Caramel-Coconut Shortbreads (aka Samoas)

I am pregnant. I don't have a lot of cravings, but every now and then, I get hit with a wanting. And tomorrow is my birthday. We don't have Girl Scouts in Brazil and yet THESE are what I wanted in lieu of cake:



Was I up to baking them in summer humidity? Yes...provided it was in easy bar-cookie format. Success!




As a bonus, this shortbread cookie base is really, really good on its own. Will be bookmarking for the future!


1. Cookie base

(Adapted from Baking Bites.)

2 1/4 cups flour
200 grams butter (salted)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, then add egg, salt and vanilla, mixing well. Beat in the flour until it forms a soft dough. I patted my dough into a greased pan for bar cookies, but you could also roll it out and make shaped cookies. Prick with a fork to avoid puffing and bake until light brown on the bottoms.

2. Coconut-Caramel Topping
(Adapted from Ina Garten.)

3/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons corn syrup

1/2 box creme de leite
2 Tablespoons butter
pinch of salt
vanilla (1/2 teaspoon Western style; 1/4 teaspoon Brazilian)

1/2 bag coconut

Cook first three ingredients, stirring often, until the mixture boils and turns a deep golden brown. While this is cooking, heat next three ingredients in a separate pan until just simmering.

Remove cream mixture from heat and add vanilla. When sugar mixture is ready, remove from heat and carefully stir cream mixture into sugar. It will boil viciously, so be careful! Cook until it almost reaches soft ball stage, about 3-5 minutes more. Stir constantly. When soft ball is achieved, remove from heat and pour in the coconut, stir well and allow to cool slightly before spreading. If it is too thick/sets up too much, add a little milk or cream, heat and stir. Spread on cookies.
***With this one, I really overcooked it. The cookies were great while the caramel was still warm, but a few hours later it was ROCK hard! Oops.***


3. Chocolate Drizzle

1/3 cup chocolate chips/chunks (I used milk chocolate)
1 Tablespoon milk

Heat in microwave or over double boiler until chips are melted, stir well to combine. Drizzle over caramel.

Homemade Sausage Recipe, Brazil style

I consulted three different recipes online before coming up with this recipe. If you wanted a little more "scrapple" of a sausage, do add some cornmeal to the mix. I didn't, and it was just fine. If anything, perhaps a little too heavy on the sage; next time I'll use a little less fresh.

It's hard to find fresh pork here and not a soul would grind it for me, even when I asked oh-so-nicely. Pão de Açucar supermarket had fresh pork in the meat section, right between the chicken and the beef. There were about 15 trays, tops. Not a lot of variety. I wavered between the options: toucinho? barriga? lombo? before deciding to use a small tray of barriga suína that seemed to have the right mix of fat to meat. You want about a 30% fat, 70% lean mix, though of course that varies with personal taste. The barriga did have a few pieces of bone and really tough cartilage, so you need to prep this before tossing it into the food processor!

One pound (apx 500 g) barriga suína (with plenty of fat)
1 teaspoon salt, preferably sea salt or heavier grind
2-3 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves (sálvia)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (pimenta do reino)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (pimenta calabresa)
2 T maple syrup (or use brown sugar)
1/4 teaspoon marjoram (manjerona)
1 teaspoon thyme (tomilho)
1/8 teaspooon ground cloves (cravo)
(I used 1/4 teaspoon of a speculoos mix that included both of these sweet spices)
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (noz moscada)
1 big clove garlic, minced (alho)

Toss your meat in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes, which will help make it easier to cut and grind. While the meat chills, mix up your spices in a large bowl. To taste test, mix well, then sprinkle a pinch of the mix over a piece of bread of bland cheese. Taste, adjust seasonings as necessary. Remove meat from freezer. Chop into pieces and separate the fat if possible. Whir the fat in a food processor until it becomes creamy, and dump into the bowl with spices. Next, grind your meat. You don't want to make a puree here, so use a pulsing action. When it is ground sufficiently, add to the fat and spices, and mix well. Form into patties and fry, or freeze. I made logs, wrapped them in plastic wrap, tinfoil and ziplocked. They should last a long time frozen...if we can resist that long!

Spring Cleaning

It's time for the end of the year condiment clean-out. Yes, I know they probably last indefinitely...but should they? My refrigerator is overflowing with all the fun things I found in the supermarket over the past year or so, wasn't sure I'd ever see again, and immediately snatched up. Now I've got opened cans of horseradish sauce, three kinds of mustard, jalapeños and a nearly-full container of anchovies in oil languishing on the shelves.

Time for some creativity.

