Vegetarian Pho

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Six years ago I didn't know what Vietnamese food was.  I had never seen any Vietnamese restaurant in Brazil or anywhere else.  Andrew was the one who introduced me to this cuisine, and now we both enjoy going out for Pho and salad rolls. Since  not many Vietnamese restaurants serve vegetarian pho soup, I decided to make my own broth at home. It was easier than I thought. If you ever did a vegetable broth, than you can make veggie pho. Everything goes in a large pot for boiling, then strained and served over rice noodles and your favourite pho fixings.

Bonus points for this recipe for filling the house with wonderful aromas of anise, cinnamon and cloves.

 

Vegetarian Pho Recipe:

serves 4

You will need:

 

For the broth:

1 onion, peeled and halved

1 large piece of ginger

2 cups vegetable broth

1 1/2 quarts water

2 small leeks, well washed

5  star anise

1 cinnamon stick

10 whole cloves

1 tbs coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon sugar (or to taste)

1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce (or to taste)

2 tablespoons of salt (or to taste)

 

For assembling the soup:

1 package of banh pho (rice noodles)

4 oz of canned straw or button mushrooms

8 oz of fried tofu pieces

1 tablespoon of canola oil

4 oz of fresh shitake mushrooms, sauteed in oil

1/4 cup of cilantro leaves, chopped

 

Fixings:

bean sprouts

Thai basil

sliced onions

green  or red pepper, sliced

lime wedges

hoisin sauce

 

Make the broth:

First, grill the onion and ginger on a a barbecue grill until charred. You can do this in the oven broiler as well.

Once the onions and ginger are browned, place all broth ingredients, except soy sauce, salt and sugar,  in a large pot and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook it over medium heat for about 45 minutes. Season with sugar, soy sauce and salt to taste. Strain the broth and return to pot. Keep warm.

 

Make the noodles:

Cook the noodles in boiling water for 3 minutes or until soft. Drain and rinse with cold water . Divide the noodles into 4 large soup bowls.

 

Assemble the soup:

Divide the tofu, canned mushrooms, shitake mushrooms and cilantro evenly among the 4 bowls. Ladle the hot soup over the noodles and mushrooms and top it with beans sprouts, Thai basil, onions and other toppings you might want. Enjoy it hot.

 

 

 

Pumpkin and Coconut Sweet (doce de abóbora com coco)

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This is such a perfect dish to cook on a November day when pumpkins are in season and the crisp air outside makes us want to stay in, turn on the stove and cook something warm and comforting.

This dish is really simple to make and it fills the house with wonderful aromas of cinnamon and cloves while it slowly simmers. The ingredient list couldn't be shorter: pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon cloves and coconut. This is a very typical Brazilian dessert and it's normally served with a slice of fresh cheese. Here in the States I pair it with feta cheese and it makes for such a treat.

Pumpkin and coconut sweet recipe:

makes about one 16 oz container

You will need:

2 lb of pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into large chunks

2 cups of sugar

2 cinnamon sticks

10 whole cloves

16 oz of shredded coconut

Put all ingredients, except the coconut, in a large pot and cook on medium-low heat until the pumpkin is very soft, about 30 minutes stirring occasionally.Add the coconut, mix well and remove from heat. You can mash any large pieces of pumpkin with a potato masher, or, if you prefer, leave it more chunky.

When it's cooled down a bit, transfer it to an air tight container and store it in the fridge. Serve it cold or at room temperature. I like to eat this sweet with a slice of feta cheese, or spread over a piece of crusty bread, always accompanied by a good cup of coffee.

Enjoy it!

Raspberry Oatmeal Squares

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This is a simple treat I make quite often since the ingredients are all staples here at home. Raspberry is the most common flavour I make, but you can use your favourite jam. I even thought about making this with Nutella or dulce de letche. I bet it would be wonderful... If anyone decides to give it a try, I would love to know how it turned out! If you take your jam straight out of the fridge, it might be a little too hard to spread. A quick 5 seconds in the microwave should take care of that.

