therefore, I used my helmann's mayo which I seasoned with lime, parsley, chives, pepper and a bit of rosemary.

Mix it up in a big bowl, add some salt and pepper to taste and fry it.

He served it wrapped in lettuce, but I served it in cut to measure (poligonal) bread, covered with mix of lettuce, the hamburger, mayo and some shavings of cheese (I use medium to mature chedar).Everything looked beautifully arranged and I decorated the plate with ketchup.

I'll post the pic soon

Pork with chestnuts

2009-10-21T15:59:00.001+01:00

If you speak portuguese, I found this recipe here.

In Portugal, the 11th of November is S. Martinho day (Saint Martin's). The legend tells us that a roman knight was on patrol when he saw an old beggar, hungry and cold for he was almost naked. It was a rainny and cold day and the old man was soaking wet.

The knight, called Martinho (Martin) was kind and liked to help the poor. When he saw that beggar, he pitied him and cut his own thick cape in half, with his sword and giving one to the old man, leaving him. After his kind act, the rain stopped and a beautiful sunny day replaced it.

In Portugal they say that around Sao Martinhos day there is a veranico ("small summer) when autumn is not as harsh and the weather gets warmer. Around this time of the year they also celebrate the Magusto.

The Magusto is a popular party that changes from region to region. Generally people gather around a bonfire where they roast chestnuts and drink new wine. People paint each other with the ashes and sing old traditional songs. Apparently some people consider the Magusto as the remains of an old pagan sacrifice to the dead (just like other popular traditions happening the around the same time all over Europe), since it was tradition to prepare some chestnuts to the family's deads and serve them at midnight (and no one would eat them).

All that is an introduction to one of the best recipes to try this time of year (this and the punpkin risotto!)

Pork (shoulder, legs, whatever)

Chestnuts
Salt and pepper
Red/gree pepper, mashed together
white wine
chopped bacon or loddon
piri-piri
garlic
laurel
onion
olive oil
Start by seasoning the pork (preferably on the previous day) with a cream made of salt, garlic, mashed pepper, pepper and piri-piri.
Cut the meat in cubes (If its not already in steaks, then its ok) and put the wine to make kind of a broth.
Cover with a tin foil and roast/cook it in a hot (180-200'C) oven).

Meanwhile prepare the chestnuts: Boil water in a pan and add the chestnuts. Let them boil for 5 min, remove and peel them.

On a pan, heat up olive oil and the bacon cubes/loddon. Fry 1 onion chopped finnely, garlic and laurel and add the peeled chestnuts, Add sal and pepper, put the lid on and let it cook in low heat (if necesary add a bit of water or wine).

When the meat is almost done (30-40 min), depending on the oven and the meat, add the chestnuts to it and let it all golden a bit for 10 min (withouth the tin foil).

Serve it hot with migas de broa (soon I'll post the recipe), cowpea and grelos or an apple mash.

Pumpkin and parmesan risotto

2009-10-19T21:57:00.001+01:00

time of preparation: 30 min

570ml/1 pint vegetable or chicken stock
1 small onion, chopped
12 fresh sage leaves, chopped finely
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup of arborio (risotto) rice
250g pumpkin or butternut squash, diced small
50g butter
1/2 cup of grated parmesan
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the crispy sage
12-16 fresh sage leaves
2 tbsp sunflower oil
For serving
piece fresh parmesan, or vegetarian parmesan-style grating cheese

Method
1. Heat the stock until almost boiling and then keep over a very low heat. In a separate heavy-based saucepan sweat the onion in the oil until soft but not browned. Add the chopped sage and cook for a couple more minutes.
2. Add the rice and mix well for a few seconds to coat the grains with oil, then pour in one-third of the stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until almost all the stock is absorbed. Add the pumpkin or squash and a little more stock, and continue to simmer gently until the stock is absorbed.
3. From then on add more stock a little at a time, until the pumpkin is soft and the rice nicely al dente. You may not need all the stock, but the texture should be loose and creamy.
4. When the risotto is almost ready, heat the sunflower oil in a small pan and quickly fry the sage leaves until crispy - it takes a matter of seconds.
5. Stir the butter into the risotto, and season well with salt and pepper. Add the parmesan and stirr until it melted. Divide into four servings and throw a few crispy sage leaves over each portion. Bring the cheese and a grater to the table for your guests to serve themselves.

Not much cooking happening

2009-10-10T09:00:00.003+01:00

Sorry about the lack of posts...not much cooking happening, at least of new and adventurous food. I've been a bit nauseous with morning sickness and I guess there won't be anything very new for a while.

XoXo

My cheating kind of gumbo soup

2009-09-25T07:22:00.002+01:00

I watched Jamie Oliver's road trip to America last week and the Louisiana soup seemed quite nice. I decided to give it a try but I didn't have most of the ingredients (specially not the holly trinity ingredients). So I made this soup, inspired by what I saw. It is nothing like the Louisiana soup, but oh....It was soooo good we couldn't stop eating.

1/2kg of chicken drumsticks and thighs
3 tbspoons of oil
1 onion chopped finnely
coriander (a small handfull)
chives (about 4 tbspoons)
parsley (about 4 tbspoons)
1 clove of garlic, chopped
loddon or chopped bacon (2-3 pieces)
ground chilli
juice of 2 limes
2 cubes of chicken stock
3-4 sliced tomatoes
100g of sweet corn
1L to 1.3L of water (depends on the amount of broth you want)
1 handful of kale

Fry the onion, chives, parsley, coriander, bacon, garlic and chicken until the onion is soft (about 2-3 min). Add the water and the chicken chubes. When it boils, add all the other ingredients apart from the kale. Let it cook for 30 min and add the kale, letting it cook for 5 more minutes.

Serve in a soup plate/bowl with rice on the botton and the stew on top.

Carrot cream

2009-09-21T10:32:00.002+01:00

30 min

500g of carrots
2 potatoes
2 onions (medium size or 1 big onion)
salt
2 tbspoon of butter
2 tbspoons of double cream
500mL of chicken stock
salt

Peel the carrots, potatoes and onions, chopping the latter finnely. Cut the potatoes in cubes (about 2 cm each side) and slice the carrots. Fry the onion on the butter until soft (2-3 min) and add the other veggies, letting them fry for 5 min. Be careful not to burn them.
Add the chicken stock and when it boils lower the heat, letting it cook for 30 min. You can top up with water to make the soup go further, but check the salt.

Blend it all to obtain a cream and return it to the hob. When it boils, turn off the heat, add the double cream and mix it. Serve it hot with parsley on top.

Plum/Prune sauce (to be served with tender loin or pork)

2009-09-21T10:28:00.002+01:00

1 tbspoon of mustard
1/2 cup of red wine
1 can of plums (400g) or 1/2 bag of dried prunes

Blend the plums along with 1/3 cup of the syrup. If using prunes, use 1/3 cup of water. Put it in a saucepan and add the other ingredients. Let it boil, mixing it thorougly until it comes off the bottom of the pan (2-3 min after boiling). Serve with tender loin or other pork roasts.

Palm heart pie (Torta de palmito)

2009-09-17T13:54:00.005+01:00

Time of preparation: 1 hour

doe:

This doe's name translates as "rotten doe" because it melts in the mouth. It is not an elastic doe, you have to press little pieces of doe together, following the pie tray, to mold the base.

