Some Culinary Adventures

Since becoming a full-time stay-home mommy, I have also taken on another part-time job: Family Chef! There are some meals that I feel I am an expert at preparing, like bean burritos, spaghetti, and pretty much anything that can be made in a microwave. (Thank you, poor college student days!)  But for some reason (I just don't understand it...) my husband has told me that he does not want to eat spaghetti every day, and the stores here don't seem to sell cans of refried beans and microwave-able dinners. (Well, they do have some, but not the same ones I'm used to... :)) So I've spent the past few weeks adding a few new and fairly basic recipes to my cooking repertoire.  I've decided to share with anyone else who reads this blog and is interested in learning a few different recipes for their own family meals. Trust me, none of them are fancy or time-consuming, because that is not the kind of chef that I am! But they are all taste-tested and approved by my husband (which says a lot actually, because he is an expert on how Brazilian food should taste) and daughter (which doesn't say as much; she has been known to eat some pretty strange things).

Bife Milanesa (Possibly the same as “Chicken-fried Steak”?)

Ingredients: Either thinly-cut or tenderized Steaks (about 1 per person), about ¼ - ½ inch thick

Bread Crumbs (I probably use about 1 cup total for 3 bifes)

Seasonings of choice (salt, pepper, garlic, etc)

1 egg, beaten

oil for frying

First mix seasonings of choice with bread crumbs and put in a fairly flat dish (plate or shallow bowl). Put the egg in another flat dish. Then coat the bifes in the beaten egg, both sides as well-coated as possible. Then coat with bread crumbs. Fry them in a pan (oil about ¼ - ½ inch deep) until they are as cooked as you desire. When finished, let them sit on a plate covered with paper towels, to drain as much of the grease as possible. (Tiago has informed me that this dish goes well with black beans and rice, and maionese - Brazil's version of potato salad. I haven't learned how to make the maionese yet, but his dad has assured me he would teach me one day.)

Guisado (Beef & Vegetables)

Ingredients: 1 pound Ground Beef

½ onion, chopped

1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced

tomato sauce

1 can peas

1 can corn (frozen would probably work as well)

salt, pepper, & other seasonings of your choice

Brown the beef in a frying pan. About ½ way through browning, I add the onion and garlic. When beef is done and onions are cooked, add vegetables and about ½ can of tomato sauce. (I don't actually know exactly how much sauce as I just eye-ball it.) The consistency should be moist but not soupy. Add seasonings as desired, to taste. You can eat alone or served over rice. (Tiago assures me that this recipe also should always be accompanied by black beans and rice. I admit, they do go together well.)

Pudim (I'm adding this one because it's one of my all-time FAVORITE dishes here!!!) (A type of Flan)

Ingredients: 1 ½ cups sugar

1 can sweetened, condensed milk (the better the brand, the better the results)

1 can regular milk (use the same can as the other, once you've emptied it)

4 eggs

Melt the sugar in a saucepan over low-ish heat until it liquifies. While still liquid, pour into bottom of pudim pan and spread by rotating the pan, to cover the bottom of the pan as much as possible. (The pan looks a lot like a bundt pan, with a hole in the middle. We actually bought a silicone bundt pan and used it for making this in the microwave several times while in the US.) Mix both milks and eggs together well (in a blender if you have one). Pour mixture into pan (sugar has probably re-hardened). Cook using a water bath (330-350 F) for about 1 hour – 1 ½ hours, or until the pudim has become firm. (Be careful not to let boiling water get into the pudim.) Allow to cool, then refrigerate in pan until ready to serve. When removing from the pan, it's best to use a butter knife or spatula to loosen all the way around the edges, middle and outer. After loosening, place serving dish over the pan and flip. You may have to shake it gently. Then, enjoy! And try your best not to eat the entire thing in one sitting... which is what I always want to do! :)

Feijao a Brazileira (Brazilian Black Beans)

This, along with rice, is actually a staple food here. I will not pretend to actually be an expert on this one as so far I have only made them once and it was almost a disaster. I will testify that it is 100 times easier to cook these recipes with a pressure cooker! So instead of me trying to tell you how to make them, here are links that can show/tell what to do – the links I used to make mine. :)

Recipe 1 for Feijao

Recipe 2 for Feijao and/or Feijoada (Can you tell the difference between the two??  I don't think it's necessary to use all the meats listed for the feijoada recipe. In fact, we just used some leftover pork from a previous dinner and cooked it with the beans. It turned out AWESOME.)

I actually like several of the recipes from the last site, as they are fairly simple and very traditional. So try something new and culturally diverse for dinner in your own family this week, and let me know how it turns out!! :)