BRASILIAN FOOD RECIPES

Walnut and prunes cake

2010-02-16T21:11:00.000-08:00

Recipe of Bolo de Nozes com Ameixa

Walnut and prunes cake

INGREDIENTS:

Walnut filling:

1 cup chopped walnuts

Some walnut halves to decorate

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

Prunes filling:

1 cup (6 oz) of chopped prunes

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup water

Frosting:

8 tbs (4 oz) margarine

3 tbs powdered cocoa

PREPARE:

Make a chocolate cake. Use the recipe of vanilla cake.

Add 2 tablespoon of cocoa powder while sifting the flour.

After the cake is cool, slice the cake in order to spread two layers of filling.

PREPARE WALNUT FILLING:

Combine in a sauce pan the chopped walnuts and sweetened condensed milk.

Reserve 1 inch of the can of sweetened condensed milk to make the frosting.

Cook the mixture until it thickens. Stir with a wood spoon constantly.

PREPARE PRUNES FILLING:

Place the chopped prunes and water in a blender and beat the prunes for about 20 seconds.

Pour the prunes in a saucepan, add the sugar and cook until it thickens.

PREPARE THE FROSTING:

Combine in a bowl the remaining sweetened condensed milk, margarine and powdered cocoa. Beat the mixture in a electric mixer until stiff.

ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:

Spread the walnut filling in one layer and the prunes in the second layer.

Cover cake with frosting. Finish the frosting with a fork tip to make the patterns seen on the photo.

Decorate with halves of walnuts, peaches, prunes and salad cherries.

Hint: Moisturize the cake. Sprinkle some iced tea on the cake before spreading the filling.

SERVE:

SERVING SIZE: 20 slices

Banana cake or Banana Bread

2010-02-16T21:09:00.001-08:00

Bobo de Banana

Bananas are common in tropical countries such as Brazil.

Use ripe bananas to prepare this banana cake.

INGREDIENTS:

3 ripe bananas

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 tablespoon (1/4 cup) margarine

½ chopped walnuts

PREPARE:

MIX:

Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Butter and flour a 9-inch tube pan.

Sift the all-purpose flour with the baking powder and baking soda.

In an electric mixer, on medium speed, beat the margarine, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, egg, and mashed bananas. Blend thoroughly but do not over mix.

Take the bowl out of the mixer and fold in nuts. Pour batter into prepared pan.

BAKE: for about 40 minutes or until brown.

SERVE:

SERVING SIZE: 10 slices

Brazilian doughnuts

2010-02-16T21:03:00.001-08:00

Bolinho de chuva is traditional all over Brazil. It is served for breakfast or tea time. The recipe below is for the sweet version. You can also make a salty bolinho de chuva by replacing the sugar with one teaspoon of salt and some chopped green onions.

Either way, sweet or salty they are delicious. When you deep fry them they get some crunchy peaks that are fun to eat. Bolinho de chuva means “donut of rain”. And they are best when fresh. So, if you want them for breakfast, prepare them in the same day, they are easy to do. You can have your Brazilian donuts done in about 30 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup corn starch

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

4 tbs granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

Oil to deep fry or shortening.

Sugar with cinnamon to sprinkle over.

PREPARE:

In a large bowl, mix in the eggs, sugar and pinch of salt. While mixing with a wood spoon add the flour, corn starch, baking powder and milk until you get a batter similar to cake batter.

Preheat the fryer to 350 degrees F, using two table spoons, take a spoon of batter and scrape off the batter into the fryer using the second spoon. Fry about six doughnuts each time until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes, flipping just once for overall browning. (The doughnut will flip by itself). Remove the doughnuts from the oil and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Sprinkle with powdered sugar with cinnamon and serve.

Hint: The fryer temperature is very important. If it is too hot, the doughnuts will burn outside and be doughy inside.

SERVE:

Makes about 25 doughnut balls. Kids will love it.

2010-02-09T22:33:00.000-08:00

Camarão ao Catupiry(Shrimp with Catupiry Cheese)

2010-01-10T19:51:00.000-08:00

2 lbs of fresh shrimp (medium or small size)
1 Catupiry cheese or 1 lb of Philly
4 large, juicy tomatoes
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp of finely chopped parsley
2 tbsp of finely chopped green onions
1 tbsp of corn starch
salt and pepper
10-15 whole peppercorns (you can leave these out if you don't want people biting into them)
Parmesan cheese to sprinkle
lime juice

Preheat oven to 450° F. Spread cheese over bottom and sides of 13 x 9 pyrex. Peel, devein and wash shrimp, sprinkle with lime juice and salt. Leave in refrigerator until ready to use. Chop tomatoes into big chunks and puree in blender. Saute onion in olive oil until limp, add shrimp, cover and bring to a simmer. Add tomatoes, parsley, green onions and whole peppercorns. Simmer for fifteen minutes. Dissolve corn starch in milk. Add milk to shrimp, stir for a couple of minutes and remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste (remember the cheese is salty!). Pour shrimp mixture into pyrex. Sprinkle top with parmesan cheese. Bake until cheese is melted (about 15 minutes). Serve from pyrex. Serve with Brazilian style white rice. YUM! (Don't even begin to count calories here...).