4 tbspoons of oil
4 tbspoons of pig fat (ancient way) or 4 tbspoons of butter
10 tbspoons of water
salt
3 cups of flour
1 pinch of salt

Work the doe untill it is not stuck to your hands anymore. Most likely you'll need to add more water as you mix it, since you want one doe, not several little pieces. Remember, it never stays together like bread doe.

Let it rest for 30 and divide in 2 pieces (one is going to be the cover of the pie).

Filling:

2 tbspoons of olive oil
1 onion chopped finelly
2 cans of palm tree heart, chopped (or 1 jar - 500g) you find these items at Tesco/Sainsbury's
5 tbspoons of the palm tree heart water (the water in the can/jarr)
1 cup of chopped olives
2 tomatos, chopped
chives, parsley
salt, pepper
1 egg
flour

Heat up the olive oil and fry the onions, add the palm tree heart, the palm tree water, the olives, tomatoes, chives, parsley and a bit of pepper. Lower the heat and cover. Let it cook for 15/20 min to absorb the flavours.

Add the egg and stirr vigorously to mix it properly. The fillig needs to be thick so it doesn't run once inside the pie. If it is still a bit liquid, add 1 tbspoon of flour and mix. Continue until it thickens.

Let it cool down before you fill up the pie. NEVER put hot filling on the rotten doe for it will cook rather than bake.

Once the filling is cold, fill the pie, cover and decorate. For an extra touch, spread some yolk on the cover (to give it some colour while it bakes) and bake in a preheated over at 180C for 35 min

I'm back - Auntie's candy

2009-09-16T21:27:00.002+01:00

Sorry for disappearing for a while....moved house to a tiny little village and it took me a while to get internet connection...

Right, recipes...this was submitted by my sister:

Auntie's candy

300g of sliced milk chocolat
250g of double cream
1 little pack of cooking gellow (no flavour), dissolved as instructed by the manufacteur
3 egg whites

4 vanilla cakes with strawberry filling (40g each)

Melt the chocolat over boiling water and add the double cream. Put it aside.

Whisk the 3 egg whites (preferably in the mixer). Add the dissolved gellow while the mixer is still running. Turn it off and add the egg whites to the chocolat cream.

Put grease paper on a cake tin (7cm height, 10cm, 22 cm lenght) and spread one layer of the chocolat cream, putting it in the fridge for 5 min to thicken. Add the vanilla cakes over the chocolat cream and cover with the rest of the cream. Leave it in the fridge for 3 hours. Take it off the tin and serve.

Corn meal soup

2009-07-21T20:13:00.006+01:00

Time of preparation: 35 min

2 tbspoons of oil
1 clove of garlic, chopped
left over meat
4 tbspoons of cornmeal
2l of boiling water
salt
pepper
stock cube (depending on the left over meat you are using: if its chicken, use chicken stock)
1 soup plate full of kale or collard green, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 eggs

Dissolve the cornmeal in a bit of cold water. Boil the rest of the water. Put the dissolved corn meal in the boiling water. On another pan, fry the garlic, meat left over and onion. Add to the boiling soup. Add the collard green or kale and let it boil for 10 min. Whisk the eggs slightely and put then in the soup, after turning the off the hob and mix it slowly.

Serve with toasts and cheese.

The collard greens or kale can be replaced by spinach, watercress or endives.

Chicken and chorizo rice

2009-07-21T16:35:00.003+01:00

Time of preparation: 1h30min

1 chicken carcass
1 chorizo
bacon
3 tbspoons of olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves
pepper
salt
1 carrot
parsley
long grain rice
3 cloves of garlic

Cook the chiken, the chorizo and the bacon in salt water. When it boils, add the onion, cloves, carrot, pepper and parsley. Let it cook slowly (about 45 min).
Remove the chicken and remove all the meat from it. Slice the carrot and the chorizo. Chop the bacon.

Sieve the broth and remove a bit of the fat. On another pan, add the olive oil and fry the garlic. Add the rice. Add the broth from the chicken (must be double the amount of the rice). Let it boil. When the rice has absorbed most of the water, but is not entirely cooked, remove it from the hob and put it in an oven proof dish. Put half the rice, add the chicken and then the rest of the rice. On top, decorate with the chorizo, bacon and the carrot.
Bake it untill cooked. Serve it with salad

Roasted chicken stuffed with bacon farofa

2009-07-20T14:48:00.002+01:00

Farofa is made of rough cassava/manioc flour and spices and it is what we use in Brazil to stuff chicken. So, in order to make farofa, you need to buy the cassava flour or "farinha de mandioca" as we call it in portuguese.

It is worth, though. I just made it today and people were coming back for seconds and third helpings.

Time of preparation: 2h
8 portions

1 whole chicken - the season here is optional. You can season the chicken the way you preffer.
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tbspoons of chopped parsley and chives
1 tspoon of thyme
salt/pepper

Put the chicken in a bowl. Mix all the ingredients in a blender, put them on the chicken, cover it and let it absorb the flavours overnight, in the fridge.

Farofa:

1/2 cup of butter OR 1/3 cup of oil
1 onion, chopped finnely
1 clove of garlic, chopped finnely
chopped bacon (about 3) or loddon (a handful)
2 handfulls of kale
2-3 cups of cassava/manioc flour
2 boiled eggs, chopped
4 tbspoons of chopped parsley and chives
salt
pepper

optional: you can also add 3 tbspoons of sweet corn and 2 tbspoons of raisins, if you want to give it a twist every now and then.

Heat up the butter in high heat. Add the onion and garlic, mixing it thoroughly, until the onion is soft. Add the bacon and fry it untill it changes colour (brown/crisp). Add the kale and wait untill they are softer. Add the manioc flour, little by little, mixing it thoroughly. Add the eggs, and the chopped parsley and chives. If you want to add optional itens, now is the time. Check the salt and pepper.

Turn on the oven (gas mark 7). Fill up the chicken with the farofa, closing the gap by stitching it or with toothpicks. Put the chicken on a baking tray and cover it with aluminium foil. Bake it for 45 min, remove the foil and bake it for another 15 min or until golden.

Bife a cavalo (Mounted steak)

2009-07-20T09:52:00.002+01:00

Time of preparation: 20 min
4 portions

4 steaks (top rump is the best)
salt and pepper
6 eggs
oil (enough to fry)
potato chips

Season the steaks with salt and pepper. Fry the stakes on a frying pan and let them crisp. Fry one steake each time, so they don't cook in their juices.

Fry the eggs without puncturing the yolks and put them on top of the steaks. Fry the potato chips and serve.

Tomato rice (Arroz de tomate)

2009-07-16T12:43:00.003+01:00

This is a portuguese recipe, and mostly I saw it served with fried fish, but I serve it with steaks too.

300g of long grain rice
chives
1 clove of garlic
2 tbspoons of olive oil
250g of chopped tomatoes
1 leaf of laurel (or bayleaf)
salt
pepper

Fry the chives and garlic on the olive oil. Add the tomatoes and bay leaf. Add the water (2 1/2 times the volume of rice), add salt and pepper and let it boil. Add the rice. Let it boil, put the lid on (on an angle, not to cover completely) and let it boil for 20 min.

blancmange with raisings and wine syrup

2009-07-15T11:53:00.003+01:00

For the recipe of blancmange, click here

Syrup

100g of raisins
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of dry red wine
1 tbspoon of cornflour, dissolved in a bit of water

Mix the sugar, water and wine. Let it boil for some minutes. Add the raisings and let it cook for another few minutes. Add the cornflour and stirr it throrougly. Let it cook for 2-3 min. Put it on top of the blancmange.

