Kalbi Beef

This is hardly a recipe, but it’s so good it’s worth sharing.  Andrew loves Kalbi beef and we have been trying to make a good marinade at home that would bring the same flavours but never quite got it right. Until this one. The interesting thing for me is that I always though a Kalbi marinade had to have a fruit in it, normally an Asian pear. The day I made this marinade, I didn’t have any Asian pear at home or any other fruit that I thought would be  a good substitute, so I just omitted it. It turned out better than any other. It smells so good when it’s grilling that even I wanted to have some. I decided to marinate a portobello mushroom but that didn’t go very well, I think the flavour of the mushroom didn’t match the marinade, but I am not giving it up, I plan to try it on tofu next.  As far as meat is concerned, I used Korean short beef and flank steak so far. Both were excellent, according to Andrew.

 

Kalbi Beef Recipe:

makes marinade for 1 lb of beef

You will need:

1/2 cup of soy sauce

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1 tablespoon of sesame oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 of a medium yellow onion, finely chopped

3 large green onions, sliced

1 pound of Korean short ribs

 

Whisk all ingredients for the marinade in a bowl. Add the meat and transfer to a plastic bag. Marinate for 24 hours in the fridge.

Remove meat from the bag and grill it in the BBQ until done. Discard the marinade.

Serve it with white rice.

Broccoli and Cheese Soup

It’s spring time here in Seattle, the temperatures are slowly moving up and the flowers are blooming. Not too long until it turns really warm and we start doing virtually all our cooking on the patio (I love grilling!).  But before that, I have a soup recipe to share with you, one of my favourites.

Broccoli is super healthy, tastes great and is often on sale, so I use it a lot here at home. This soup is not difficult to make, but you have to be careful when adding the cheese. It must be done slowly over medium heat to avoid it from separating. I normally use sharp Cheddar cheese for this recipe, but Colby or Monterrey Jack work will work as well. You can blend this soup before the cheese is added, strain it and return to the pot, or you can leave it a sit is, with pieces of broccoli in it. That’s normally how I do it. Serve it with toasted garlic bread.

 

Broccoli and Cheese Soup Recipe:

serves 4

You will need:

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

2 large cloves of garlic, pressed trough a garlic press

2 lb of broccoli florets

1 quart of water, or more as needed

Juice of half a lemon

2 cups of half and half cream

2 1/2 cups of shredded cheese (Cheddar, Colby or Monterrey Jack)

 

Melt the oil in a large pot and cook the onion until translucent. Add garlic and cook a minute more. Add 1/2 cup of the broccoli and sauté for about 5 minutes, until broccoli is tender but still firm. Remove broccoli from pan, leaving the remaining onion on the pot. Keep broccoli warm in a low over (200 degrees).

Place the remaining broccoli and water in the pot and boil for about 10 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender. (see note)

Reduce heat to medium and add the half and half. Wait a minute until it starts to warm up again, then add the cheese slowly, stirring often, until all the cheese is melted and incorporated in the soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add the lemon juice.

Divide soup into four bowls and top each with a portion of the reserved broccoli. Serve immediately.

 

Note:

At this point, if you want  a smooth soup, blend it, strain it and return to pot. If you are ok with a chunkier, more rustic soup, simply continue with the recipe.

 

Enjoy it!

Açaí Mousse (mousse de açaí)

I wrote about açaí before when I shared with you my recipe for Brazilian Açaí Bowl. This time I am sharing a different way to incorporate açaí in your cooking. I use the same frozen pulp as usual(smoothie packs), but this time I made a mousse-like dessert. This is a very light and airy dessert, it has a wonderful texture. The best part for me is that is not too sweet, thanks to the açaí slightly tart flavour. To make it even more health-conscious, I used agave nectar in place of sugar.

You can make this recipe on a bundt pan or jello mold, like on the photo, and serve it by the slice. Another way of serving it is to pour it into a glass bowl (or individual ones) to be scooped out. Hope you enjoy it!

Açaí Mousse Recipe:

makes one 8 inch pan, enough for 10 slices

You will need:

1 package (0.25 oz) of unflavored gelatin

10.5 oz (300 g) of frozen açaí pulp, thawed

2 egg whites at room temperature

4 ½ tablespoons of agave nectar

8 oz (250 ml) of whipping cream, chilled

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Dissolve the gelatin in ½ cup of boiling water.

In a small saucepan, bring the açaí pulp to a boil and let it reduce for 5 minutes. The pulp with thicken slightly.