These oatmeal squares are best eaten the day they are baked, but they will keep well in an airtight container for a couple of days. They go very nicely with a cup of tea, perfect on a lazy afternoon.

 

Raspberry Oatmeal Squares Recipe:

makes about 25 squares

You will need:

1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

2 cups of rolled oats

1 cup of brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

2 sticks (1 cup) of cold butter

1 1/2 cup of raspberry jam

 

Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter a square 9 inch baking pan.

In a food processor, blend the flour, oats, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut the butter into pieces, add to the food processor and pulse a few times until large crumbs form. Divide the dough in half.

Press one half of the dough into the prepared pan, covering the bottom and a little bit up the sides (about an inch).

Spread the jam over the dough evenly and cover it with the other half of the oatmeal dough by just sprinkling it overtop (do not press it).

Bake in the preheated oven f0r 55 minutes. Let it cool before cutting the squares.

 

Chicken Lasagna

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I have been thinking about my grandma a lot lately. She turned 87 last month. She doesn't cook anymore these days, but when she was younger, she was a wonderful cook and I would always look forward to eating her pastas and desserts. I always enjoyed spending time with my grandparents, but I regret not spending as much time with them in the kitchen. I could never imagine, back then, that cooking would be such an important part of my life. Because of that, I never got to see how my grandma prepared her legendary chicken lasagna... Now it's too late to ask, so this is my attempt to recreate it. The most important thing on a lasagna for me is the sauce. It has to be a white sauce, not ricotta cheese. For the filling, a nicely seasoned cooked chicken and tomato sauce will do just fine. Choose your favorite lasagna noodles. I use the "no-boil" ones, it's easier.

Chicken Lasagna Recipe:

makes 1 lasagna (9x13 inches)

You will need:

For the chicken filling:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 can of chopped tomatoes

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

For the white sauce:

5 tablespoons of butter

4 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

4 cups of warm milk

2 teaspoons of salt

1 teaspoon of pepper

1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

For assembling the lasagna:

1 package of lasagna noodles (I use the "no-cook" type)

1 lb of shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup of grated parmesan

Make the chicken filling:

Cook the chicken breasts in water along with the bay leaf until cooked through. Drain and shred the meat. In a large pan, heat the oil and cook the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Mix in the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and let it simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, mix in the chicken and set aside.

Make the white sauce:

Melt the butter in a medium pot or pan. Add the flour and cook it until it's no longer raw, about 3 minutes, stirring. Add the warm milk slowly to the pot, whisking it constantly until all the milk is added and the sauce is smooth. Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg and continue cooking until the sauce thickens it up enough to cover the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from the stove and set aside.

To assemble the lasagna:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spoon some of the white sauce on the bottom of a large (9x13 inches) baking dish. Make one layer of lasagna noodles (4 sheets per layer), cover it with some of the chicken filling and top it with some mozzarella, then white sauce. Make sure the white sauce is spread evenly, specially on the sides of the dish, so you won't end up with dry edges. Keep making layers of noodles, chicken mozzarella and white sauce, finishing with the white sauce remaining. Top everything with the grated parmesan. Cover the lasagna dish with foil, being careful not to let the foil touch the sauce. Bake it for 40 minutes, remove foil and let it get golden and bubbly, 10 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and wait 10 minutes before cutting the lasagna.

* If using the type of lasagna sheets that don't require pre-boiling, like I did, make sure there is enough sauce to cover the entire lasagna, or it will be dry. If you think there is not enough white sauce, thin it out a little bit by adding more milk into it, a tablespoon at the time and whisking well after each addition. Re-season if necessary.