Coconut blancmange

2009-07-15T11:45:00.003+01:00

time of preparation: 30 min
6 portions

200ml of coconut milk
4 cups of milk
5 tbspoons of cornflour
10 tbsppons of sugar

In a pan, mix the milk, cornflour and sugar. Turn on the cooker and stirr it thoroughly. When it begins to boil, lower the heat and stirr it for a few minutes. Turn off the heat and add the coconut milk, stirring it. Put it in a wet tray. After cold, remove it from the tray and put a syrup on top (see next posts).

Coconut milk and raspberry mousse

2009-07-13T17:19:00.003+01:00

time of preparation: 20 min
8 portions

1 envelope of raspberry gellow or make your own (see below, in which case you need 1 envelope of gelatine with no flavour)
1/2 cup of water
1 can of condensed milk
1 can of double cream
same measure of coconut milk

right, if you bought the one with flavour, just boil the water, dissolve the gellow and then mix them all in the blender. Done

If you want to personalise, you can make your own gelatine and, since it's raspberry season, this is my fav option:

use some 150-200g of raspberries. Put them in a pan with 3 tbspoons of sugar and the water described above. Let it boil, lower the heat and let it cook for 15-20 min. Add more water if they get too dry. Mix it all ocasionally. Right. Sieve and measure the juice. If it is around 1/2 cup, ok, if not, add more water. Put it back in the pan and let it boil again, letting it cook for another 5 min. Turn the heat off and dissolve the gelatine. There! Homemade.
Chuck it all in the blender, mix it for some 2 min and you're done.

Chicken with creamed corn

2009-07-11T17:16:00.003+01:00

time of preparation: 30 min

1 chicken breast with no bones (or chicken breast steaks)
1 can of sweet corn
1/4 cup of milk
1 cup of double cream
1 tbspoon of corn flour
salt
chopped parsley and chives (optional)

Season and grill the chicken steaks. Meanwhile, put the corn in the blender (with the water) and let it blend for 1 min. Make sure that it is not too liquid (its good to have some pieces of corn).
On a pan, dissolve the corn flour with the milk and let it thicken. Add the corn, let it get hot and at last, turn the heat off and add the double cream. Check for salt.

Put the chicken on a plate and pour the creamed corn on top. If you want, sprinkle with parsley and chives. MUST be served with white rice.

Cocada

2009-07-08T17:28:00.003+01:00

Cocada is a typical brazilian candy made of coconut. There are several diferent recipes avaiable but, in general, they all use yolk, milk and grated coconut.

Time of preparation: 1 hour

3/4 cup of sugar
100ml of water
1 cup of grated coconut
6 yolks
3/4 cup of flour
150ml of milk
3 tbspoons of butter (no salt)

Prepare a syrup with the sugar and water. Add the grated coconut and cook it in low heat for 10 min, mixing it with care so the sugar doesn't precipitate. Let it cool. Put the yolks through a sieve and add them to the syrup. Dissolve the flour on the milk and add it to the syrup, adding the butter too. Grease a tray with butter and bake it in water bath (bain marie) in the oven for 30 min.

Sweet corn broth

2009-07-08T15:36:00.004+01:00

Time of preparation: 2h

6 cobs of corn
1 chicken breast (with the bone for extra flavour, but that is not necessary)
1 tbspoon of saffron
1 big onion, chopped
3 cubes of chicken stock
4 tbspoons of oil
250 of grated cheese (best: muzzarela)
1 cup of chopped parsley and chives
salt
water (enough to cook)

On a big pan, add the oil, 2 cubes of chicken stock, the chicken and more salt (if you think its necessary). Fry it a bit and add enough water to cook the chicken. Let it cook for 45 min, with the lid on.

When the chicken has cooked, remove it from the pan, let it cool down and dismantle the whole thing, getting very small fibres of the meat. Don't throw away the water in the pan.
Cut the corn from the cobs and, using a blender, mix small portions of it with the water used to cook the chicken. Add more water, if necessary.
The amount of water must be enough so that the blended corn becomes a cream, slightly thick.

On another big pan, add the rest of the oil, fry the onion, add the saffron and the last chicken stock.

Add the pieces of chicken and cook it until all ingredients have incorporated. Add the blended corn. Let it cook for 20-30 min in medium/high heat, always mixing it so it won't get stuck to the bottom of the pan. Check the salt.

If it is too thick, add water (slowly) to thin it (but don't let it become too thin, it has to be a cream). Serve it in small pots, with muzzarela on the bottom, the broth and sprinkle parsley and chives on top.

Canjica

2009-07-08T15:23:00.003+01:00

Canjica is a kind of white corn, used for sweet popcorn and the following dish:

Time of preparation: 2 hours

1 1/2 cup of canjica (again, international food stores)
1 can of condensed milk
400ml of milk
250 of peanuts
grated cinnamon

The day before preparation, leave the canjica soaking in cold water.
24h later, drain it and cook in a pressure cooker with 2 littres of water for 2 hours
Bake the peanut until golden, put it over a napkin and crush it slowly, until the peanut releases its skin. Clean it and put it aside.
Add the condensed milk, the milk and the peanuts to the cooked canjica and let it cook for 5 min.

Serve it in small pots, sprinkled with cinnamon.

Polenta (boiled cornmeal) with mince and tomato sauce

2009-07-08T12:26:00.006+01:00

Polenta is a traditional north italian dish that was brought to Brazil by the immigrants who settled in the south.

Very easy to prepare!

Time of preparation: 40 min

2 Littres of water
1 tbspoon of salt
2 tbspoons of butter
400g of cornmeal (thin, not too thick, which can be found in international food stores or italian shops)

Boil the water, add the salt and butter. As soon as it starts to boil again, slowly add the corn meal, mixing it thoroughly and without stopping or it won't dissolve. After you added all the corn meal, continue to mix it regularly. Ideally, the polenta has to cook for 30 min in low heat.

Put it in a oven proof dish, sprinkle with grated parmesan and cover with the sauce:

Sauce:

1 can of ready tomato sauce (the one you prefer, or you can make your own)
350g of mince

If you are making your own, you know what to do. The other day I bought a smoky bacon that worked perfectly with this dish. So, fry the mince, add the sauce to the pan, heat it up and put it all on top of the polenta. Sprinkle with grated cheese and serve.

I generally serve with white rice, since the polenta I make is very creamy and I like to mix it with rice, so there's something to chew on. You can make it more consistent too, but in this recipe I believe creamy/runny works best

Corn meal cake II (bolo de fuba)

2009-07-07T14:12:00.004+01:00

time of preparation: 1 hour

3 eggs (4 if they are small)
1 cup of corn meal
1 cup of flour
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 cup of milk
2/3 cup of oil
1 tbspoon of baking powder
2 tbspoons of grated coconut or 2 tbspoons of grated cheese (I use one of each)

Mix it all on the blender and put it in a greased cake tray, sprinkled with sugar. Bake it in a pre-heated oven (180C) for 40-50 min or until ready.

Serve it with hot coffee

Sweet Pamonha

2009-07-04T13:32:00.004+01:00

Pamonha can be sweet or savory. I much prefer the sweet version and that's the recipe I'm posting.