In a large bowl, mix the açaí pulp with the gelatin. Set aside.

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Continue to beat while slowly drizzling the agave nectar. Stop beating when you have a stiff meringue (beaters hold stiff peaks). Fold the egg whites into the açaí gelatin.

In a separate bowl, beat the cream and vanilla until you reach whipped cream consistency. Mix the whipped cream with the mousse until there are no streaks of white in the mousse.

Spray an 8 inch round cake pan or a bundt pan with cooking spray and transfer mousse to it. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Before serving, dip the bottom of the pan in hot water and unmold it over a plate.

Roasted Banana Frozen Yogurt

 

I like making ice creams, but this was my first time making frozen yogurt. Since I love banana ice cream, I thought I ‘d try a frozen yogurt using bananas. I roasted the bananas in the oven with lots of brown sugar but I suppose that cooking them in the stove would also work well. The bananas need to be very ripe for this recipe. The frozen yogurt turned out very nice, I liked the tangy flavour of the yogurt with the sweetness of the roasted bananas. If you can’t find Greek yogurt, use regular yogurt, strained in the fridge overnight to thicken it up.  I saved a banana and added in the last minute before turning the machine off. I did this because I like chunks of fruit in my ice cream or frozen yogurt. You can skip this step and just add all the banana at once.

 

 

Roasted Banana Frozen Yogurt Recipe:

makes about 1 quart

 

You will need:

4 very ripe bananas

1 1/2 cup of brown sugar

32 oz (900g) of plain Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line an 8x8 inch pan with foil. Peel the bananas and cut lengthwise. Place bananas in the pan and cover with the brown sugar. Bake it until the sugar melts and the banana is soft and roasted.

Reserve 1 banana and transfer the others along with the melted sugar to a large bowl. Mix in the yogurt and the vanilla. Pour yogurt in the ice cream maker and freeze it according to the manufacture’s instructions. Add the reserved banana just before you turn off the ice cream maker, this will ensure you have some chunks of banana in the frozen yogurt.

Enjoy it!

Seattle Food Blogger’s (first) Bake Sale

 

I am happy to be participating on the Food Bloggers Bake Sale tomorrow, Saturday April 16th at the Metropolitan Market on lower Queen Anne from 10:00am to 12:00pm. I will be selling my Double Chocolate Coconut Cookies (pictured) a favourite here at home. Many other bloggers will be participating, so come on down, purchase some baked goods, meet nice people and help a great cause! Proceeds will benefit Share Our Strength, the culinary industry's fundraiser to help end childhood hunger.

For more details, as well as a list of all bloggers participating on the Bake sale, check out this page on  Keren’s site.

Hope to see you there!

Corn and Cinnamon Brigadeiro (Bigadeiro de milho e canela)

 

 

 

Brigadeiros are as Brazilian as a food can get. They are soft candies made with sweetened condensed milk ( a staple in any Brazilian pantry) and normally flavoured with chocolate. The recipe is very easy, no wonder brigadeiros are one of the first things Brazilian kids learn to make in the kitchen. The condensed milk is cooked with some butter and chocolate over low heat until is just at the right point. What’s the right point? It depends, if you are planning to make them for a party and present them as little truffle balls (like in the picture), then you will need to cook it until the condensed milk has reduced by about 1/3 of it’s volume and it is thick and pulling away from the sides of the pot. If  you are just making these for yourself and your family to eat by the spoon full (oh, yes, you read that right), then there is no need to be so picky about the cooking time, just cook it down until you see the condensed milk is thick.

Personally, I think you can make brigadeiros with any flavour you want, not only with chocolate. To prove my point, I made these wonderful corn and cinnamon ones. Corn and cinnamon is one of my favourite combinations and they work very well on this sweet and soft candy. Fresh corn is the best option, but frozen corn (previously thawed) works too. I hope you enjoy them much as I do.

 

Corn and Cinnamon Brigadeiros Recipe:

makes about 25 small candies

 

You will need:

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

2 cups of fresh corn kernels

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, plus more for your hands and plate

1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1 cup of sugar, for decoration

Small paper cups

 

Place the condensed milk and the corn in a blender and blend well, scraping down the sides of the blender cup to remove any condensed milk that might be stuck to it.

Pass the mixture through a fine sieve placed over a medium pot and discard any solids. Place the pot over medium heat and add the butter and cinnamon. Cook, stirring often, for about 15 minutes, or until the mixture has reduced in size and  thickened up. To test, scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon, you should be able to make a trace and see the bottom.