Brazilian empanadas chicken mini pies(Empada)

2010-01-10T19:45:00.000-08:00

INGREDIENTS:

Crust:

4 cups all-purpose flour

12 oz margarine

3 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 teaspoon cold water

Salt

Filling:

2 boneless chicken breast

½ cup green olives (chopped)

½ cup heart of palms chopped

2 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 chopped onion

1 tablespoon oil

2 tablespoon tomato paste

Salt

To baste:

1 egg yolk

PREPARE:

Crust: Save the egg white of just one egg. Combine the yolk and remaining whole eggs with flour, margarine, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Mix all ingredients vigorously with the fingers for about 10 minutes or until it becomes dough while holding the bowl with the other hand. Add the spoons of cold water to the mixture to reach the dough consistency. Do not knead the dough; just squeeze it with your fingers until mixed. Pat dough into a ball and let it rest while you prepare the filling.

Filling: Combine chicken breast, chopped onion, oil, salt, and 1 cup of water in a pressure cooker. Place the pressure cooker in medium-heat. Chicken is ready 10 minutes after the regulator starts to blow steam, or cook for about 30 minutes in a saucepan.

Remove cooked chicken and save the broth. Finely chop chicken breast and place it in a saucepan. Add green olives, heart of palms, tomato paste and stir in 2 tablespoon of flour. Place sauce pan over medium heat and cook filling while adding broth slowly to give a paste like consistency.

ASSEMBLE:

Take small amounts of dough and press against the mold to line it up to a bit over the edge.

Fill the mold with chicken. Make a small lid with the dough and cover the mold. Press the lid borders against the mold to seal the line crust with the cover and cut the excess off. Brush top of pies with egg yolk.

BAKE: Preheat oven to 375 °F. Bake for about 25 minutes of until top becomes golden brown. Let it cool and release from molds.

Brazilian cheese rolls

2010-01-10T19:38:00.000-08:00

INGREDIENTS:

1 package of Cheese Bread Yoki mix

1/2 cup water

2 eggs

PREPARE:

HEAT:

Preheat oven to 350° F

BLEND:

In a medium bowl all ingredients.

BEAT:

4 minutes at slow speed

or by hand until get smooth consistency.

BAKE

Place dough balls spaced in a cookie sheet.

Bate at 350° F for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

SERVE:

Serve during breakfast, or teatime with a Brazilian coffee that you can buy online from Brazilian grocery stores.

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History of Pao de Queijo

The origin of Brazilian cheese rolls

Pão de Queijo means in Portuguese Bread of cheese.

However in first days of Pao de Queijo had no cheese in it.

Everything started back in the years 1600’s when the slaves of our Minas Gerais state were making Manioc Flour to the rich farmland owners. That was pretty much the time Feijoada was invented as well.

But going back to the Pão de Queijo history, the slaves used to crop manioc (yucca root), peel them off, finely grate them, and soak them in a big wood bowl (gamela) with plenty of water. So they wash and drained this grated manioc, then spread this manioc on a tiled floor outdoors and let it dry under the sun.
When dried, they scraped this manioc into big bags and stored them for food consumption throughout the year.

This was a noble food prepared to the farmland owners. Therefore slaves were not supposed to eat them. Even today this manioc flour is largely used in Brazilian cuisine. In our site we can see a recipe of Tutu (creamed beans) prepared with manioc flour, and also it is used to prepare the Farofa (a seasoned manioc flour). I’ve seen some people here say it tastes like beach sand. But don’t be fooled, a well prepared Farofa with manioc flour is a “Farmland owner’s exclusive food!”.

OK. But our hard working slaves end it up with a fine white powder left in the big wood bowls after taking out the manic flour. This was the manioc starch that dried out in the “gamelas” after preparing the manioc flour. The manioc flour had the starch washed out that’s why the sandy appearance.

So the slaves managed to scrape this white starch off the gamelas, make small balls and bake them. This manioc starch balls had neither cheese nor milk in it, just plain manioc starch. These baked balls became popular among the slaves and rich people just discarded this type of food.

More than 200 years latter, cattle farms became widespread in Brazil and slaves (that were being freed by that time) gained access to better foods such as milk and cheese. So they began to increment the baked balls with milk and ultimately cheese!

When Brazil had no more slaves, their culture began to spread among the rest of the population. And Pão de Queijo became popular in Minas Gerais.

Today, in every house you visit in Minas, they will prepare for you a fresh brewed coffee with Pão de Queijo.