Pretzels

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I never thought making pretzels would be so easy and so much fun. I decided to make them for a German party last weekend and didn't have any idea what to expect. It turned out it was pretty straight forward to make and relatively fast too (there is a 1 hour resting time, but I suppose this could be shortened with quick rising yeast). The pretzels were delicious especially when still warm. My friend had some German sweet mustard that was wonderful with the pretzels. Now that I made my first batch of pretzels, I am thinking about experimenting and making sweet ones (I always loved the cinnamon and sugar ones at the mall...) or perhaps adding raisins to the dough, who knows.

Be sure to salt it well before the pretzels hit the oven otherwise then can come out quite bland in taste.

Pretzel Recipe:

makes 8 large or 16 small pretzels

You will need:

1 1/2 cups of warm water

1 tablespoon of sugar

2 teaspoons of salt

7 grams of active dry yeast

4 1/2 cups of flour

4 tablespoons of butter, melted

2/3 cup of baking soda

egg wash (egg and water beaten together)

salt (I don't have pretzel salt, so I used kosher salt)

Make the dough:

In the bowl of an electric mixer (or a large bowl if making pretzels by hand), add the sugar, salt, warm water and yeast. Mix well and let it sit for about 5 minutes, until it begins to foam. Add the butter and flour and mix (use the dough hook) until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it looks uniform. Turn it into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it rest in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until the dough doubles in volume.

When the dough is almost done resting, bring 2 quarts of water along with the baking soda to a boil in a large pot. You will boil the pretzels in it before they go in the oven, so make sure it's a pot large enough to hold one large pretzel at the time. Preheat the oven to high (450 degrees).

Lightly spray two baking sheets and a clean work surface with oil. Turn the dough into the oiled surface and dived it with a sharp knife (8 large ones or 16 small ones). Make a long log by rolling the dough back and forth on the surface with the palms of your hands. For large pretzels, it should be about 24 inches long and 12 inches if making small ones. Shape the pretzels by holding each end, twisting in the middle and attaching the ends to the bottom of the pretzels. Place pretzels in the oiled baking sheet. Carefully place one pretzel at the time in the boiling water for 30 seconds. Do not leave the pretzel in the water for more than 30 seconds or they will start falling apart.

Transfer each pretzel back to the baking sheet and brush with the egg wash. Sprinkle with salt and bake each baking sheet for about 10 minutes, or until pretzels are brown and puffed.

Enjoy warm with some sweet mustard!

Banana Crumb Cake (Cuca de banana)

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I know I haven't been around here a lot lately, but I have good reasons for that. The best one is that I got a new job. It's a job I believe it's perfect for me, but I will talk more about it at another time.

For now, I would like to share this recipe with you: Banana crumb cake. I learned this recipe back home when I was studying in the south, where the German influence is very strong and therefore there is plenty of German dishes. I suppose the Germans originally made it with apples, but bananas are definitely more "Brazilian". There are two ways I do this cake, this one is what I call the tall version, layered with banana filling. There is another type of "cuca" (I have no idea where the name came from. If anyone out there knows, please share!) that is's more simple and has no layers, it's normally baked in a shallow square pan. The second one resembles more the types of crumb cakes I find here in the U.S. I hope you like this one. According to Andrew, it goes very well with a glass of milk.

On another note, I wanted to thank everyone that joined my Facebook page so far. You are welcome to post questions or comments over there too.

Banana Crumb Cake Recipe:

makes one 9 inch round cake

You will need:

 

For the crumb topping:

3/4 cup of brown sugar

3/4 cup of all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter

 

For the cake:

4 egg yolks

4 egg whites

3 tablespoons of unsalted butter at room temperature

2 cups of sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

3 cups of cake flour

1 tablespoon of baking powder

4 bananas, peeled and sliced

3/4 cups of milk

 

Butter and flour a 9 inch cake pan.

Make the crumb topping by mixing all the ingredients with a fork until you have  pea size crumbs. Set aside.

Beat the egg whites until it forms stiff peaks. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and the baking powder together. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the yolks, butter and sugar on medium-high until it gets pale and creamy. Add the vanilla. Turn speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture and the milk, alternating both and finishing with the milk. Fold in the egg whites into the batter.