Transfer it to a plate lightly coated with butter and let it come to room temperature. (see note)

Once the brigadeiro have cooled use butter to coat your hands and shape the brigadeiros into small balls (a teaspoon). Roll each one on the sugar and place them in small paper cups.

 

Note:

You can leave the brigadeiro in the fridge , tightly covered with film for up to 1 day. Remove from the fridge 15 minutes before you plan to roll them and continue with the recipe.

Vegetarian Baked Kibbeh (quibe vegetariano de forno)

 

Kibbeh is one of many middle-eastern foods Brazilians love. It is normally made with ground beef (and bulgur) and it can be baked like a pie or shaped into fritters and deep-fried. I love making this vegetarian version of  baked kibbeh. Instead of meat, I use potatoes  to bind the pie and ricotta cheese to keep it moist. There are numerous variations of kibbeh found in Brazil, you can make a cheese filling, you can make it with sweet potatoes, there is even fish kibbeh, if you want to be really unconventional. To me, there are two flavours that I need to taste on a kibbeh: limes and mint. The combination of  white and black pepper and cinnamon completes this dish. The kibbeh tastes even better with a squeeze of fresh lime .

 

 

 

Vegetarian Baked Kibbeh Recipe:

makes 1 9x13 inch pie

You will need:

500 grams of bulgur wheat

500 grams of potatoes, peeled

1/2 cup of fresh mint, chopped

3 green onions, chopped

1 onion, shredded (use the large wholes of a box grater)

1 cup of ricotta cheese

1 teaspoon of ground white pepper

1 teaspoon of ground black pepper

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon of kosher salt

lime wedges, to serve

 

Soak the bulgur in cold water for 1 hour.

While the bulgur is soaking, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the potatoes until tender. Drain, let cool and mash the potatoes. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Drain the bulgur and squeeze it with your hands to remove any excess water.

In a large bowl, combine the mashed potatoes, the bulgur and all the other ingredients. Mix well.

Coat a 9 x 10 inch baking dish with oil or butter. Spread the mixture in the prepared baking dish and smooth the top. If you like to, make a diamond shape pattern by crossing the top a toothpick.

 

Bake until set and golden, about 45 minutes.

Let it cool before cutting into slices. Serve with a squeeze of fresh lime.

 

Creamy Tomato and Basil Soup with Walnut Pesto and Goat Cheese Crouton

 

If you are looking for a light soup recipe, the kind that will help you keep up with your new year’s resolutions, you might want to skip this post. This is definitely not a resolution-keeping, weight-loss, figure-friendly soup. However, if you are interest in a creamy, indulgent, rich soup that reminds you of the best soups you tried at restaurants….then read on.

This soup is so rich that it’s intended to be served in small portions, like an appetizer. It is creamy and delicious and just what I crave on those rainy and grey Seattle days.  The walnut pesto and the goat cheese croutons (which aren’t technically croutons) are a perfect compliment to the soup. The pesto lends a fresh and garlicky touch and the goat cheese crouton gives tang and texture. I like using coarse cornmeal to coat the goat cheese because it gives it a wonderful contrast of textures with the soft cheese.

 

Creamy tomato and basil soup with walnut pesto and  goat cheese crouton recipe:

makes 6 servings

 

You will need:

 

For the tomato and basil soup:

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

3 cups of chopped tomatoes (use fresh when in season, otherwise use good quality canned)

3 cups of tomato juice

10 fresh basil leaves

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper

1 cup of half and half

4 tablespoons of butter

 

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot and cook the onions and garlic until they soften, about 10 minutes.

Add the chopped tomatoes and the tomato juice and simmer for 20 minutes, until soup thickens slightly.

Blend the soup along with the basil leaves, return soup to pot and season with salt and pepper. With the soup on low heat, add the half and half and the butter, stirring until it’s all combined and the butter is completely melted.

 

Spoon soup into small bowls, drizzle with the walnut pesto and top with a piece of goat cheese crouton.

 

For the walnut pesto:

makes 1/4 cup

1 packed cup of fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup of chopped walnuts

1 garlic clove

4 tablespoons of olive oil

4 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

 

Pulse the basil, garlic  and the walnuts in a food processor. With the motor running, slowly drizzle the olive oil (use more or less until you get the desired consistency, I like my pesto loose and more on the liquid side). Pour pesto into a small bowl, stir in the cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep covered and refrigerated.

