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.

Coconut blancmange

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

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

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.

Bread pudding

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.

Brigadeiro pudding

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.

Prawns with lime and tomato

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

Rocket, cheese and sun-dried tomatoes pizza

Time of preparation: 35min

Topping:
sun-dried tomatoes
6 tbspoons of tomato sauce
salt
oregano
200g of ricotta
200g of mozzarella
rocket leaves (as many as you want)

Dough
1/2 cup of milk
2 tspoons of butter
1 tbsponn of baking soda
1 cup of flour
1 tspoon of salt

Mix all the dough ingredients and kneed it until homogeneous. Open it with the roll, making 4 pizza bases or a big pizza. Bake it (gas mark 6) for 12 min.

Spread the tomato sauce on top of the pizza, distribute the muzzarella, mixed up with the ricotta. Top it with the rocket leaves and the sun-dried tomatos. Bake it again for another 8 min.

Filled lettuce

time of preparation: 30 min
2 portions

1 big head of lettuce
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 big onion, grated
1/3 cup of chopped parsley
1 tbspoon of butter
1 cup of minced meat
1 cup of water
1 cube of beef stock
1/2 cup of grated parmesan
1 tspoon of ground pepper
1 egg
1 tbspoon of tomato puree
1/2 cup of bread crums
salt (if necessary)

separate and clean the lettuce leaves. Reserve the big outter leaves and chop the inner ones.
Fry the garlic, onion and parsley on the butter. Add the chopped lettuce, the meat, water, beef stock and pepper. Let it cook. When it dries, add the cheese, the egg, tomato puree and the bread crums.
Fill the big lettuce leaves with the mince and serve.

Black Cow (Vaca Preta)

Vaca preta is a beverage made of vanilla ice-cream and coke, drank mostly in summer time. People in Brazil usually go to Ice Cream Parlors on summer, sit on the side walk and order banana-splits or vaca preta and enjoy it.

It is sooo very easy to make!
Time of preparation: 2 minutes

2 balls of vanilla ice cream
2 cups of coke
1 tall glass cup
straw
1 spoon (best if it is a long one, for ice cream)

In a tall glass cup, put the ice cream and add the coke, filling it up to the border. Add the straw (to drink the soda mixed with coke) and the spoon, so people can mix it more and eat the left overs of the ice cream. In Ice Cream Parlors, in Brazil, this beverage is served with the small bottle of coke used to fill the glass on the side, so you can refill it.

Brigadeiro

There's nothing more traditional in Brazil than this delicious and easy to make candy. There is no birthday party without it in my homecountry! Children love it, adults love it, it is a hit!

If you are interested in its history, you can click here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigadeiro

Time of preparation: 20 min

1 can on condensed milk
1 tbspoon of butter
2 tbspoons of cocoa powder (the one children drink with milk)
chocolate sprinkles

Mix all the ingredientes and take it to medium heat, mixing it vigorously. When it begins to boil, lower the heat and continue to mix it vigorously, until it reaches the point when the candy comes off the pan on it's own.
Let it cool down.

To roll them:
Spread butter on your hands and grab a small amount of the candy (1/2 tbspoon) and roll it in your palms, making small balls. Sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles and serve it in paper trays, like in the picture.

If you are not preparing it for a party, we generally don't roll it, but put the candy on a soup plate and let it cool (You can leave it on the fridge for up to 5 days). We also put a bit more butter (2 tbspoons instead of one) so it becomes creamier and easier to eat with a spoon. Eat it with friends: each one grabs a spoon and digs in.

American Pancakes

135g/4¾oz plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
130ml/4½fl oz milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp melted butter (allowed to cool slightly) or olive oil, plus extra for cooking
To serve: maple syrup

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter.
2. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Any lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing. Let the batter stand for a few minutes.
3. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a knob of butter. When it's melted, add a ladle of batter (or two if your frying pan is big enough to cook two pancakes at the same time). It will seem very thick but this is how it should be. Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over and cook until both sides are golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm (½in) thick.
4. Repeat until all the batter is used up. You can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven, but they taste best fresh out the pan.
5. Serve with lashings of real maple syrup and extra butter if you like.

For extra-fluffy pancakes substitute self-raising flour for plain flour and still use the baking powder.

2. Add a large handful of fresh blueberries to the batter before cooking.

You can also add one teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the buckwheat batter and serve with caramelised apple slices and thick double cream.

Brazilian rice

Why brazilian rice? Because it is loose and dry. It is neutral and goes with pretty much everything. Brazilians have a different way of cooking rice, which makes it sooo good, you can pretty much cook it with any dish.

Time of preparation: 25 min
2 portions

1 cup of long grain rice
2-3 tbspoons of oil
1/2 onion, chopped
salt (about half to 1/3 of a tbspoon)
boiling water

Here's where the difference starts: there is no brazilian rice without onion. The onion is what is going to give it a special scent and flavour.
In a pan (best if it is not a thick one), heat up the oil in medium heat and add the onions, the salt and the rice. This is the seccond difference. Brazilians fry the rice before they add the water, which makes it loose. Fry it for about a minute, mixing it to make sure they are covered with oil and salt. Add water, enough to cover the rice and, when you look at the pan, the water is up to 1 to 2 fingers above the line of rice. Try the water and check for salt.
Lower the heat, put on the lid (but do not cover the pan: leave it at an angle, so the water can evaporate).
Let it cook for 20 min and try the rice. If it is a bit chewy, you can add a bit more water to cook it more. If it is soft and there's a bit of water still in the pan, uncover the pan and mix the rice, to help the water evaporate.

If you put too much water, don't panic. You can put the rice in a sieve and let it drain when ready.

If it is not right the first time, don't panic. This rice takes a bit of getting used to it. Eventually you'll find the right amount of water to the rice and it will be perfect.

Tuna casserole

Time of preparation: 35 min

1 small tin of tuna (or 2 if you prefer more tuna)
4 tomatoes, sliced
1 onion, sliced
5-6 medium potatoes, sliced (thick slices, about 0.5cm)
olive oil
olives (optional), sliced
coriander
salt and pepper

This is a very easy recipe and it's delicious.
In a medium pan, with lid, distribute the slices of potato, covering it with the tomato slices, the onion slices, tuna, coriander, salt and pepper (and olives if you want). Put a dash of olive oil on top of it (the more the merrier) and repeat the process untill you run out of ingredients. Put the lid on and cook it in low heat for 20 to 40 min (depending on the stove). It's not necessary to add water, for the tomato juice cooks the potatoes. It is done when the potato slices are cooked.

Serve it with white rice...It is very good!

Rapini rice

When I lived in Portugal, I fell in love with the cuisine and I miss it a lot. Here's a simple recepi of rice with rapini. If you don't know what rapini is, click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapini

2 cups of long grain rice
3 tbsponn of olive oil
1/2 shoot of rapini
4 cups of water
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
salt

Fry the onion and the garlic in the olive oil. Add the rapini (we only use the pointed leaves). Add water and season with salt and pepper. When it boils, add the rice, lower the heat and let it cook for 20 minutes.

Courgette with mince

Time of preparation: 20-25 min

2 courgettes washed with skin (cut off only the "lids")
500g of mince
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cube of meat stock
salt and pepper

Cut the courgettes in cubes. In a pan, heat up 2 table spoons of oil and put the onion, the cube and the mince it. Let it fry (mixing it up) for some 3-4 minutes. Add the courgette, reduce heat and put the lid on. There's no need to add water since the water of the courgette is enough to cook, and creates a delicious sauce.

Serve with white rice, putting some sauce on it. It's simple and delicious.