The manioc starch latter got the name of “Polvilho” and now we have two types of “Polvilho”. Sweet polvilho that is made in the same way our ancestors slaves used to do: wash out grated manioc and dry the milky liquid in a large open tiled floor, or big wood bowls.

The second type is the Sour Polvilho. This one is made by letting the germs in the wood bowl to ferment the milky liquid before putting it to dry.

The sour polvilho makes a Pao de Queijo a little more acid and bigger. The prepared mix you buy is made with sour polvilho.

During the slavery times in Brazil, the Africans incorporated old traditions they brought from Africa with the culture they developed in the new country Brazil.

Their culture blended in our Brazilian culture and we are very proud of it. Today people have a hard time to remember if a specific tradition or food is from African slaves origin or not. Food such as the Chicken Ximxim, vatapa, canjica, cocada, Feijoada and Pão de Queijo are better known by the geographic location they exist than by ethnic origin. And the same I can say about the martial art Capoeira and the samba music. They are just Brazilian, there is no racial segregation in my loved country Brazil.

Deep-fried meat ball (QUIBE)

2010-01-10T19:36:00.000-08:00

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ cup (8 oz) bulgur wheat

1 lb ground sirloin.

1 chopped onion

4 chopped cloves of garlic

fresh mint leaves (about 12 branches)

4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground pepper

PREPARE:

Soak bulgur in water at least 3 hours.

Drain and press bulgur in a colander to remove water.

Beat in a food processor the onion, garlic and mint leaves to make a coarse paste.

Pour this paste in a large bowl, add the bulgur, ground sirloin, salt, cinnamon and ground pepper. Knead the mixture thoroughly. When ready, it will resemble dough.

Form the dough into 2-inch rolls with shape of a football ball. (You can make smaller balls if desired).

Deep fry rolls at 350 °F for about 10 minutes or until crusty and brown.

Drain on paper towels and serve.

SERVE:

Great for parties. Serve with a spicy dip.
SERVING SIZE: about 30 quibes

Corn meal soup with segments of kale

2010-01-10T19:34:00.000-08:00

INGREDIENTS:

For each cup of water:

1 tbs of corn meal.

1 pinch of salt

1 leaf of kale

PREPARE:

Place the water in a saucepan. Stir in the cornmeal and salt. Stir well until completely dissolved.

Place the pan in medium-heat and boil gently for about 10 minutes or until mingau gets thick. While boiling, stir constantly with a wood spoon.

Tear kale leaf into small pieces and place in the mingau.

Serve hot in a bowl. This version of salty mingau can be enjoyed as a soup.

(The mingau you see above, we also added some ground beef).

SERVE:

Serve hot in a bowl.

Brazilian Peanut Candy - Paçoca de Amendoim

2010-01-07T23:25:00.000-08:00

Paçoca de amendoim tastes slightly like the inside of a Reeses peanut butter cup, but with a difference - it's made with cassava flour (made from the root of the manioc plant). The manioc flour gives it a distinctive, delicious flavor. You can use either manioc flour (farinha de mandioca), which is more coarsly ground, or manioc starch (almidón) for this recipe. If you use manioc meal the candy will be more crumbly. Either way, this is a crumbly candy, best paired with a hot cup of coffee for washing it down. You will need a food processor to make this candy.
Ingredients:
•1 1/2 cup peanuts, lightly salted
•1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
•3/4 cup manioc flour or manioc starch
•pinch of salt
•1/4 cup condensed milk
Preparation:

1.Process the peanuts with the sugar, salt, and manioc meal until very finely ground.

2.Add a tablespoon of condensed milk and process for 30 seconds. Check if mixture is starting to come together by pressing some into a ball with your fingers.

3.If the mixture will form a ball that stays together well, it's ready. If it is still too crumbly, add more condensed milk and process.

4.Press mixture into a square 8 inch by 8 inch pan lined with wax paper. Press down firmly.

5.Remove candy from pan by lifting out the wax paper, and cut into smaller squares.

6.You can also use greased cookie cutters (simple shapes) to cut pieces out of the candy, or press the candy into molds to shape it.

7.Store in an airtight container.

Pudim de Leite Condensado(Brazilian-Style Flan)

2010-01-07T23:23:00.000-08:00

1 cup sugar (for the caramel)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Equal volume of regular milk (use the can to measure)

3 eggs

1 8-inch ring mold

Place 1 to 2 inches of water in a roasting pan. Place the pan in the oven and preheat to 325°.

Put the sugar in the ring mold. Place the mold directly over medium heat. Keep turning the mold until the sugar melts into a golden brown caramel and spoon it up the sides of the mold. Be careful not to burn the sugar and yourself. I use an oven mitt to hold the mold in my left hand and a large spoon for the sugar in my right hand. This way I can keep turning the mold and spooning the sugar. Let the mold cool.