Time of preparation: 1 hour

12 cobs of corn
1 cup of water
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of grated coconut
1 pinch of salt
300g of muzzarela

husks to cover the pamonha, strings

Grate the cobs or cut the sweet corn very close to the middle of the cobs. Blend it with the water. Add the coconut and sugar, mixing it thoroughly. Put the paste on the husks and put a little piece of cheese in the middle. Close the husks (as shown on the picture) and tie them up tightly.

In a big pan, boil the water and add the pamonhas, one at a time: add one, let it boil again and add another one. The water MUST be boiling otherwise the pamonhas will fall apart. Cook it for 40 min and remove the pamonhas with the help of a fish slice. Let it cool down.

Whe are connected to Blog Top Sites!

2009-07-04T02:30:00.001+01:00

Caldo verde (green broth)

2009-07-03T19:18:00.004+01:00

4 portions
30 min

750g of peeled potatoes
2 littres of water, boiling
250 of green collard, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 tbspoons of olive oil
salt

for serving: 2 tbspoons of olive oil

In a pan, add the boiling water with salt. Add the potatoes and let them cook. Remove them, mash and add them to the water again. Let it boil and add the other ingredients, cook for 3-5 min. When it's time to serve, add the 2 tbspoons of olive oil.

Optional: you can add chopped calabrese to the soup.

Vinho quente (hot wine)

2009-07-03T17:05:00.003+01:00

10 portions
20 min

1 littre of red wine
1 1/2 cups of sugar
10 cloves
zest of 1 orange
zest of 1 lime
1 cup of water
1 apple, diced in little cubes
cinnamon sticks (as many as you like)

Boil everything for 10 min. Serve it hot, preferable in ceramic mugs

Quentao II

2009-07-03T16:56:00.005+01:00

Instead of cachaça, this one uses red wine:

10 portions
time of preparation: 20 min

3 littres of red wine (not dry)
300ml of water
10 cinnamon sticks
4 pieces of ginger
10 cloves
ground cinnamon (to sprinkle on top)

Make an infusion with all the ingredients (apart from the wine) and let it boil in low heat for 15 min.
Add the wine and serve it very hot, with cinnamon sprinkled on the cup.

Obs1: the smaller the piece of ginger (with greater surface) the stronger the flavour)

Obs2: Be careful not to boil it for too long after you add the wine or the alcohol will evaporate.

Quentao I

2009-07-03T16:47:00.004+01:00

Quentão (pronounced Kan-ton) is the typical beverage of the june celebrations.
For this one, cachaça is absolutely necessary (but it's been getting easier to find, with the popularization of caipirinhas)

Time of preparation: 40min
10 portions

1/2kg of sugar
juice of 6 limes
1/2 cup of water
1/2 Littre of cachaca
10 cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
1 tspoon of ground ginger

Prepare a syrup with the sugar and water. Add all the other ingredients, let it boil and reduce the heat, cooking it for 20 min. Remove it from the heat, sieve and serve it hot (very).

Festa junina

2009-07-03T15:37:00.007+01:00

June in Brazil is a month characterized by popular parties all over the country. These parties are historically related to the pagan celebrations of the summer solstice (around 24th of june) that were christened during the middle ages as "Saint John's parties)

Although related to summer celebrations in the northern hemisphere, June is the beggining of winter in the south. People gather around great fires (reminiscent of the pagan parties), generally in churches courtyards. Fireworks are displayed, to "awaken Saint John". A pole is assembled, with 3 flags on top, a metaphore for the 3 saints related to june celebrations.

People dress in costumes (nothing that relates to carnival) that pay homage to the simple people of the farms: men wear checked fleece shirts, old ragged jeans and simple boots, women dress in simple cotton dresses, generally with tacky patterns. During the celebrations a quadrilha is formed, in which couples perform a coreographed dance. Generally the couple that starts the dance are dressed as bride and groom (again, with poor fabric clothes) and the dance ends with a mock wedding.

Around the church courtyard where the pole is erected and the dance happens, lots of little huts are build to offer (free) or sell (for very low prices) typical food and beverage. There are games for the children and kids, charity huts (selling antiques) and the profit goes to the churches charities.

This post explaining the Junine celebrations (Festas juninas) opens a series os posts in which I'm going to detail the food we usually eat in June.

Remember, June is Brazil is winter and therefore the next recipes are better served in autumn.

If you want to know more, check the wikipedia entry.

Apple cake

2009-07-02T16:18:00.002+01:00

Time of preparation: 1h 45 min
8 portions

3 cups of flour
2 cups of sugar
1 tspoon of baking powder
1 tspoon of baking soda
1 tspoon of ground cinnamon
2 eggs
3/4 cup of oil
1 tspoon of vanilla
3 cups of chopped apple (with the skin)
1 cup of raisins
1 cup of chopped brazil nuts or walnut

Pre-heat the oven (180*C or gas mark 5-6). In a big bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, and the cinnamon. Mix it well. Add the eggs, oil and vanilla. Mix it again, Add the apples, the raisins and nuts. Mix one more time and put it in a greased flute tube pan (about 25cm in diameter). Bake it for an 1 hour or when done.

Chicken nuggets

2009-07-02T13:03:00.002+01:00

How to make it from scratch!!

12 units

1/2 bread (roll)
1/8 cup of water
350 of chicken breast, torn appart
1/2 onion
1/8 cup of double cream
2 tbspoons of parsley
salt

bread crums
oil (enough to fry)

add the water to the bread and mix all the other ingredients (except the bottom 2). Mix it well untill you have a homogeneous mix. Divide it in 12 parts. Mold each nugget (the way you prefer) and put them in the bread crums, frying them in hot oil.

Bolinho de chuva (rain Doughnuts)

2009-07-02T12:53:00.004+01:00

This is sooooo easy!

100 cakes

1 cup of sugar
2 tbspoons of butter
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 tbspoon of baking powder
1/2 tspoon of salt
1 tspoon of ground cinnamon
1 cup of milk

3/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of cinnamon

Mix the sugar, butter and eggs. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and milk. Fry tbspoon quantities of the mix in low heat heated oil. Increase the heat and let it golden, draining it over paper towel. Mix the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle it over the doughnuts.

Chocolate and yogurt cake

2009-07-02T12:46:00.003+01:00

1 2/3 cup of flour
1 1/2 cup of sugar
2/3 cup of cocoa
1 1/2 tspoon of baking soda
2 cups of greek yogurt
1/2 cup of butter
2 eggs
1 tspoon of vanilla

topping
1/2 cup of sugar
2 tbspoons of cocoa
2 tbsppons of butter
4 tbspoons of milk
1 tbspoon of golden syrup
1/2 cup of cooking sugar
sprinkles

Mix all the ingredients for the cake. Put it in a greased cake tray and bake it (gas mark 5-6).
Mix all the topping ingredients but the cooking sugar. Boil it for 3 minutes, whisking it sometimes. Let it cool down, add the cooking sugar and mix it. Decorate with the sprinkles

Cuscuz paulista (brazilian couscous)

2009-07-02T12:11:00.003+01:00

This is not the couscous people know from Africa. Very different preparation and flavour:

1/2kg of cornmeal
1 tbspoon of manioc flour
1 cup of water with salt
1/2 cup of butter in room temperature
1 kg of shrimp
2 tbspoons of lime juice
salt
pepper
1/2 cup of oil
5 tbspoons of chopped onion
2 tbsppons of chopped coriander
1 cup of tomato puree
2 chili pepper, chopped and mashed
1 can of peas
olives

Mix the cornmeal with the manioc flour. Add the salted water little by little and mix it until you reach a farofa consistency. Add the butter, mix and let it rest. Peel and clean the shrimp, add the lime juice, pepper and salt.
Add oil to a frying pan and fry the onion and coriander. Fry the shrimps a bit, with the tomato puree and the chili. Cook it until the shrimps are done. Add the flour mix and enough water to reach a wet farofa consistency. Mix it thorougly, until it comes off the bottom of the pan. Put this mix in a tube flute pan, and pressure it against the pan, to keep its shape. Take it off the pan and decorate with olives, peas and shrimps.

