Farm chicken with polenta

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

Creamy ladyfingers pudding or "triffle", brazilian style

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

Stuffed peper

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.

Easy quindao

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.

Chicken rice, Minas Gerais style (Galinhada mineira)

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.

Collard green pancakes with mozzarela and mince

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.

Nega maluca - brazilian chocolate cake

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.

Chicken with Creamed Corn II

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

Corn meal soup

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.

Roasted chicken stuffed with bacon farofa

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)

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.

Chicken with creamed corn

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

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

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

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.

Corn meal cake II (bolo de fuba)

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

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.

Caldo verde (green broth)

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)

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

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.