Combine the condensed milk, regular milk and eggs in a blender. Whip (I like to use the frappe button in my blender) until smooth. Pour this mixture into the mold and place it in the center of the roasting pan with water. Bake the pudim for about 1 hour. It will turn golden brown on top and start separating from the sides of the mold. Let it cool to room temperature and place in refrigerator, preferably overnight (at least 6 hours).

Just before serving, run the tip of a knife around the inside of the mold. Place a deep platter over the mold and invert: the pudim should slide out easily. If not, give the mold a firm but careful shake. Spoon the caramel sauce on top and serve. Serves about 10. Totally yummy!

Pudim de Claras

2010-01-07T23:19:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite desserts...but I could never make it as well as my grandma or these people at Petits Fours (the pudim is behind the passion fruit mousse on this yummy photograph), a sweet shop in Leblon, my favorite neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. Here it goes, though:

Preheat oven to 500° F. Prepare a caramel like you would for pudim de leite (Brazilian sweetened condensed milk flan).

Put the sugar in the ring mold. Place the mold directly over medium heat. Keep turning the mold until the sugar melts into a golden brown caramel and spoon it up the sides of the mold. Be careful not to burn the sugar and yourself. I use an oven mitt to hold the mold in my left hand and a large spoon for the sugar in my right hand. This way I can keep turning the mold and spooning the sugar. Let the mold cool.

1 cup sugar (for the caramel)

5 large egg whites

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon grated lime zest

Gradually whisk the egg whites until foamy (we used to do it by hand, but now, of course, there are electric mixers...). Increase the speed and add the sugar by spoonfuls. When the meringue forms stiff peaks, fold in the lime zest. Use a rubber spatula to gently spoon the meringue into the mold. Bake until the surface is golden brown (about 5 minutes in my oven, which is really hot). Cool and refrigerate, covered, overnight.

Just before serving, run the tip of a knife around the inside of the mold. Place a deep platter over the mold and invert: the pudim should slide out easily. If not, give the mold a firm but careful shake. Spoon the caramel sauce on top and serve. Serves about 10. Totally yummy! I love to eat this with the passion fruit mousse...total pig out!

Olhos de Sogra (Mother-in-law's Eyes)

2010-01-07T23:13:00.000-08:00

Here's an example of the Brazilian sense of humor, this time in the dessert department. If you look at these "olhos de sogra," as they are called in Portuguese, if they have a clove stuck in the center, they really DO resemble a pair of eyes staring at you. In Brazil, these are some of the most popular little sweets served at parties and I've always loved them. Perhaps because they aren't too sweet, since they're made with prunes. Pictured above on the left with the same recipe done with dates on the right. Anyway, you'll need:

24 oz of large pitted prunes

1 lb of grated coconut (I measured: one coconut yields about 1 lb of grated coconut)

1/2 lb of sugar

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup water

a box or jar of cloves (whole)

Choose only the moist prunes and form them into boat shapes. Prepare the filling: melt the sugar in the water in a saucepan on low heat, then add the coconut and the egg yolks. Mix well and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring from time to time with a wooden spoon.

Stuff the prunes with the coconut sweet while it's still warm and stick a clove in the center of each "docinho" to form the pupil of the eye. Serve in small paper cups, which you should be able to find in better cooking stores or party favors shops in the US. An alternative filling I like very much is coconut kisses. Prepare the recipe, but instead of making the little balls use it to fill the prunes.

Passion Fruit Mousse Cake - Bolo Mousse de Maracuja

2010-01-07T23:10:00.000-08:00

Brazilians love passion fruit desserts, and this easy yet spectacular passion fruit mousse cake is one of their best. Spongy vanilla cake layers are soaked with passion fruit syrup, then filled with an intensely flavored passion fruit mousse. The cake is iced with sweetened whipped cream, and serve chilled. It makes an elegant summer dessert. If you can't find fresh passion fruit, use frozen fruit pulp, which you can find at supermarkets (I found Goya brand at my supermarket) or latin markets. If you are short on time, make just the mousse - it's delicious with fresh fruit.
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
•For the Cake:
•1 plain white cake mix
•3 eggs
•2 egg whites
•1/3 cup vegetable oil
•1/3 cup buttermilk
•1/3 cup water
•For the Passion Fruit Mousse:
•1/3 cup water
•2 packets unflavored gelatin
•1 1/4 cup fresh or frozen passion fruit pulp
•1 cup sugar
•2 tablespoons rum or pisco
•5 egg whites
•For the Passion Fruit Syrup:
•3/4 cup fresh or frozen passion fruit pulp
•3/4 cup sugar
•For the Whipped Cream Frosting:
•2 cups whipping cream
•3 tablespoons sugar
•1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Preparation:

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.In the bowl of a standing mixer, add the cake mix, 3 eggs, 2 egg whites, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1/3 cup buttermilk, and 1/3 cup water. Mix for 2 minutes or until well blended.

