Brazil and Latin America

I went to the library today to get my stack of Brazilian cookbooks.  No luck.  I got a couple of Latin American cookbooks and a couple of international.  I am a little apprehensive, due to the lack of recipes that I am finding.  I will reach out to my friend Dre and scour the web.  I would be happy to have some contributions of Brazilian recipes.

Thanksgiving

Crawfish Pie:  2 pie crusts.  Melt one stick of butter.  Saute 1 cup onion, 1 cup celery, and 1 cup red bell pepper and 1/4 cup minced garlic.  Saute 5 minutes.  Add 1 pound chopped crawfish.  Saute 3 minutes.  Add 1 cup heavy cream.  Simmer 10 minutes.  Let cool.  Stir in 1 cup italian breadcrumbs, and 1 beaten egg.  Add 1/2 cup sliced green onions and 1/2 cup chopped parsley.  Stir.  Season with salt and pepper and Louisiana hot sauce.  Place in unbaked  pie crust.  Cover with another pie crust and make 4 slits.  Preheat oven to 450.  Bake 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350.  Bake another 20 minutes.  Serve hot.  From :  The Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cooking.

Cornbread stuffing.  Not such a fan

Oyster Stuffing

Green beans cooked with bacon and chicken broth.

Roast Turkey

10 months later. The proscuitto

I am a little scared to eat this.  I think I will wait to see how the others feel in about an hour.  This has been hanging in our basement since February. 

Gumbo

We cheated in this one a little.  The real recipe called for frying chicken first, but there was not enough time or energy to do that, plus we fried chicken just a few days ago.  I don't think it needed the fried chicken.  It was plenty rich.  Note, as we were cooking this and tasting along the way we were quite concerned.  Each time we tasted after a step it was a little better, but still not really good.  I have no idea how it could taste so bland and off during the cooking process to end up with a delicious final product!  Since here's our adaption of Fried chicken and Andouille Gumbo from Real Cajun.

Heat 1 cup canola oil.   Add 1 1/2 cup flour, whisking constantly until dark brown.  It thicken a little, but not as much as I expected it to.  As the roux darkens, slowly decrease the heat.  Make sure to not let it burn.  If any black specks appear, throw it away and begin again.  The cooking of the roux takes about 40 minutes.

All at once, add the following to the roux, stirring with a wooden spoon.   1 diced onion, 3 diced celery sticks, 1 diced poblano chili, 1 diced green bell pepper, 1 diced jalapeno, 3 minced garlic cloves along with the spice mixture of 1 tbsp salt (we used less since our chicken broth is salty), 1 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp white pepper, 1 tsp paprika, 1 1/2 tsp file powder.  Remove from heat and allow to cool briefly.  Transfer the roux to a large pot.  Heat over med heat.  Stir in 3 quarts chicken broth.  Reduce heat and simmer 60 minutes.  Every now and again skim the oil from the top.   Next add chicken.  (we used a rotisserie chicken cut into 8 pieces.) and 1 pound andouille sliced into half moon pieces.  Simmer another hour, stirring occassionally.  If it still has a floury taste, add more broth and keep simmering.  (we didn't need to do this).

In another skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil.  Saute 3 cups okra.  (we used presliced frozen okra, much easier)  Saute about 10 minutes, until the sticky goo is gone.  Add to gumbo and cook another 15 minutes.  The gumbo is finished when there is no more oil rising to the top.

The finished gumbo served with rice and sliced scallions.

Shrimp and Grits

Shrimp Stock:  Shrimp shells simmered with onion, parsley, celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaf.

Care package from our friend, Karen Truckey

This was really delicious.  I am a little reluctant to actually read this recipe.  Sanford made it while I was on the couch with a cold.  It was wonderfully creamy, rich, a little sinful.

In a large skillet, melt 1/2 cup butter.  Add 1/4 cup each, minced, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper and green bell pepper, 1/2 cup minced onion, 1/2 cup minced celery, 1 tbsp minced garlic and 1/2 cup minced andouille sausage.  Saute 3-5 minutes.  Sprinkle 1/4 flour over it.  Stirring constantly, for 3-5 minutes or until slightly golden.  Slowly add 4 cups shrimp stock, one cup at a time, stirring until a sauce like consistency is achieved.  Blend in 1/2 cup heavy cream.  Bring to a low boil.  Add 1/4 cup sliced green onions and 2 dozen peeled shrimped.  Cook 3-5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.

Grits:  Combine 3 1/2 cups whole milk, 3 1/4 cups water, 1 1/2 tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp white pepper and 4 tbsp butter.  Bring to a low boil.  Add 1 1/2 cups stone ground grits.  Reduce to med low and cover.  Cook 12-14 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 1/4 pound shredded gouda (not smoked).  This is only half the amount of cheese called for.  Sanford showed a little restraint!  Adjust seasonings to taste.

This recipe was taken from The Encylopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine.  Another gift from a dear friend, Lauren.

Day 4 of this cold

Day 4 of this terrible cold.  Can't bring myself to cook, even though I am really looking forward to a collard greens and roots soup.  So tonight, grilled cheese with tomato soup and a salad.  Comfort.  I am not sure what the origin is, but it seems like it could be Southern.  Jack chose a beef with vegetable soup from a can and Sam chose chicken and dumplings.  The kids think they are being treated!

Grillades and Gravy with Maque Choux

Well, this started off as a recipe the Simple Fresh Southern by the Lees Brothers.  But, once again, I changed it in relation to what I had in the house.  We recently bought some grass fed beef from a friend.  There was something in it called a "minute steak".  I was pretty sure that it was going to be a think slice of beef.  Instead it was thick and tenderized.  Totally different than what the recipe called for.  But, it was thawed and it didn't require that I head to the store.  We all liked it, but the meat was a little chewier than I would have liked (I think due to the fact that it was the wrong cut and it was grass fed, so not much fat)

Grillades and Gravy:

Mix 1/4 cup flour with 2 tbsp corn meal, 1 1/2 tsp salt, fresh ground pepper and 1/2 tsp smoky paprika.  Dredge the meat in the flour mixture.  Heat 3 tbsp oil.  Brown on both sides and remove.  Add 2 tbsp butter.  When melted, add 2 cups chopped onion, 3 finely sliced scallions, and 1 diced red bell pepper.  Saute until softened.  Add a can tomatoes, 2 tbsp frank's hot sauce, 3 minced garlic cloves, 2 cups chicken broth and 1 tsp dried red chile flakes.  Return meat to pan.  Simmer partially covered for 30 minutes.  Remove meat from pan and bring to a boil and reduce sauce.  When thickened, return meat to pan to warm.  Serve over white rice with sliced scallion as a garnish.

Maque Choux:

I've looked at a lot of recipes for this.  Most call for a stick of butter, which I couldn't bring myself to do on a Tuesday night.  Here's a compromise that I really liked.

Melt 2 tbsp butter.  Add 1 smalled chopped onion, 1 chopped and seeded jalepeno, and 1 chopped poblano chili.  When softened, add 2 diced tomatoes, 4 bay leaves, 1 tsp basil and 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp salt, fresh ground pepper.  When the tomatoes start to release their fluids, add 4-5 cups corn and 1 1/2 cups water.  (I used frozen corn which was completely thawed, so I reduced the water to 1 cup.)  Simmer for 15 minutes.  (At this point I turned up the heat to bring it to a boil, before I reduced it to simmer.  I went downstairs and forgot that I had it on high.  I came back upstairs about 10 minutes later.  All the fluid was gone and the onions and corn were wonderfully carmalized.  I'm not sure how soupy it was supposed to be, but I really liked it this way)