Pour half of the batter in the prepared pan. Make a layer using half of the bananas and half of the crumb mixture. Pour the remaining batter on top of it and repeat the layer of banana and crumb topping (crumb topping last).

Bake it at 350 until the toothpick tester comes out clean. This cake takes me about 1 hour to bake, so be patient. Cool it for 15 minutes before slicing it.

 

Enjoy it!

 

 

	A spring form pan will make it easier to keep the crumb topping intact and give you a nicer presentation,  but it's not necessary as you can just take slices straight from the pan.

 

Fresh Peaches Poached in Spiced Coconut Milk Topped with Granola

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I am a big fruit person, but I normally eat them fresh without any cooking involved.  Peaches are especially nice fresh, when they are juicy and have a wonderful aroma. Sometimes though, I like to try something different. This time I decided to poach the peaches, and as I was opening the can of coconut milk I thought about how nice it would be to add some spices to it, like cinnamon and cloves. These spices are normally used during cold month desserts, but they worked very nicely here. The granola on top is optional, but I like the crunch. Fresh whipped cream or ice cream would work well too, specially if you are a fan of cold and hot contrast on a dish.

 

 

Peaches Poached in Spiced Coconut Milk Recipe:

serves 4

You will need:

 

2 fresh peaches, ripe but still firm

1 can of coconut milk

1 cinnamon stick

10 whole cloves

1 -2 tablespoons of sugar (depending on how sweet you want it to be)

Granola (optional)

 

Peel the peaches, cut them in half and remove pit. Place peaches in a small sauce pan and cover with the coconut milk. Add the spices and sugar. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, without boiling.

Pour each half peach in individual bowls and top it with some of the coconut milk. Top it with granola, if using. Serve immediately.

 

 

Dobos Torte - Daring Bakers

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The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of

A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos
Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus:  Exquisite
Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

This was the first time since join the Daring Bakers that I was not completely  pleased with the results. The Dobos Torte tasted very good, which was not a surprise. White sponge and lots of chocolate ganache, how bad can that taste? My problem was with the presentation, and it probably had a lot to do with my decision to cut the recipe in half (lesson learned).

Since it's only the 2 of us, and I was  recently told by my doctor to decrease my sugar intake , I thought  I would make just a small cake for us to share. The problem of making small amounts is that if something goes wrong, you don't have much back up, and that is what happen to my sponge cake. It all went well for the first batch, but the second one stuck to the baking paper and I couldn't remove it. So I ended up with 1/4 of the sponge cake from the recipe. That is the reason you only see a small slice of my "torta"....

The chocolate buttercream was easy to make and tasted great, the only thing is that it melts pretty fast so it has be kept in the fridge. Even after the layers were assembled, I had to keep it refrigerated or the layers would slide off and melt.

A typical Dobos Torte is topped with  a caramel-covered sponge layer, normally sliced into wedges. Since I was already running short of cake layers, I decided to skip the caramel altogether.

I ended up with a multi layered mini torta that tasted great (just like store bought actually), but didn't exactly look that attractive., specially if you think of Dobos Torte as a beautiful, tall cake with a crunchy and shinny caramel topping.... Mine wasn't any of that.... 

Although Dobos is a wonderful dessert, certainly elegant (when made properly), I don't think I will be making this again anytime soon. Perhaps it is a little too rich for my taste, but as a true Daring Baker, I am happy that I tried it.

 

For more beautiful photos of Dobos Torte (and too see how they are really suppose to look like), head over to the Daring Kitchen. And for the complete recipe for this particular Dobos, click here or here.