 

For the goat cheese croutons:

makes 6 “croutons”

1  log of goat cheese (8 inches)

1/4 cup of coarse corn meal

1/2 tablespoon of olive oil

 

Place the cheese in the freezer for 10 minutes. Spread the corn meal in a deep dish.  Heat the oil in a non-stick skillet. Slice the cheese into 6 rounds, coat each piece with cornmeal and shallow fry it in the oil until golden, about 2 minutes each side. Transfer to a paper towel to dry.

Red Wine Tapioca Pudding with Vanilla Whipped Cream (sagu de vinho tinto com chantili de baunilha)

 

 

This is my first post of the year, and I would like to start by wishing everyone that reads my little blog a Happy 2010. I didn’t mean to neglect this space for so long, but life has been just a little too crazy for me lately. Hopefully I am ready to start posting more often. I miss this place, I miss coming here, sharing recipes with you and reading your comments. The first recipe I post this year is an old fashion Brazilian recipe: red wine tapioca pudding.

Cooking tapioca in red wine (or grape juice for kids) is a very common practice in Brazil. This is not your usual tapioca pudding, it tastes less sweet and it’s not as rich as the ones cooked with milk or cream. I like to make some fresh whipped cream to top the tapioca pudding and vanilla is one of my favourite flavours. Use the larger tapioca pearls if you can find them. A full-bodied wine works best for this recipe, but you may use grape juice if you want to avoid the alcohol.

Red Wine Tapioca Pudding with Vanilla Whipped Cream Recipe:

makes about 1 quart

You will need:

 

For the tapioca pudding:

2 cups of tapioca pearls

3 cups of water

1 bottle of red wine (Zinfandel or Cabernet)

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 cinnamon stick

10 cloves

 

For the vanilla whipped cream:

1 cup of heavy whipping cream, chilled

2 tablespoons of confectioner’s sugar

1/2 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract

 

Make the tapioca pudding:

In a large pot, bring water to a boil and add the tapioca pearls. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring often. While the tapioca cooks, use another pot to heat the wine, 1/2 cup of sugar, cinnamon stick and cloves and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain wine mixture into the pot with the tapioca and continue simmering until the pearls are translucent. At this point, if you thing the Add the rest of the sugar (1 cup) and remove from heat. Let it cool to room temperature and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

 

Make the vanilla whipped cream:

 

Beat the cream and the sugar until soft peaks form, add the vanilla and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

Spoon the chilled tapioca pudding into cups or bowls, top with a dollop of vanilla whipped cream and serve immediately.

Chocolate Salami

 

 

This is an old Brazilian recipe that has been on my list of things to cook for quite a while and I am so happy I finally made it, it was easy to do and the end result was quite delicious. No, it’s not a sweet salami. In fact, it’s not a salami at all. This is a sweet, chocolaty treat made with cocoa, nuts, sweet condensed milk and a touch of cognac. Sounds good? It gets even better: this is a one-dish, no-bake recipe that requires less than half an hour of hands-on time.  It’s called “salami” because this log shaped treat resembles a salami, both from the outside or when sliced. Even if the salami resemblance is not that obvious,this dessert will for sure make a good conversation piece.

 

Chocolate Salami Recipe:

makes 3 logs

You will need:

1/2 cup of raisins

4 tablespoons of cognac, divided

2 packages of Maria cookies (400g total)

1 cup of blanched almonds

1 1/2 cup of melted butter

2 cups of cocoa powder

1 can of sweet condensed milk

confectioner’s sugar for decorating

Soak the raisins in 2 tablespoons of cognac for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, break the cookies with your hands into medium size pieces. Add the almonds, butter, cocoa powder and sweet condensed milk. Add the soaked raisins and stir it all very well. This will be a very stiff dough and the best way to mix it all is by using your hands. It may seem like it’s not going to come together, but it will, just keep mixing it up until all ingredients are well incorporated, forming a dark, moist dough.

Roll a double layer of plastic wrap onto a clean work surface and place one third of the dough in the middle. Using your hands, shape dough into a log about 2-3 inches in diameter. Place log towards the end of the plastic wrap and start rolling the plastic tightly around the log. Twist the ends of the plastic like a candy and tuck them under the log. Refrigerate log overnight.

When ready to serve, use a small sieve to sprinkle the outside of the logs with confectioner’s sugar (or, if you prefer, sprinkle the confectioner’s sugar on a kitchen towel and roll the log on it).

Slice it with a sharp knife. Enjoy it!