Easy coconut and parmesan cupcakes (queijadinha)

This is a very easy recipe from Brazil. My grandma made a lot when we went to her house as kids.
I made the queijadinhas (pronounced "kay-ji-dee-nia") for Thanksgiving this year.

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups grated coconut
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup coconut milk

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 390 °F.
Place all ingredients in the order listed above in the blender and turn it on.
Pour the mixture into a cupcake baking sheet lined with paper cupcake cups.
Bake for about 40 minutes or until it starts to brown on top.

Notes:
If you want to enhance the cheese flavor in the queijadinha, add more parmesan.
For less dry cakes, bake them in water bath (putting the cupcake sheet inside a rectangular baking sheet containing hot water). But it is a lot more work, you have to be careful not to "bathe" the cakes in the hot water when you remove them from the oven (it happened to me).

Baked Fish Tagine with Chermoula sauce

One more delicious recipe from the Moroccan cooking workshop promoted by Creative Cultural Weavers. I can't wait to make it at home. Enjoy.

Chermoula/Tchermila is a sauce you can use with any white fish, cooked in the grill, boiled or in the oven. You can keep it several days in your fridge.

Ingredients:

For 1 kg/2lb  of cod or halibut, cut in pieces of 4"/10cm you will need:

1 bunch of coriander
1 bunch of parsley
5 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon hot or mild pepper
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
salt

Onions
Carrots
Potatoes cut into half
Bay leaves
Cherry tomatoes
Bell peppers

Blend coriander, parsley and garlic in a food processor. Then add the cumin, pepper, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and blend everything. Heat it (but do not boil).

Preheat the oven to 430F.

In a large pan, put onions, carrots, potatoes, bay leaves with half of the mixed spices (Chermoula/Tchermila) and cover with water. Cook for 20 min.
Optional: you can  add olives .

Generously coat the fish fillets with the remaining Chermoula and let it rest on a plate.

Pour the cooked vegetables into a big baking dish with a little bit of the broth. Lay the fish over the vegetables.

Top the fish with cherry tomatoes, bell pepper slices  and lemon slices.

Bake it for 20min.

Zaallouk (Eggplant appetizer)

I went to a Moroccan cooking workshop organized by CCW, Creative Cultural Weavers, our cultural group. Thank you, girls, for the organization and for the recipes. I am copying the first one here, together with my photo of the dish.

Ingredients:

2 eggplants
1 can of crushed tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
1 onion
basil
olive oil

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 450F.
Wrap the eggplants with aluminum foil and bake for 40 min to 1 hour.
Put olive oil, garlic, onion in a pan.
Cook on medium heat. Pour the tomatoes, basil, salt and keep cooking for 10 min.
Once the eggplants are baked, cut them in half, scoop the inside, discarding the skin, and add to the tomato sauce.
With a hand mixer, roughly blend the mixture.
You can serve the Zaallouk over grilled slices of ciabatta.

Ricota Pie

This one is for Delara. Sorry for being late for Easter, but I was so busy cooking that I didn't have time to translate and post the recipe. Also, my picture does not show the way the pie really should be (like a cheesecake), because I left a lot of the gelatine out and the result was that it turned gooey. But I have made this pie many times, it works, provided you add ALL the gelatine that says in the recipe.

Ingredients:

Cookie Base:

7 oz coarse crushed Graham cookies (or Maria, or McVities Digestives)
3.5 oz butter, melted
oil or cooking spray

Ricotta Cream:

1 lb ricotta cheese
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
creme fraiche, measured in condensed milk can (1 1/3 cup), or the "media crema" that sells in the Latin foods section of the supermarkets
1 packet (28 g, approximately 1 tablespoon) unflavored gelatin powder
3 egg whites

Sauce:

5 tablespoons raspberry jam
3 tablespoons water


Preparation:

Cookie base:

Line a springform baking pan with parchment paper. Spray or brush oil on the sides of the pan.
Mix melted butter with the crushed cookies and spread the mixture in the pan, gently pressing with a spoon.

Ricotta Cream:

Smash the ricota with a fork and pass it through a sieve into a mixing bowl. Pour the condensed milk over the ricota and mix well with a spoon. Add the zest and lemon juice, the creme fraiche and mix well. Dissolve the gelatin according the package instructions. Add to the ricotta cream and mix very well (better if mixed in a blender, it will get silkier). Finally, beat the egg whites and gently incorporate them to the cream.
Pour the cream over the cookie dough and bring to the fridge for about 5 hours.