3.Line the bottoms of 2 9-inch cake pans with wax paper, and divide the cake mix between the 2 pans.

4.Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the center of the cake springs back when lightly pressed.

5.Let cakes cool 10 to 15 minutes in the pans. Run a knife around the edge of the cakes and flip them out of the pans. Set aside to cool.

6.While the cakes are baking, make the mousse: Sprinkle the gelatin over the water and set aside for 5 minutes. Microwave for 15 seconds or until gelatin is dissolved (do not overheat). Whisk the melted gelatin into the passion fruit pulp and set aside.

7.Make the cake soaking syrup: Bring 3/4 cup passion fruit pulp and 3/4 cups sugar to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, and remove from heat. Let cool and set aside. When cool, stir in 2 tablespoons rum.

8.Make the italian meringue: Add egg whites to the clean bowl of a standing mixer. In a saucepan, bring 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil. Boil for 3 to 4 minutes, until the syrup starts to thicken and the bubbles are popping slowly.

9.Until the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.

10.Slowly add the hot sugar mixture to the egg whites. Pour syrup in a thin stream down the side of the bowl to prevent splattering. Work carefully to avoid burns.

11.Beat the meringue on high speed for 2 minutes, then reduce the speed to low and continue to beat so that the meringue will cool.

12.While the meringue cools, beat the whipping cream until very soft peaks form. Do not overbeat.

13.Fold the the passion fruit/gelatin mix gently into the egg whites. Do not overmix.

14.Whisk a small amount of the meringue/passion fruit mixture into the whipped cream, then gently fold all of the whipped cream back into the meringue mixture.

15.Slice each cake layer in half horizontally, so that you have 4 layers. Line the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan with a circle of wax paper. Butter the inside of the springform pan.

16.Place one cake layer, cut side up, in the bottom of the springform pan. Brush the cake with 1/4 of the syrup. Spread 1/3 of the mousse over the cake.

17.Cover mousse with another cake layer, and brush cake with syrup. Spread another 1/3 of the mousse over the cake.

18.Continue to layer, ending with the fourth cake layer. Press cake down gently into the pan. Brush top of cake with syrup. Chill thoroughly - at least 4 hours to overnight.

19.Pop the side of springform pan off of cake in one quick motion. Gently lift ring off, leaving cake on base.

20.Add sugar to remaining whipped cream, and beat until stiff peaks form. Stir in vanilla. Spread whipped cream around sides of cake and on top. You can also use a pastry bag with star tip to pipe the whipped cream onto the top of the cake. Decorate with fruit, and serve chilled.

QUINDIN

2010-01-07T23:09:00.000-08:00

A variety of small individual, petit four-like treats are often served at South American parties. Quindin, a popular coconut treat in Brazil made with lots of egg yolks, coconut, sugar, and butter, is often served this way, although it can also be made into one large ring custard. Quindin is baked in a water bath, and the coconut rises to the top while it's baking. The cakes are then flipped out of the molds to reveal their sparkly golden cap of custard. The coconut becomes the sweet chewy crust.
Ingredients:
•8 tablespoons butter, plus 2 tablespoons melted butter for greasing the pans
•1 1/3 cup sugar, plus more for dusting the pans
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•14 egg yolks plus 1 whole egg
•1 teaspoon coconut flavoring
•1/2 teaspoon vanilla
•1 2/3 cups fresh or frozen finely grated coconut, unsweetened
Preparation:

1.With a pastry brush, paint melted butter inside all of the molds of 2 mini-muffin pans.

2.Sprinkle sugar liberally over all of the molds, then turn the pans over and tap out the excess.

3.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and heat a pot of water on the stove.

4.Cream the butter with the sugar and the salt until fluffy.

5.Make sure the egg yolks and egg are at room temperature (you can warm them very briefly in the microwave if necessary). Add the eggs one at a time, blending well after each. The batter should be smooth. Stir in the coconut flavoring and the vanilla.

6.Fold in the fresh coconut. (If coconut is not finely grated, process it in a food processor or blender first).

7.Place each cupcake pan inside of a large pan with sides, like a roasting pan. Fill each minicupcake mold almost full with batter.

8.Pour the hot water into the larger pan to a depth of about 3/4 of an inch, so that the muffin pan is sitting in a water bath, being careful not to let water splash into the batter. It sometimes helps to put the pans in the oven first, and then pour the water into the bottom pan, so that the water doesn't slosh around as you are moving the pans to the oven.

9.Bake custards for about 15 minutes, or until they are firm to the touch and light golden brown.

10.Let cool for 15 minutes on a rack. To remove custards, run a knife around the edge to loosen them from the pan and then gently flip them or lift them out. If they will not come out easily, chill them first.