Dinner tonight, half a boneless ham that's been pulled from the freezer, is bathed in a sauce stolen from my mother: dark mustard, honey, brown sugar (or molasses), and horseradish. I added the dregs of a container of hot pepper jelly and dumped most of the sauce over the ham and tossed it in the oven. I'll heat the remainder and serve it alongside if we want extra sauce. Damage? Only one jar fully emptied, but the other two are now solidly on their way to retirement. A couple roast beef sandwiches should do the trick...

I made a batch of cornbread to go with the dinner and after pouring half into a cake pan for dinner, added jalapeños and chunks of cheap-o Brie to the rest, which plunked into muffin tins. We'll be having those for breakfast tomorrow with fried eggs. Damage? I get to sleep in later AND the jalapeños are all gone. Score!

At dinner the other night, I succumbed to the appeal of fried zucchini flowers at an Italian restaurant. Stuffed with a single anchovy and mozzarella, they were surprisingly good. Now I am dreaming ways of using up the anchovies (other than in anchovy butter, which is scheduled to appear on steaks in the near future). I'm thinking stuffed zucchini, perhaps, with lots of cheese, a touch of rice and a couple of the little hairy fishies...

I don't know if anyone actually reads this blog, but if you do and have ideas for anchovies, or anything else that uses up the bottles that clog the refrigerator shelves, please share!

Chaos in the Freezer

It's that time of year again. Time to clean out the freezer of all the accumulated odds and ends that have been building up for the last few months.

Yesterday was day 1 of cleanup. I used frozen shredded cheese, frozen hamburger buns, frozen leftover meatballs, 1/2 a bottle of tomato sauce languishing in the fridge, a portion of a leek, apples, cucumber and yogurt to make Meatball Sandwiches and a cold yogurt-dressed salad. It was a hit!

Quick Weeknight Freezer Cleanout Dinner Recipes:

1) Meatball Sandwiches

Make a marinara sauce with plenty of garlic, basil and oregano, hot pepper flakes, etc...Heat meatballs in sauce.

Toast hamburger buns with a brush of olive oil in the oven, then sprinkle with cheese and allow to melt. Top with meatballs, sauce and any extras you might want to throw on: grilled onions, artichokes, olives, etc.

Keep napkins handy!

2) Winter Fruit and Vegetable Salad

Slice all vegetables thinly or in tiny chunks:

1/2 leek (white and light green parts only)
2 apples
1-2 cucumbers, seeded

Drizzle with the juice of one lemon (zest too, if desired), pepper, salt and a single-serve tub of unflavored yogurt. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Tonight we're doing Peruvian. I defrosted a packet of aji amarillo that's been in the back, a gift from a friend who traveled to Peru earlier in the year. I also had homemade chicken stock, a couple of chicken tenders and some old bread ends in the freezer. The stock and the chicken went into the pressure cooker; when done, I shredded the chicken and reserved the stock liquid. Leeks and garlic sauteed in the now-empty pan, followed by some of the aji, tumeric, cumin, and black pepper. I soaked the bread and leftover cracker crumbs in a milk-cream mixture (to approximate evaporated milk), ground up peanuts and Brazil nuts, tossed in a little pumpkin for color and to cut down on the heat and then whirred the whole thing in the blender until smooth. Then I added Parmesan cheese and the chicken and voila! Non-traditional, but still tasty, Aji de Gallina. A less erratic recipe can be found here.

I'm serving it with boiled eggs and potatoes, some olives and pickles in the fridge, and quinoa (also from the freezer). Come tomorrow, Thanksgiving, I think I'll be ready to resume cooking afresh! And with lots of space in the freezer for leftovers.
:)

A Brazilian take on Crack-n-Cheese

Sometimes, comfort food is what you need. And when you're in a foreign country, substitutes for your favorite things can be maddeningly expensive or just downright impossible. Cheddar cheese, for instance, which is a near requirement for a good American cheese dish. I can't promise that this will beat a cheddar version...but I can tell you this is the second time I've made it, and I'm not sure my husband even got to TASTE the first batch. That tells you something, eh?

It is not healthy. Do not complain. This is a slightly trimmed back version. Martha calls for something like 6 CUPS of cheese, which to me is verging on gluttony. Sweet, sweet gluttony. I just use a good handful of shredded cheese, so my 3 cups is sort of an estimate. Add or subtract as your family desires. Using dried mustard powder (mostarda em pó-available at Casas Pedro) gives a good bite that kind of punches up the mild cheeses and the nutmeg adds depth; don't leave them out!

For cheese, I used minas padrão, queijo do reino (with the pink rind, I cut that off)and the cheap-o parmesan that comes in baggies. If you want to spend mad supermarket cash, try Gruyère, Pecorino, or imported cheddar etc. as the original recipe suggests. If you want to save, I think it would work with just requeijão and parmesan (though maybe you'd want a little less white sauce), or just use an aged Minas, padrão or lanche variety. I think prata and mozzarella would be too greasy or stringy, FYI.