Sauce:

Put jam and 3 tablespoons of water in a small saucepan and take to a low heat, stirring, until it becomes a thin syrup.Let it cool.

Remove the pie from the springform pan, pass the cake to a serving plate and pour the sauce over the cake.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

My mom used to make this when I was a kid. It's easy and it can be served as a one dish meal.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
8 pancetta or bacon strips, cut in little squares
500g (1 package) spaghetti
4 eggs
4 tablespoons (60 ml) heavy cream
4 tablespoons (60 ml) grated Parmesan cheese
salt and ground black pepper

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or skillet, add the onion and cook over a low heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes until softened but not colored.
Add the bacon or pancetta and cook for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta al dente according to the package instructions.
Put the eggs, cream and parmesan in a bowl. Add pepper. Then beat everything together.
Drain the pasta, tip into the pan with the pancetta or bacon and toss well to mix. Turn the heat off under the pan. Immediately add the egg mixture and toss vigorously so that it cooks lightly and coats the pasta.
Taste for seasoning, add more if needed. Serve immediately, adding grated Parmesan.

Beef with Onions

This one I adapted from a little book on Chinese food. The original recipe had green peppers.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons oil
1-inch piece gingerroot, peeled and chopped
1 lb beef tenderloin, very thinly sliced
1 onion, sliced
salt, if necessary

Sauce:

1/4 cup vegetable stock
1 tablespoon soy sauce (better if using dark soy sauce)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixture (prepare with 1 part cornstarch, 2 parts of water)

Preparation:

In a wok, heat oil, add gingerroot and fry for 1 minute. Add beef and quickly stir-fry for 2 minutes just until color changes.Stir in onion and stir-fry for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix together sauce ingredients. Stir into beef mixture. Cook, stirring, until lightly thickened. Add salt if needed.
Serve with white rice.

Chicken Rolls with Ham and Cheese

This is a homestyle Spanish dish. I've got it from one of my cookbooks. I didn't have white wine, I used red wine instead. It still tasted good.

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless whole chicken breasts, flattened, halved
4 thin slices deli-smoked ham
4 thin slices cheese such as Swiss or Mozzarella (or grated)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 F. Place ham and cheese on each flattened chicken breast half. Roll up. Secure with toothpicks. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Lightly coat bottom of 2-quart baking dish with oil. Spread onion slices over bottom of dish. Top with chicken rolls. Drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil. Cover with foil. Bake for 10 minutes.
Uncover baking dish. Drizzle with wine. Bake, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. If desired, broil for some minutes until golden. Serve.

Caipirinha

This is the most famous cocktail in Brazil. It is made of "cachaça" (pronounced "kah-SHAH-sah"), an alcoholic beverage made with fermented sugar cane.

Ingredients:

3 limes, cut in quarters
7 tablespoons of sugar
3/4 cup (180 ml) cachaça *
3 cups ice cubes

Preparation:

Smash the limes in a mortar. Transfer to a pitcher, together with the sugar and cachaça. Stir until sugar is mostly dissolved. Add the ice. If you want sweeter, add some more sugar.

* You can change to rum instead. The Brazilians call this version "caipirissima". Or vodka. Called "caipiroska" in Brazil. The taste is a bit different.

Easy Carrot and Cheese Crostini

My friend Olga made this for our friends in Shanghai, long ago. From time to time I remember them (or her) and I make them. But I never wrote the recipe, so sometimes it gets a little different, but it always turns out fine.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup shredded carrot
1 cup shredded cheese, cheddar or Mexican blend
1 teaspoon minced garlic (optional)
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
salt (optional)
pepper
1 French baguette, sliced

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 F.
Mix the carrot, cheese, garlic (if using), mayo, salt (if using) and pepper. Spread on top of a slice of bread. Arrange on a baking sheet. Bake until the cheese starts to melt. 

Black Forest Cake with a Shortcut

This is not the original recipe for this famous cake. I liked the taste, anyway. And it is relatively easy to make it. I was inspired by Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade (actually, by the ingredients I had at home).