Grilled Romaine Hearts with Warm Peas

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On my last post I declared my love for all things grilled, so here it another grilled recipe. This time it's romaine lettuce that takes a trip to the barbeque.  Don't be so surprised, grilled lettuce is really good. I love how charred they get, a little burnt on the edges, warm but still crunchy in the middle. The trick is to brush it well with oil and cook for a very short time. You can use grilled lettuce in salads, with some grilled cherry tomatoes and red onions. It's delicious and unexpected. This recipe is for grilled romaine hearts that are topped with a warm peas and shallots mix.  I like the combination of peas and lettuce a lot. This makes  a perfect side dish for a barbeque party.

 

Grilled Romaine Hearts with Warm Peas Recipe:

 serves 2 as a side dish

 

You will need:

1 tablespoon of olive oil *

1 tablespoon of chopped shallots (use red onions if you don't have shallots on hand)

1/2 cup of peas, fresh or frozen

1/4 cup of either water, chicken or vegetable broth

salt and pepper

1 lettuce head, preferably romaine hearts

Parmesan cheese for topping (optional)

 

 

First make the warm peas mix. Heat the olive oil in a medium pan or skillet, add the shallots and cook until translucent. Add the peas, your liquid of choice and cook until warmed up, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Cut the lettuce in half lengthwise leaving the root still attached ( it holds the leaves together). Rinse with cold water and let it dry. Brush cut sides with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Grill the lettuces cut side down over a medium hot grill for about 5 minutes (start checking after 3 minutes as grill temperatures vary). Remove from the heat.

Plate lettuce halves cut side up and spoon the warm pea mix on top (reheat it if necessary). Top everything with shaved Parmesan, if using and serve immediately.

 

* If you like butter (who doesn't?), go ahead and use it instead of the olive oil for a richer dish.

 

Enjoy it!

Potato and Olive Pockets in the Barbeque

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We bought our BBQ about 5 years ago in Canada. It was the simplest and cheapest gas model in the store (in the two digits category...). Since then, it has traveled to Seattle, endured a couple of really bad winters (specially last year) and the constant, terrible wind that hits our balcony all the time. The metal plate inside of it is broken, as is the lid. It's a very small grill and I do my best to keep one side of it vegetarian, although that is not always possible.  Nevertheless, I love our barbeque. I can't imagine my life without it. Sometimes I fantasize about buying one of those super grills, with a rotisserie motor (for making gyros), and it almost feels like I am cheating on our my loyal companion, our cheap BBQ grill. I use it pretty much everyday, all year around.  During the cold months (in our case, that's 9-10 months), I roll it close to the  balcony door so that I don't have to step outside, but can still grill on it from the inside of the apartment. I use our old, broken BBQ to cook just about anything I feel like. 

This time it was potatoes. I like to grill potatoes but I don't like to have to boil them first (too much work, too much clean up). So I bought some very tiny ones (from Trader Joe's), that could go straight into the grill. The foil keeps the moisture in and lets the potatoes cook nicely. The olives give a nice saltiness and a touch of  Mediterranean flavour. Sometimes I use green onions (scallions), sometimes it's chives, whatever I have in the fridge. Next time I make these potatoes, I am thinking sun-dried-tomatoes might be good addition to them.

 

Potato and Olive Pockets in the Barbeque Recipe:

serves 4 as a side dish

You will need:

 

1 lb of very small potatoes such as Trader Joe's Tiny Teeny Potatoes**

16 mixed olives

4 teaspoons of olive oil

4 teaspoons of butter

4 tablespoons of fresh chives or green onions, chopped

salt and pepper

 

Wash and rinse the potatoes, scrubbing the skins to remove any dirt.

Cut 8 squares of foil paper (about 10x10 inches each) to make 4 double-lined pockets.  In each pocket, put 1/4 of the potatoes, 4 olives, 1 teaspoon of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of chives or green onions). Season with salt and pepper (keep in mind olives are very salty ) and close tightly. Place pockets in a hot barbeque grill, cover and let it cook for about 20 minutes.

Be careful when opening the pockets, they will be hot and the potatoes steamy. Serve immediately.

Enjoy it!

 

** If you can't find tiny potatoes, use small new potatoes cut in half.