Bobo de camarao (shrimp in cassava cream)

2009-07-02T11:58:00.005+01:00

10 portions
1 hour

2kg of prawns
1kg of cassava/manioc/yuca roots (found in international food stores and pictured above)
2 medium sized onions, chopped
4 tbspoons of oil
1/2 kg of tomatoes, halved, peeled and seedless
2 tbspoons of chopped coriander
1 tspoon of pepper
1 cup of coconut milk
1/4 cup of palm tree oil (azeite de dende - international food stores)

Peel the cassava and cook it in water and salt (about 20 min). If the manioc has fibers that are too hard, you can remove them. Blend it and little by little add water (1 cup to every kg of cassava).

On a pan, fry the onion in the oil until slightely golden. Add the tomatoes and let it cook. Add the cleaned peeled shrimps, salt, pepper and coriander. Lower the heat, put the lid on and let it cook until the shrimps are cooked (about 20-30 min). Add the cassava cream, the coconut milk and the palm tree oil, mixing it well, until it boils.

Serve it with white rice, white wine or beer.

Feijao tropeiro (brazilian cowboy beans)

2009-07-02T11:43:00.004+01:00

Another traditional way of cooking beans. Typical from Minas Gerais state, this recipe comes from colonial times (until 1900) when transport of goods was done by horses or on the back of mules. The men who guided these animals were called tropeiros and the beans prepared in this recipe became a basic meal for them.

8 portions
474 cal/portion

1/2 cup of manioc/cassava flour
500g of common beans (brown beans known in Brazil as feijao carioquinha)
250g of slab bacon, sliced in little cubes
2 cloves of garlic, mashed
1 chopped onion
1 pinch of pepper
salt

topping: chives and parsley, chopped

Let the beans soak for 2 hours. Put them in a pressure cooker with enough water to cover over 4 finger above the beans line. Cook it for 20 minutes. Drain it.
On a frying pan, fry the bacon until golden. Remove it from the pan and let it rest.
Fry the garlic and onion on the left over fat. Add the beans, the bacon and pepper. Mix it thoroughly. Little by little, add the flour, mixing it well.
Decorate it with the parsley and chives.

Bread pudding

2009-07-01T20:17:00.005+01:00

left over bread (has to be hard)
milk
2-3 eggs (depending on the amount of bread)
1 tbspoon of corn flour
1 tspoon of grated nut meg
sugar (to taste)

Soften the bread with the milk, mixing it thorougly. Add the other ingredients in a microwave dish and cook it in max potency for 15 min.

Garlicky collard greens, Minas Gerais style (Couve a mineira)

2009-07-01T18:25:00.003+01:00

2 bunchs of Collard greens, also known as kale
1/2 cup of oil
2 cloves of garlic, chopped

wash the collard greens and cut it in thin slices. In a pan, add the oil and garlic. When it starts to golden, andd the collard. Fry it from 2 to 4 minutes.

Farofa

2009-07-01T18:18:00.003+01:00

Farofa, can be home made or, easy enough, you can buy it at brazilian food stores. If you want to make it at home:

500g of cassava/manioc flour
1 onion, chopped
250g of butter
salt

Melt the butter and fry the onion. Add the flour and salt and mix it well, until the flour dries and golden.

I like to fry lardons and add them to the farofa.

Spice sauce for feijoada

2009-07-01T18:14:00.002+01:00

1 cup of chopped parsley
1/2 cup of chopped chives
pepper (at wish), the more the merrier
1 1/2 cup of bean broth

Mix it all and serve it in a small bowl.

Feijoada

2009-07-01T17:20:00.007+01:00

Feijoada is THE brazilian dish. Its historic roots come from slavery: In a sugar cane/coffee or any other plantation farm, the aristocrats lived in the Manor house and the slaves in a house called senzalas.
If you think slavery in north america was bad, it wasn't nearly as bad as what happened in Brazil. The slaves would sleep in big stable, for lack of a better explanation, men, women and children all together, with just a straw roof and gates, to lock them all there.
After the slaves slaugthered pigs for the manor house, they could have the second class remains (belly, feet, ears). Eventually feijoada became a national dish and it is served mostly on wednesdays or saturdays for lunch. Since it's a pork/beans stew, it is a heavy dish and feijoada season coincides with winter (although it's found all year around in the country).

Complete feijoada (serves 12)

2 kgs of black beans (also known as black turtle beans)
1 1/2 kg of eye of rump - Here's a link to the brazilian bovine cuts. Eye of rump (or alcatra in portuguese) is number 7.
1 kg of musculo (numbers 23 and 12), which is the meat from the legs
200g of streaky bacon, smoked
250 of streaky bacon
300g of paio, a traditional dry cured sausage, found in international food stores
300g of smoked pork loin
500g of sausage
2 tails of salted pork
400g of smoked pork ribs
500g of charqui (dry meat)
1 ear of salt pork
1 leaf of laurel (or bay leaf)
4 cloves of garlic
1 big onion, chopped
2 tspoons of pepper

One day before preparing the feijoada, soak the beans in enough water to cover them. Wash the salted meat in tap water and put them in a bowl, soaked in water. On the day of preparation wash the meat again, put them in a deep pan, cover them with water and let it boil. Drain it.
In another big pan, add the beans with the soaking water and add all the meat (salted and otherwise). Cook it until the beans are soft.

In another pan, heat up the oil and add the onion, garlic, pepper and laurel. Let it golden slowly. Add 2 laddles of beens (without the broth) and mash it. Add a laddle of broth and mix it until you achieve a cream/pasta. Add the left over beans and cook it until the beans are soft and the broth thickens. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper, if necessary. If the beans water reduces too much, you can add a bit more.

Serve it with white rice, farofa, couve a mineira or garlicky green collard and, of course, caipirinhas. Also, prepare a spice sauce to go with it, so your guests can spice up at will.

A trick is to slice oranges and put them in a table, so for every serving (with all the companions of this dish) you should have 2 slices of orange on your plate.

Brigadeiro pudding

2009-07-01T15:59:00.001+01:00

Time of preparation: 10 min

For those who don't remember what brigadeiro is, click here.

1 can of condensed milk
1 cup of milk
5 tbspoons of dehidrated milk (powder)
1 cup of cocoa (the one children put on milk)
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tbspoon of butter
2 eggs
1/3 tspoon of salt

Topping: sprinkle chocolate

In a blender, mix all the ingredients. Grease a microwave flute tube pan (preferably) and put the pudding mix in. Bake it in max potency on the microwave for 6 to 8 min, take it off the tray while still warm and sprinkle it with chocolate.

Doce de leite (Brazilian toffee/ Milk Caramel/ Dulce de leche)

2009-07-01T12:22:00.000+01:00

70 pieces
57 cal/piece

4 cups of sugar
2 litres of milk

In a big pan, heat up the milk and the sugar. When it starts to boil, mix it until it thickens. You know when it's done when you remove a bit of the candy and put in a glass with tap water. If, with your fingers, you can get a ball that keeps its shape, then it's done. Another hint to know it is done: if you turn the pan around 30 degrees from the stove, the candy comes off the bottom and you can see the bottom of the pan.