11.Serve chilled.

Note: This recipe can be made in one standard muffin tin, to make 12 standard muffin size flans. It can also me made in a medium size (6 to 7 cup) ring mold.

User Reviews

Bridadeiro

2010-01-07T23:00:00.000-08:00

INGREDIENTS:

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon margarine

3 tablespoon cocoa powder

PREPARE:

Cook over medium-low heat, stir vigorously the sweetened condensed milk, margarine and cocoa powder.

Cook the mixture until it thickens enough to show the pan bottom during stirring.

Pour the mixture in a greased dish and let it cool to room temperature. Take small amounts of the mixture with a teaspoon and make 1 ½ inch balls.

Roll the balls over chocolate jimmies to decorate.

Hint: Grease your hands with margarine to make the balls easily.

If the balls don't hold the shape and flat down like coins, it means that you did not cook enough. Cook additional five minutes, take a small sample and dip it in a glass with cold water. If you cooked enough, this sample should hold the shape after cooling down in the water.

The cheapest , low grade sweetened condensed milk is the best to make the brigadeiro because they have more starch on them, which helps the candy to hold the shape.
In US, buy the sweet condensed milk from the Walmart brand "Great Value", cook this brand for 20 minutes in medium heat stirring continuously and your brigadeiro is with the right consistency.

SERVE:

Place the balls in candy cups to serve.

They are great for birthday parties.

SERVING SIZE: 40 candies.

See the history behind brigadeiro. Click here.

Flavor's from Brazil

2009-12-23T20:27:00.001-08:00

Flavor's from Brazil

Cooking is something that has always interested me. Initially, I was simply dazzled by the warmth of the kitchen, the anticipation before the meals and the smell that stays in one’s memory forever. As a child I was a keen assistant but not a very promising one. I wasn’t born wrapped in an apron and cooking didn’t come naturally to me. My mom was the one who inspired me the most because she made things look so easy. She’s one of those people who learned to cook the old fashion way, in a rustic farm kitchen, where baking your own bread is a daily affair. Forget bread-kneading machines, no fancy appliances - only good hands and strong arms required. Too scary for a girl with thin arms, who couldn’t stand too close to the hot oven.My Mom had a notebook where she wrote down her recipes. As a young girl, I thought that was rather silly because she had many cookery books. How many recipes does one need, right? Sometimes she kept the recipe labels from condensed milk cans, coconut milk bottles and meat stock boxes. Nowadays I catch myself doing the same thing and understand that those who love cooking have this hunger for learning, or simply collecting recipes.A few years later, my Mom started working, and I was faced with the daunting task of cooking for my family. That same useless kitchen assistant was now the proud in-house chef. My first creations were not well received, though - looking at my sibling’s pictures taken at the time I realise they looked like beanstalks… This awkward start was my “debut” and marked the beginning of my affair with the kitchen. But cooking for others was something I found very gratifying. I think that’s what really got me motivated. The difference now is that cooking is more than a necessity, it’s a pleasure.This blog is about sharing my love for food. I’ll be writing about Brazilian cooking because it’s my heritage, the food I crave, the dishes I cook for my friends and family.If you think Brazilian cuisine sounds exotic, don’t worry. There’s a lot more to Brazilian cooking than the traditional dishes you find in restaurants. Many sound quite familiar. Brazil is a multi-cultural society, and you see it in our cuisine. We have Italian dishes, Japanese, Middle Eastern, Spanish… but everything with a twist. Most recipes require ingredients you may find in any local shop. Some Brazilian ingredients can found at international supermarkets. There are also variations of dishes that you may already know I’ll just give you a more “homemade friendly version."

BOLINHO DE BACALHAU-CODFISH BALLS

2009-11-22T21:34:00.000-08:00

Codfish balls are Portuguese in origin (and over there they're shaped differently; if you go to a Portuguese restaurant/bar in Rio, you'll see that they're not round). But, like pizza in the U.S., they were so heartily adopted that they became Brazilian food. They are included in every Brazilian cookbook I've ever read and are served at every party or reception in Brazil. Also, anywhere a very cold beer is served... With this note of cultural caution, here is the recipe, which is absolutely delicious.

1 pound salt cod

2 cups of mashed potatoes

2 tbsps of finely chopped parsley

2 large eggs

oil for frying

Soak salt cod overnight and during the morning, changing water three times. Drain, remove skin and any bones and cut in small chunks. The next step is poaching the cod. In Boston, I learned a great trick from Julia Child, who used to call her fritters Aunt Priscilla's Codfish Balls (there's a Portuguese connection somewhere...). I always do it her way now. Simmer a small onion, thinly sliced, with a bay leaf and 4 peppercorns in 2 cups of water. After 5 minutes, add the cod and 2 cups of water. When it simmers, cover the pan and remove from heat, so the cod doesn't toughen. You can keep the cod in this liquid in the refrigerator until ready to use it.