Lastly, since gas ovens don't have broilers, here's a little trick I've learned. When your dish is 97% done, turn off the oven and leave the dish uncovered in the still-hot oven for about 10 minutes. Somehow, the cooling oven manages to put a good brown on top of baked goods without giving you the crunchy burnt bottom we all love SO much.

And now...the recipe. You're welcome!

Martha's Smitten Brazilian Crack-n-Cheese

(mildly adapted from Smitten Kitchen's version of Martha's version)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for casserole
1 liter milk (4 cups)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt, plus more for water
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper/paprika picante
1/4-1/2 teaspoon paprika doce (for color)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground mustard (depends on preference)
about 3 cups total grated cheese
500 grams shaped pasta
toppings and mix-ins as required (healthy things like spinach or broccoli, proteins like tuna or bacon, or carbwonderfulness such as bread crumbs, crackers or corn flakes.

Preheat the oven to 350-375 (fairly hot for gas stove users!) and butter a large pan. Set aside. Cook your pasta in a large pan of salted water while you prepare the sauce; try to undercook it by a few minutes. Drain and set aside. (If your pasta is done early, rinse with cold water so it won't stick together; if it's done about the same time as the sauce, you don't need to rinse.)

Warm your milk in the microwave or on the stove. Melt butter in a separate, large saucepan and when it begins to bubble, carefully whisk in the flour, trying to break up any clumps. Cook, whisking continually, for about 2 minutes. While whisking, pour the milk slowly into the pan. The sauce will begin to thicken. Whisk until it has the consistency of thin pudding, then add the spices and cheese. Stir until cheese is melted and well combined, remove from heat. Reserve a little sauce if desired-'tis yummy as Welsh Rarebit, over vegetables, etc. and this recipe always makes a LOT of sauce.

Pour pasta into cheese sauce and then into prepared pan. Add mix-ins or toppings if desired. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes covered, then uncover and allow the top to brown.

Mushroom-Zucchini Pan Fry

Mushrooms are like the zombies of the non-sentient kingdom. Fungi aren't really plants, they don't undergo photosynthesis and they basically survive via symbiotic or not-so symbiotic relationships and gnawing about on dead things.

Yum!

I discovered dried mushrooms at the Casas Pedro a few shopping trips back, and I came home with two bags full. A little dousing and soaking in hot water and they're fat, juicy and ready for use in stews, egg dishes, etc.

Tonight, we're having steaks, and the vegetable in the fridge that looked the saddest was a lonely zucchini. Sliced into half-moons and paired with some mushrooms, this makes a great side dish or vegetarian main.

Recipe:

1 onion, thinly sliced
1 zucchini, in rounds
a handful of fresh mushrooms, or dried and rehydrated
2 cloves of garlic, smashed/chopped
fresh rosemary or other herbs
olive oil/butter
salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese


Caramelize the onions in butter and olive oil. Go slow, it's worth it! Remove the onions and use the same pan to brown the garlic. Sprinkle with salt and add in zucchini and mushrooms, using more oil or butter as needed. When zucchini is browned, toss in the herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Melt a little Parmesan over the whole thing and serve hot with the onions piled on top.

Demystifying Batata Baroa

The batata baroa scared me for a long time. I saw it in the supermarket, didn't have a place for it in my cooking lexicon, and promptly stayed away.


Foolish me.

Lest you make the same mistake, read on.

To my American palate, this twisty root vegetable tastes like butter, roasted nuts and the creamiest potato I've ever encountered. They seem to get bad spots quickly, but I just scrub them well under running water until I reach hard flesh again before cutting and tossing into a pot. No need to peel unless you insist; the wrinkles make peeling difficult anyhow.

Try these as described below, in a twist on mashed potatoes, or puree with chicken stock (and shredded cooked meat, if you'd like) for a hearty soup. It's almost sinful if you pair mashed batata baroa and steak, in my opinion...which is why CT Boucherie is so popular, I suppose!

Batata Baroa Mashed Potato Casserole

3 large potatoes, cleaned and chopped into smallish chunks
2 medium batata baroa, similar sized pieces
chives and parsley, chopped
salt
butter
cream cheese
milk

Put potatoes in a stock pot with enough water to cover, toss in a couple teaspoonfuls of salt and allow to come to a boil. When both kinds of veggies are soft, remove from heat, drain and return to the pot. Mash with a nice knob of butter (1 T minimum, people!) until the desired consistency, then add 1/2 to 1 container of cream cheese and 2-4 tablespoons of milk. Stir to mix, then taste for salt and add if needed, sprinkle with herbs. Pour into a dish and bake in the oven for a crunchy top (or to reheat), but it can be served as is if you can't wait. Extra calories and delectableness can be added with a handful of cheese sprinkled over top...