Turn off the heat, and mix it vigorously with a wood spoon untill the candy thickens and loses its shine. Grease a working surface and empty the pan. Cover the candy with a wet tea towel. Roll it all with a wood roll, spreading the candy which should be around 1 cm thickness.

Remove the tea towel and cut the candy, while still warm, in the shape of little rhombus. Let it cool completely and put the pieces in a cookie jar or any other recipient with lid. It lasts for a long time if stored properly

Bolo de fuba I (Cornmeal cake)

2009-07-01T12:06:00.001+01:00

For this recipe we need cornmeal, which can be found in international food stores or italian stores, where its known as polenta.

1 cup of butter
1 cup of sugar
2 cups of cornmeal
1 cup of flour
1/4 cup of coconut milk
1/2 tbspoon of baking powder
4 eggs

It needs to be cooked in a flute tube pan.

Heat up the oven (gas mark 5-6). Mix the buter and sugar, until you get a fluffy cream. Add the eggs and mix for another 10 min. Little by little, add the cornmeal, mixed with the flour and baking powder, in between little by little of the cocunut milk. Mix it well.

Put the cake mix in greased tray and bake it for 35 min (or until you stab it with a fork and it comes off clean). Let it cool before you remove it from the tray. If you want, you can sprinkle cooking sugar over it.

Tutu de feijao

2009-07-01T11:35:00.000+01:00

Time of preparation: 45min - 1 hour
387 cal/portion

Tutu de feijao (pronounced tout-tout de phay-jon) is a traditional dish and, again you need cassava flour, bought in special international food stores.

1/2 cup of cassava/manioc flour
1/2 tspoon of sugar
4 tbspoons of oil
500g of kidney beans (also known as red beans)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
salt and pepper

Put the beans in a pan with enough water to cover over 3cm above the beans line. Put the lid on and cook in low heat until soft (very soft). Drain it and mash it.

Heat up the oil and fry the garlic and sugar. When the sugar starts to golden, add the pepper (let it fry a bit), the mashed beans and the cassava/manioc flour. Mix it all with a wood spoon until it starts to come off the bottom of the pan. Season with salt.

Vaca atolada ("stuck cow")

2009-07-01T11:19:00.000+01:00

Time of preparation: 1 hour
6 portions
980 calories/portion (!!!)

This is a very traditional recipe, from the region I grew up in Brazil. Brazil is such a big country that every state or region has its own proper cuisine. I grew up in the state that provides cattle and coffe to the whole country and to several different continents. Therefore, the main cuisine there is what I like to call "farm food", which is very rich (and a bit caloric), enough to provide sustenance for the workers.

This recipe is sort off a stew and better to eat in winter, since its caloric and should be served very hot.

2 tbspoons of oil
1 tbspoon of vinager
1kg of bovine ribs, chopped in small pieces
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped and compressed
5 tomatos (without the seeds), chopped
1 bunch of parsley
1 handful of chives, chopped
1 kg of manioc/cassava, peeled and chopped. If you can't find cassava to buy (you can get it in specialised shops, international food), you can prepare it with potatoes.
salt and pepper

Season the ribs with the onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Fry it in the oil until golden. Add the tomatoes, vinager, parsley, chives and enough water to cover the ribs (boiling water). Let it cook until the meat is soft.

Add the manioc/cassava (or potatoes, if you couldn't find cassava) and enough water to cook it until soft. The trick here is not to put too much water, but enough to obtain a thick cream, with the ribs stuck in it.

Pirao de peixe (Fish pate)

2009-06-29T16:16:00.000+01:00

Pirao (pronounced peer om) is commonly served with fish and rice in Brazil. It is a recipe rooted in the indigenous population in the country. It is some sort of fish pate, served on top of the tipical white rice and has a mild flavour that adds to the flavour of the fish. So you have a neutral flavour (rice), a mild flavour (pirao) and the brazilian fish (moqueca), which is very rich, all in your plate.

The tricky thing here is to find manioc flour/cassava flour, because it has to be done with this flour. You can find it in brazilian shops and there are some that sell it online.

Time of preparation: 10 min

boiling water, enough to cover the ingredients
pepper
1 onion, in quarters
1 clove of garlic
manioc/cassava flour
the head of the fish - Right, this is in case you fished it or bought it whole, which is a tricky thing to find in UK. What I do: I cut a bit of the fish (about 100-200g) to use here.
parsley
1 bay leaf or laurel
salt

Cook everything together in low heat until the fish starts to flake. Remove the fish and the other ingredients and sieve the left over gravy. After sieved, return the gravy to the pan and add another cup of water. Add the manioc flour, bit by bit, until you get a creamy consistency (can't be too runny or too thick...should be the consistency of a thick white sauce). Serve it hot with fish (roasted, fried, cooked) and white rice and don't forget to put on the table a good pepper sauce or chilli sauce, so people can add their own.

Here's a brazilian video showing how to do it. Even if you don't understand anything they are saying, you can see the process described above and see how the end result should be

Prawns with lime and tomato

2009-06-29T16:06:00.000+01:00

Time of preparation: 20 min

1 bag of prawns (1kg)
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 onion, finelly chopped
juice of 1 lime
pepper
salt
coriander, chopped
chives, chopped

This is the easiest thing and tastes delicious. Just put it all on a pan, add a bit (not much) of boiling water, close the lid and let it cook for 10 min.

Serve it with white rice and salad

Brazilian fish 1 (Moqueca de peixe capixaba)

2009-06-27T11:21:00.001+01:00

This is a version from the southeast state Espirito Santo.

2kg of fresh fish (it's important to be a mild flavoured fish. In England I used black halibut and it worked perfectly).
salt
juice of 2 limes
3 bunchs of coriander
3 bunchs of chives
2 onions
4 tomatoes
3 tbspoons of olive oil (Sometimes I use a special palm tree oil called oleo de dende, but this is not necessary, since it's difficult to find here)
1 tbspoon of saffron
pepper
thick slices of potato (enough to cover the bottom of the pan, so the fish won't get stuck to the bottom)

To make it more fancy: add 1/2kg of prawns to the recipe.

Season the fish with salt and juice from 1 lime.
In a big pan, add the olive oil, the potato slices and the spices: onion, chives, coriander and tomato, everything chopped up and the coriander. Add the fish and put spices again. If you still have fish left, repeat the process.

Add the juice from 1 lime and cook in low heat for 15-20 min (DON'T add water)

Let it rest for 10 min and serve it with rice and pirao.

OBS: pirao is a pate done with the fish. Check the recipe here.

Brazilian chicken soup (Canja de galinha)

2009-06-26T22:00:00.000+01:00

This chiken soup is a brazilina tradition. Whenever someone is sick at home, mothers all over the country prepare this easy to digest soup, which helps with morning sickness, nausea, stomach aches, etc.

time of preparation: 1 hour (stove) or 20 min (microwave)

1/2 tbspoon of oil
2 tbspoons of chopped parsley
1/2 cup of rice
3 chopped carrots
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
chicken breast or chicken wings and drumsticks or (my favourite) carcass
1 1/2 litre of boiling water
salt

Heat up the oil and fry the onion, celery and garlic. Add the chicken, the carrots, salt and water. Let it cook (about 30 min). If you are using chicken carcass or wings/drumsticks, remove them from the soup and remove the bones with 2 forks. Return the meat to the pan, and add the rice. Let it cook (generally takes 20 minutes). Serve it with bread.