To form the bolinhos: drain the fish and flake it well into a bowl. Add 2 cups of mashed potatoes; beat two eggs with a pinch of salt and add them to the fish and potatoes. Some cooks like to separate the eggs, adding first the yolks, then the beaten whites. Add the parsley (and if you want, 1 small chopped onion, but I prefer just a bit of parsley myself), salt and freshly grated pepper to taste. Wait about 1/2 hour to form the balls; they should be about 1 1/2 inches. Use good, fresh oil for frying (set deep-fryer temperature at 375°). Dry in paper towels. Serve with a good batida and some very cold beer!

MARISCADA

2009-11-22T21:02:00.000-08:00

Ingredients
½ lb fresh Squid (calamari).
1 lb fresh white fish.
½ lb clam meat (you can by a package of pre-cooked /frozen).
½ lb Shrimp (pre-cooked).
1 lb mussels shellfish (frozen in the shell).
4 ripe tomatoes.
2 onions.
1 bottle coconut milk.
3 tablespoon chopped cilantro.
4 tablespoon lemon juice.
6 tablespoon olive oil.
2 gloves of garlic.
2 teaspoon salt.

[edit] DirectionsPlace pre-cooked frozen clam meat and Shrimp in a colander. Let them thaw and drain overnight in a fridge.
Cut the fresh fish into cubes and the squids into small pieces. Rinse them and place in a bowl with salt and lemon juice. Let them marinate while you cook the mussels.
Mussels (Mexilhão):

Rinse the frozen mussels under cool running water. The shells should close.
Place mussels that do not close in a bowl with cold water and agitate them to make the shell close. *Discard the shells that do not close because they can be spoiled and cause intoxication.
In a large saucepan, place the good mussels with 1/8 cup of water.
Cook them about 10 to 15 minutes or until the shells open wide apart and meat come loose.
Use a fork to remove the meat from shells. Discard shells, reserve the meat.
Combine in blender diced tomatoes, onions, cilantro, minced garlic and salt.
Make a coarse purée.
In a large pan, heat the olive oil and pour the coarse purée.
Add the fresh fish and Squid. Cook for about 10 minutes.
Then, combine the other seafood: Shrimp, clam meat, mussels’ meat.
Add the coconut milk and cook for additional 15 minutes.
The dish should have the consistency of a soup when done.

COUVE A MINEIRA-KALE

2009-11-22T20:25:00.000-08:00

4 to 5 bunches of collard greens (or kale)

butter (use 1/2 tablespoon for every cup of shredded collards)

Wash the collard greens. Remove the stems and roll the leaves tightly together. Slice into very thin strips with a sharp knife. If you're lucky to live in São Paulo or Rio (and other large Brazilian cities, too, I assume), you can find it already all sliced like in this photo...

Just before serving, melt the butter in a frying pan (preferably a heavy duty one) and add collard greens. Cook over high heat stirring constantly until collard greens just start to wilt. Sprinkle with salt and serve.

Note: This is the recipe I prefer as a garnish for feijoada. Otherwise, mince 1 small onion and 2 cloves garlic and cook in butter until lightly brown. Add the collard greens and cook as above.

ACARAJE

2009-11-22T20:24:00.000-08:00

Ingredients
1 pound dried black-eyed peas
1/2 cup dried shrimp
3/4 cup roughly chopped onion
2 teaspoons roughly chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Salt
2 quarts vegetable oil
Black Eye Pea Fritter Sauce, recipe follows
Directions
Soak the black-eyed peas overnight in cold water to cover. Drain. Rub off and discard the skins. Soak the shrimp in cold water to cover for 30 minutes. Puree the peas, onion, shrimp, garlic and cayenne in a food processor. Season to taste with salt, if necessary. Form mixture into tablespoon size balls.

Meanwhile in a 5-quart pot or Dutch oven, fitted with a candy or deep-frying thermometer, or in an electric deep fryer, heat oil over medium-low heat until the thermometer registers 365 degrees F. Make sure you have at least 3 inches of space between the top of the oil and the top of the pan, as oil will bubble up when fritters are added.

Fry the fritters in small batches until golden brown all over, turning once. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Serve at room temperature with Black-eyed Pea Fritter Sauce.

Black-eyed Pea Fritter Sauce-Molho de Acaraje:

1/2 cup dried shrimp

3/4 cup roughly chopped onion

1 teaspoon peeled fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt

Soak the shrimp in cold water, to cover, for 30 minutes. Drain the shrimp and puree in a food processor or blender with the onion, ginger and red pepper. Heat the oil in a skillet and saute the shrimp mixture for about 5 minutes. Season with salt, to taste. Transfer to a bowl and serve with fritters.

