Panquecas

This is a fast and simple and healthy meal!

I have modified it a bit from my Mom's recipe
Panqueca batter: (like a crepe)
 1 cup milk
 1 cup flour
 2 eggs
 pinch of salt & pepper
 1/2 tsp olive oil
 pinch of parmesan cheese (opt)
blend and pour on med heat pan and spread around the pan to make a thin crepe
flip when sides start to curl

brown 1lb ground beef w/ garlic, onions or shallots, season salt & pepper

tomato sauce:
in a bowl combine about 1/2 can diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup pasta sauce, 1/4 c heavy cream, large pinch of chopped spinach, 1/2 tsp garlic, salt & pepper, basil, parsley, italian seasonings, garlic salt, 1 Tbsp ketchup, 1 Tbsp olive oil

place some beef in the crepe and roll up: makes about 6 or 7

put rolled up crepes in a baking dish ..preheat oven to 350 degrees

spread the top w/ rest of beef and add sauce and top w/ parmesan cheese
bake for about 10 min

(funny thing that this recipe is Brasilian made, but derived from French and Italian inspiration.. my favorite!!)

Rissoles

3 c water
3 c flour
1 cube butter (1/2 c)
pinch salt

in a pan, heat water, salt and butter until melted. add flour slowly. let cool
sprinkle dough with flour and knead
stretch dough to 1/8in
cut into circles (with a cup or cookie cutter)
stuff with chicken and fold dough over; pinch edges to close.
roll in egg wash and bread crumbs
heat oil on med-high and fry until golden brown.. enjoy

Chicken filling:
saute onions, salt, and garlic in butter
add chicken pieces and cook on low-med covered.
let cool and shred

Carne Asada Roast

Use a round pot roast-good quality meat. About 2-3 days prior to cooking, marinate:
*stuff the middle of the roast with a carrot or polska sausage
*chopped 1 onion, 4 garlic cloves, salt, 1 cup red wine vinegar, and 1-2 Tbsp worstechire

In a pan, heat a few tbsp oil and fry meat on high for a min each side, turn heat to low and pour marinade in pan with 1 c water. add chopped potatoes
Cook for about 1-2 hrs
add carrots, sausage (about 1/2 way through)

Near the end, combine:
*2 cans tomatoe sauce
*1/2 can tomatoe paste
*parsley
*salt and pepper
blend then add to meat and simmer

When meat is done in middle, slice and serve.

Chicken Stroganoff

This recipe is not an exact one. I have yet to make exact measurements of things..

-Cut about 1/4-1/2 white onion in small pieces, saute with about 1 tbsp garlic in pan and 1 tbsp olive oil.
-Cut up about 4 chicken breasts in pieces and season: chicken seasoning or season salt, salt (only if you didn't use season salt) & pepper
-Saute chicken on high for 30 seconds. turn down heat to medium-low; cover and let simmer.
-When chicken is about 3/4 done, add about 2 cups or so (depending on how much sauce you want) of heavy whipping cream, 1 tomato bouillon cube, and a small squirt of ketchup.
- let simmer covered for remainder of time, until done.
(if you don't have whipping cream or even want to add a tiny bit of alfredo sauce, it works too. also tomato sauce or some petite diced tomatoes with or instead of ketchup I have also done...sometimes I like to change it up a bit)
-when done, I sometimes like to add some fresh chopped parsley on top

Brigadeiros

warning: These are very rich and yummy chocolately desserts!
Ingredients:

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 Tbsp butter

1-2 Tbsp cocoa powder (or however chocolately you prefer)
Heat the milk and butter on low-med heat and as it gets hotter, gradually add the chocolate powder. stirring constantly.

Continue stirring occasionally until the milk thickens. You want it to reduce to a good thickness that it doesn't run off the spoon.
Once it is thick, take off the heat and let it cool in the pan: now you are ready to form into balls.
grease your hands with butter and start forming into balls (about 1/2 in) and dip into chocolate sprinkles.

serve shortly after and enjoy!
(Picture pending)

Puddim de Leite

Milk Pudding/ Custard: (like Flan)
I have had a lot of requests for some Brasilian recipes, so here you go! any problems, since recipes aren't always exact, let me know :)
mix:
1 can condensed milk
1 can (use the empty can of condensed milk) milk or (1/2 milk, 1/2 coconut milk..I prefer with the coconut milk)
3 eggs
blend
in a medium tin pudding mold (picture coming soon..kinda like a bundt cake pan mold) add about 2-3 Tbsp sugar and let melt on med heat on stove and rotate mold until well coated on the bottom and sides.
pour in mix from blender
Bake at 350 degrees (put mold into another pan will with a little water; about 1-2 in) for about 30 min-1 hr..check in between with toothpick and should be a nice firm pudding.
take out of oven and cool. once it is fully chilled. release pudding along the inside and outside with a knife and carefully dump mold onto platter upside down. gently tap the top of the mold and sides and release mold from pudding.
next, enjoy this wonderfully rich dessert
(picture will come once I make it again)

Pastel

This my dear is what we call Pastel (pronounced like posh-tew) Is it yummy in my tummy (of coarse most things fried are). salgadinho's are tasty salty treats!


So, first you need masa (which is the flattened dough, which I'm sure none of you are going to make..unless you have a tortilla press, otherwise..you need to buy this, which is sorta like an egg roll dough. I get these in Brasil and they are round, but square ones would work.

*Add cooked hamburger meat (cooled) in the center; you can also add some cheese. dab your finger in some water and seal the edges. fold over and seal by pressing a fork all the way around the edges.

*Next .. you fry in med-high heated oil...until golden brown.

(side note: make sure your meat isn't too hot when making these, because it will make a tear in your dough because of the heat).

This is a typical Brasilian home meal.. enjoy

Feijao / Black Beans

Feijoada: black been stew
For about 1 bag of black beans: first sort through the beans and take out any rocks. soak beans in water for about 2-3 hours. drain.
pour beans into a pressure cooker with water about 1-2 inches above height of beans. add polska kielbasa sausage and 1 cube feijao bouillon (most will not have this, you can try chicken bouillon otherwise) . cook on high for about 15 min.
meanwhile, in a pan: sauté onions, garlic and salt. take out about 1-2 Tbsp of sauce from beans and add to pan with onions, etc. (if you have difficulty opening the lid on pressure cooker, pour cold water over it until seal releases)
add onion mix to beans and continue to simmer until done (about 30 min or so)

Once beans are done (they should be easy to bite, not too mushy) smash beans at bottom with a masher mallet (picture coming soon) another item most may not have..otherwise just mix with a spoon.

Bolinhos

This is a common appetizer or side dish in Brasil. Very easy to make!
First, you make some mashed potatoes. I assume everyone can make mashed potatoes, but if not..here you go :
cut and peel potatoes and boil. I use a masher I got from Brasil, but you can mash them however you please. I like to mash them so they are fine and creamy. Add milk, sour cream, and garlic salt...mix. Let cool.
Dough:
mix cooled mashed potatoes with flour until you get a dough like consistency. Roll into long strips, that looks like a long snake. cut into 1/2in to 1 in balls..add a little more flour to coat the balls. Heat oil in a fryer. Add a few balls and wait until golden brown, add parmesan cheese and COMER BEM!