Microwave:

In a microwave dish, add the oil, onion, celery, chicken, carrots, 1 cup of boiling water and salt. Mix it well, put the lid on and cook it in max potency for 4 minutes. Add the rice and 5 cups of boiling water. Return it to the microwave in max potency for 10 min. Let it rest for 3 minutes and serve it.

Strawberries cream

2009-06-13T20:09:00.002+01:00

Time of preparation: 30 min
6 portions

Cream:

3 tbspoons of sugar
3 yolks
1 tbspoon of corn flour
3 egg whites
1 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 cup of strawberries blended in the mixer
2 tbspoons of cooking sugar (for the meringue)

Topping 1:

1 pack of strawberry gellow
2 cups of water

Topping 2:

1 cup of double cream
1 tspoon of vanilla
1 tbspoons of cooking sugar
6 strawberries

Cream:

Mix the yolks and the sugar, add the milk and the corn flour. Cook it untill it thickens. Turn off the heat and add the straberry pulp.
Make a meringue whisking the egg whites and adding the cooking sugar. Add the cream to the egg whites and mix it thoroughly. Put the cream in individual glasses and put it in the fridge to thicken.

Topping 1:
Prepare the gellow following the guidelines. Wait for it to cool and thicken and then dice it. Put it on top of the strawberry mousse.

Topping 2:
Mix the double cream and add the sugar and vanilla until you get a squirty cream consistency.

In each glass with cream, decorate it with gellow, squirty cream and the strawberries (1 in each). Leave it in the fridge until you serve it.

Coriander Açorda

2009-06-13T19:54:00.000+01:00

Açorda (pronounced a sor da) is a traditional portuguese dish that is very creamy and goes well with fish, mushrooms, etc.

time of preparation: 30 min

350g of old loaf (2 days old)
4 cloves of garlic, crushed with salt
1/2 bunch of coriander, chopped
salt
olive oil
hot water
1 egg, whisked

Slice the loaf in thin slices. In a big pan, add olive oil and fry the crushed garlic. Add the slices of bread and mix them well in the mixture of garlic and olive oil. Add half the coriander and little by little add hot water, to soften the bread. Mix it all with a wood spoon creating a cream, that can't be too solid or too liquid.
When the acorda is ready, check the spices and , without stop mixing, add the egg. Sprinkle with the rest of the coriander and serve it hot.

Duck with olives

2009-06-13T19:44:00.000+01:00

Time of preparation: 1h 30m
4 portions

1 duck (1.2 to 1.5kg)
300g of green olives, seedless
3 tbspoons of butter
1 onion, grated
2 tbspoons of flour
2 cubes of chicken stock
1 cup of dry red wine
ground pepper

Put the olives in a small container with cool water. In a frying pan, melt 1 tbspoon of butter and fry the duck (washed and with no spices), letting it golden all around.

In another pan (a big deep one, to cook the duck later), melt the rest of the butter and fry the onion. Add the flour and mix it until it is homogeneous. Add the chicken stock dissolved in 1 cup of boiling water, the wine and the ground pepper. Reduce the heat and let it boil. Last time we cooked it, the sauce was too thick so we added a bit more water until it was more liquid (that's to taste). When the duck is ready, drain it and add it to the boiling sauce. Let it cook slowly in low heat, with the lid on for 45min to 1h. 15 min before serving, add the drained olives and let them cook with the duck.

Serve it with white rice and chilled dry rose wine

Raisins cake

2009-06-04T21:19:00.000+01:00

time of preparation: 1h20m
10 portions

100 gr of butter
200 gr of sugar
4 eggs
350 gr of flour
1 tbspoon of baking soda
300 gr of raisins

Mix the sugar and butter until you get a cream. Add the eggs, one by one, always mixing. Add the flour and the baking soda, little by little. When the mixture is homogeneous and creamy, add the raisings, slightely wet and rolled in flour (so they won't sink). Put the cake mix in a greased tray and bake it in a hot pre-heated oven for 10 min and them lower the temperature (to medium or gas mark 5) for another 40 min.

Avocado smoothie

2009-06-04T17:12:00.000+01:00

time of preparation: 5 min
2 smoothies

1 small avocado, with no skin and no seed, chopped
1/2 litre of milk
3 tbspoons of sugar

Put it all on a blender and mix it for 2 min. Serve it in tall glasses with ice, if you want.

Krakatoa

2009-05-29T18:52:00.000+01:00

I found this recipe here, but I found his explanation a bit too complicated so I adapted a bit.

Right, first you bake a sponge cake (your favourite recipe). I used this one.

Right, next, i softened a tub of ice cream a bit (15 sec on max in the microwave). I'm making a smaller cake here, but i was enought for 6-8 portions.

Cut the edges of the sponge cake, making a circle (the size you want your krakatoa base). Make a small amount of sugar syrup by boiling about 1/4 cup (60 ml) water with 2 tablespoons sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Let it cool completely, then add a good pour of your favorite liquor. Wet the sponge cake base with the syrup.

Add the ice cream balls (the height you want). I used about 8 balls. Model them roughtly in the shape of a mountain.

Take it all back to the freezer and make the meringue with 6 egg whites and 6 to 8 tbspoons of sugar. Save half of one egg shell for later.

Remove the cake from the freezer and spread the meringue all over the top and sides. Bury a half an egg shell in the top, open side facing outwards and smooth the meringue up and around it. Put it back on the freezer until it's time to serve.

Brown the volcano in an pre-heated oven at very high temperature (260 C, gas mark 9). It shouldn't take more than a minute or two to 'cook'. You can finisht it with a blowtorch since it looks more dramatic with slightly-burnt edges.

Fill the egg shell with liquor that's at least 40% alcohol. Turn off the lights, and ignite the liquor. Cut the cake with a narrow, long knife dipped in very hot water

Spirals in union (Uniao em espirais)

2009-05-25T20:07:00.000+01:00

Time of preparation: 2-3 hours

Dough:
3 cups of flour + 1 cup to work with the dough
3 yolks
1 tbspoon of sugar
1 tspoon of salt
1 envelope of yeast
1 cup of warm milk

Put the flour in a bowl and make a cavity in the center. Add the other ingredients and kneed it very well. Let it rest for an hour.

Filling
2 tbspoons of grated coconut
1 cup of sugar
2 tbsppons of butter

Mix it all until you get a cream. Set it aside.

Syrup
1 cup of milk
1 cup of sugar
1 tspoon of vanilla
1 tspoon of ground cinnamon

Boil it all to thicken a bit.

Once the dough has grown, remove a small piece and open it with the roll, about 0.5cm thick and cover the base of a round cake tin with a removable base. Open the rest of the dough, in the same thickness and spread the filling over it, with a knife. Roll the dough like a suiss roll and cut in small spirals of 3 cm of thickness.

Put the little spirals very close together, with the cut side up, on the covered cake base. Wait for its volume to double (about another hour) and bake in a preheated oven (gas mark 5) for around 25 min or until baked. When it's baked, turn off the oven, spread the syrup on top of it, evenly and put the pie back in the oven, waiting for it to cool down.

Salada de maionese (Brazilian potato salad)

2009-05-23T15:55:00.002+01:00

This is another recipe that goes well with barbecue. It also goes wonderfully with roasted chicken, fry chicken, etc.