Yield: about 1 1/4 cups

FEIJOADA

2009-11-22T20:20:00.000-08:00

The slaves in the colonial Brazil created the "Feijoada".

They started cooking the pork meats that Farmland owners discarded such as ear, tails, feet in a big pot with black beans.

This dish became traditional all over the country. Since then, the dish was incremented with pork sirloin and sausages that transformed the menu in a famous entrée that everybody who visit Brazil have to taste.

The following recipe is an easy-to-do version of Feijoada made only with pork tenderloin and sausages.

This recipe is preferred for busy people that don't want to handle the salted pork ears, tails and feet found in the complete Feijoada.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb of varied pork sausages (prefer smoked sausages)

1 lb of pork tenderloin

some slices of bacon

1 can of black beans (15.5Oz)

2 tbs vegetable oil

salt, garlic, chopped onions and bay leaves (bay leaves give a special taste to feijoada)

PREPARE:

Feijoada is made with black beans and pork meats.

You can use a can of beans already cooked or learn how to cook dried beans.

Add black beans to a medium-sized pot with 2 tbs oil, salt, garlic, chopped onions and about 6 bay leaves.

Cook for about 15 minutes in med heat and set aside.

In a separated panfry, cook cubes of pork tenderloin and slices of bacon with salt, garlic.

Add all the sausages sliced and stir medium-heat until dry all the water.

Add the cooked meat to the pan with the black beans and your feijoada is ready!

Cook your feijoada more 10 minutes to meat soak in the black beans. You can add some pepper sauce to your feijoada at this point.

Hint: to make the feijoada creamy, liquefy 1/2 cup of black beans in the blender and add to the feijoada.

SERVE:

Before serving the "Feijoada", you can serve a caipirinha as an appetizer.

Feijoada is a main dish frequently served with white rice, collard greens and seasoned manioc flour (farofa).

To follow the "Feijoada", we serve orange segments as a dessert.

SERVING SIZE: 6 portions.

ANGU MINEIRO

2009-11-22T20:12:00.000-08:00

Angú is a type of corn porridge or polenta from the Southeast region.

You can prepare Angú either with a paste consistency (how I like it) or cook it a little more and pour in a fluted tube pan to make it pudding like consistency.

The traditional Angú of Minas Gerais has no seasoning, just water and corn meal.

But I prefer Angú with a little salt to taste. So we add a cube of beef bouillon in the angú we prepare.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups fine cornmeal (stone ground)

5 cups water

1 cube beef bouillon

2 tbs oil

PREPARE:

Whisk together cornmeal and 1 cup cool tap water. Set aside.

Bring 4 cups of water to full boil in a saucepan, add oil and beef bouillon.

Pour the cornmeal batter into boiling water and stir until thickened, about 50 minutes.

Stir with a wood spoon. If you stop stirring the angu create hot bubble splashes that can burn you.

Cook less time if you’d like a past consistency angu and serve hot.

If you’d like a shaped angu, cook the whole 50 minutes and pour in a bundt or fluted tube pan. Wait angu to cool before releasing in a serving plate.

SERVE:

You can cover the angu with a meat sauce or serve with chicken like on the photo above.

CHICKEN XIXIM

2009-11-22T20:07:00.000-08:00

Ingredients
2 lb dried shrimps, soaked overnight, ground (you can replace by cooked shrimps)
1 lb roasted peanuts (chopped in a food processor)
2 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 chopped Onion
1/2 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped
4 diced ripe tomatoes
½ cup palm oil
½ cup coconut milk
3 cups of water
3 pounds of cubed Chicken meat
salt
[edit] DirectionsHeat the palm oil in a large skillet.
Add chopped Onion, parsley, green pepper, garlic, tomatoes, salt and Chicken cubes.
Stir-fry for about 15 minutes in high-medium heat or until Chicken cubes are cooked.
Add water, shrimps, peanuts, and coconut milk.
Simmer the stew for additional 15 minutes or until you get a creamy sauce

FAROFA

2009-11-22T20:04:00.001-08:00

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb toasted manioc flour (farinha de mandioca torrada)

1 onion

green olives

finely chopped bacon

chopped parsley

raisins

sweet corn

2 tbs vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

PREPARE:

Stirr fry the finely chopped onion, salt and bacon over the oil, add the olives, sweet corn and raisins to cook them slightly.

Slowly pour the manioc flour while mixing over low heat. Add parsley at last.

Hint:

Use your imagination to increment the farofa.

If you do not have access to the toasted manioc flour, you can adapt the recipe using unseasoned bread crumb that you prepare yourself. Just grind in the blender pieces of dry french bread until fine. Use the crumb to replace the manioc flour.

SERVE:

Serve moderate portions of farofa as a side dish with meat or feijoada. It is served usually 2 or 3 tbs of the mixture on the side.

You can buy ready made farofa in Brazilian grocery stores. The most common brand is Yoki.