Time of preparations: 45 min

5 medium sized potatoes, cooked and chopped in cubes (about 1.5cm)
2 medium sized carrots, cooked and chopped in small cubes
100g of green beans
2 apples
200g of ham (sliced thick: ask at the counter to cut it 1 cm thick. One slice or two will do), chopped in small cubes
150g of peas
250g of mayo
2 eggs, cooked and chopped finnely
200g of olives (with no seeds), chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
chives and parsley
salt/pepper

When the cooked ingredients have coolled, mix all the ingredients (but the mayo). Put them in a serving bowl and add the mayo to taste: can be just a bit or a lot. Check for salt and add more, if you want. Leave it in the fridge untill serving time. Serve it cold.

Vinagrete (Vinaigrette)

2009-05-23T14:48:00.000+01:00

This is a brazilian recipe. Whenever we have a barbecue, this accompanies the meat. This is a big recipe for about 6 people. If I'm just doing it for 2 people, I reduce it 3 times.

You can eat vinagrete with meat, on top of white rice or inside a roll of bread.

3 tomatoes
1 tspoon of sugar
salt
1/2 onion
chives and parsley, chopped finnely
4 tbspoons of olive oil
8 tbspoons of white wine vinegar

Cut the tomatoes and onion in small cubes. Put it all in a bowl and add the salt and sugar.
The best way to do this is on the previous day and keep it in the fridge, so the flavour will be absorbed. But you can also make it one to two hours before use.

Chow Mein

2009-05-22T14:07:00.000+01:00

Time of preparations: 40 min
4 portions

1/2 broccoli head
4 packs of noodles (the cheap ones)
2 tbspoons of corn flour
50ml of shoyu
1 onion, chopped lenghtwise
6 leafs of chard, chopped
1/2 head of cauly flower
400ml of chicken stock
1 carrot, chopped lenghtwise
100g of peas
oil (enought to fry)
300g of chicken breast, chopped in small pieces

In a wok, heat up the oil and fry the chicken. Add the cauly flower, the peas and the carrot and let it cook for 3 min. Put in a bowl. Put the wok back on the fire, with the chicken stock and let it boil. Add the chicken and the cooked vegetables, plus the broccoli, chard, onion and the shoyu. Cook it for 5 minutes and add the corn flour, dissolved in a bit of water.

Meanwhile, after cooking the noodles (following the instructions), drain it and fry them in hot oil. Put them in a big bowl and cover with the cooked veggies and chicken. Serve it hot.

Mince alla parmeggiana

2009-05-21T14:19:00.000+01:00

500g of minced meat
1 onion, finnely chopped
1 tomato, chopped
salt
chives
parsley
oil (to fry)
oregano
2 eggs
bread crums
Tomato sauce.
muzzarela or cheddar
parmesan (grated)

In a bowl, add the minced meat, the salt, onion, tomato, parsley, chives and mix it well. Make little steaks with the mixture, and dunk it in the egg (whisk it in another bowl before anything) and then in the bread crums. Fry it (about 2 min). Put the little steaks in an oven-proof dish and put slices of muzzarela or cheddar on top.
In a pan, make your own or heat the tomato sauce. When it is done, spread it on top of the cheese and sprinkle it with oregano and parmesan. Put it in the oven (gas mark 5) until the cheese melts.

Garlic and oil pasta (Spaghetti alla agli e olio)

2009-05-20T21:03:00.000+01:00

15 min
5 portions

500g of spaghetti
5 cloves of garlic
50g of butter
1 tbspoon of extra virgin olive oil
herbs: basil, oregano, parsley, chives, thyme
salt
ground ginger
1 leaf of bay laurel

5 min before the pasta is done cooking, start preparing this recipe.
"grease" the plates with one clove of garlic before chopping them all (finellY)
In a hot pan, add the butter, the olive oil, bay leaf and the chopped garlic. Drain the pasta and put it in the pan, adding salt, the herbs, the ginger and mixing it thoroughly.
Use some herbs to decorate the plate and serve it hot.

First class chicken (Frango nota 10)

2009-05-19T19:41:00.000+01:00

This recipe was the most requested in 2008 on a brazilian show like GMTV. We tried and it is absolutely delicious. But I got to warn you, it is caloric.

Time of preparation: 40 min

1kg of chicken breast
salt and pepper
2 cloves of garlic, grated

24 slices of honey cooked ham
24 slices of muzzarela (but cheddar works too)

500ml of tomato sauce mixed with 200ml of water

500ml of double cream
1 can (medium size) of sweet corn

200g of cream cheese, or requeijao, if you can find it (a brazilian cream cheese)
100 g of parmesan, grated

1/2 cup parsley, finelly chopped

Cut the chicken breast, making small long chuncks, with the length of the slice of ham and the width of your finger. We are looking to make little cannellonis here, rolling the chiken breast in the cheese and ham. Season these chunks of breast with salt, pepper and the garlic.

To make the cannellonis: take 1 slice of ham and cover it with 1 slice of cheese. paralell with the longest side of the cheese, place one breast chunck and roll it (lenghtwise): the ham should be the outter part. Repeat the process with all the other chicken chuncks.

In case you haven't yet, mix the tomato sauce with the water and put half of that mixture in an tall oven-proof dish. Put the cannellonis on the bottom, very close together, in the mix of tomato sauce and water. When you finish it, dump the rest of the tomato sauce/water mix on top of it all.

Place the oven-proof dish in a tray with water and place it in a pre-heated oven (gas mark 6) to cook for around 25 min.

Meanwhile, in a blender, mix the double cream and the sweet corn (drained) and blend it for 10 seconds. The aim here is to keep some chuncks in the sauce.

Take the oven-proof dish out of the oven (leaving the oven on) and spread the corn cream on top of the cannellonis and the sauce. On top of the corn cream, spread spoons of cream cheese (it can be irregular, for the cheese will melt and spread). Generously sprinkle the parmesan and the parseley and bake it to brown/melt. Serve it with white rice.

Oatmeal and raisins cookies

2009-05-19T15:53:00.001+01:00

American recipe that I found here:

Time of preparation: 40 min
A lot of cookies from this recipe!

3 1/2 cups of rolled oats
1 1/2 cup of raisins
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of butter
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 egg
1 tspoon of baking soda
1 tspoon of vanilla extract
1 tspoon of salt
1 tbspoon of cinnamon

Right, the first difference from the video is that I abolished the use of coconut and I used cinnamos. I tried it first as the chef suggested but I didn't like the result. This way was better (according to my husband!)

So, first, mix the sugar and the butter until you get a cream. Add the egg and the vanilla extract, the baking soda, flour, salt and cinnamon. Mix it thouroughly. Turn off the mixer and add the raisins and the oats and mix it with a spoon.

Make a small ball with the contents of about 2 tbspoons of the mix and bake it on a silicon tray or on a teflon sheet, gas mark 4 or 5 (I had to use 6 for 15 min).

Tuna pizza

2009-05-15T20:10:00.001+01:00

Time of preparation: 20 min
4 portions

For the base, follow the instructions here.

The topping:
1 can of tuna
1/2 jar of tomato sauce
2-3 tbspoons of sweet corn
2-3 tbspoons of peas
200g of cheddar, grated

Mix the tuna and the tomato sauce, with a fork, tearing the chuncks of tuna. Spread this mixture on top of the pizza, sprinkle it with the cheese. On top of the cheese, sprinkle the sweet corn and the peas. Bake for 10-12 min.