Ingredients:

1 box of chocolate cake (Pillsbury, Duncan Hines, Betty Crocker)
the other required ingredients in the box (in the Duncan Hines, eggs and oil)
1 can (21 oz., about 600 g) cherry pie filling

For the chocolate buttercream icing:

1 cup (240 ml) vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon (5 ml) flavoring (vanilla or butter)
10 teaspoons (50 ml) water
1 oz (40 g) dark chocolate or chocolate chips or 3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 lb (450 g) confectioner's sugar *
1 pinch salt (optional)

Preparation:

Bake cake as directed on the box. Let it cool on a rack. Cut it in half with the help of a bread knife or a cake leveler, separating the two halves. Spread the cherry filling over the bottom half. Depending on the size of the cake, you may not need to use the entire contents of the can. Cover with the top half.

Preparation of the icing:

Melt the chocolate or the "chocolate chips" according to the manufacturer's instructions (you can use the microwave at 40% power for a minute, then extra 30 seconds, if needed). Beat the shortening in a mixer for 1 minute. Add the flavoring and water, beat for a little while until well blended. Add the other ingredients, beat at medium speed until light and creamy.

 Test of consistency:

By turning the bowl with the icing and spatula, the spatula should move slightly to the side. 
Icing the pie:

Spread icing over a portion of the pie. Smooth with a spatula or knife. Add more icing. Smooth again. When it's got more or less the desired thickness,  pipe the stars with a star tip. One good idea is to spread a little grated chocolate. This option is easier and faster, and it hides the imperfections, if it is not smooth as you want.

* It does not work if you use granulated sugar.

Spinach, Prosciutto and Chevre Salad

A very simple salad to save time for other activities.

Ingredients:

2 cups raw spinach leaves, washed
2 very thin slices of prosciutto (Italian) or jamón serrano (Spanish), chopped
1 tablespoon crumbled chèvre (goat cheese)
1 tablespoon sliced almonds, toasted
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
salt (optional) *

Preparation:

Mix everything. Serve.

* Chévre and Prosciutto are already salted

Chicken Salad Brazilian Style

We normally serve this salad as an appetizer or main dish in informal parties for a crowd. It can be made ahead and doesn't need to be warm. Actually, it is best served cold.

 

Ingredients:

2 medium potatoes, peeled, diced, cooked al dente
1 cup cooked chicken, diced or shredded
1/2 small carrot chopped into thin strips, cooked al dente
2 tablespoons of peas, cooked al dente (from frozen is fine)
2 tablespoons raisins
3 tablespoons cooked ham cut into strips
1/2 cup cooked corn (from a can or frozen is fine)
A boiled egg, chopped

Sauce:

5 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon grated onion
1/2 tablespoon mustard

Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Preparation:

Mix all dressing ingredients, add the other ingredients. Refrigerate for an hour or more. Serve.

 

Fried Calamari

If you like seafood, this is an easy appetizer to make at home.

Ingredients:

2 lb squid, cleaned and cut into rings
Flour
Salt

Olive oil
Lemon

Preparation:
 

Wash and paper-dry the squid rings. Sprinkle with salt. Drop them in the flour, turning around for the squid to get all covered with the flour. Shake the excess flour and fry the calamari in olive oil until golden. Serve with lemon wedges.

Fried Calamari

Pesto

Today my 5 year old daughter made Pesto sauce. We served with "al dente" cooked spaghetti.

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic
1 cup basil leaves
3 tablespoons pine nuts
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Smash the garlic with a pestle and mortar. Add the basil, continue smashing. Add the pine nuts, continue pounding. When it gets to a thick paste, add the olive oil slowly, and mix. It will turn into a paste. Add the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Mix well. Taste, and adjust the salt. Add some more olive oil, if desired. Serve over cooked spaghetti.

Chinese Hot Pot

This is my adaptation to the Chinese Fondue, or Hot Pot. In Mandarin they call "huo guo": "huo" is fire, and "guo" is pan. Isn't it a simple language? It is a great comfort food. In cold days at the end of the dinner we're sweating, and we end up opening a little crack in the door, even with the cold and all that snow outside...

Here are the basics: you make a broth with some water and seasonings. Put some vegetables and thin slices of meat around the hot pot, and diners will drop these ingredients into the soup to cook. We "fish" the food with a slotted spoon and dip it in a mild or spicy sauce.

In China we used to buy ready-made sauces in the supermarket, but here it is difficult to find the good ones, so it's better to make our own. I had a peanut sauce in my friend Cindy's place, her dad showed me the ingredients. I developed my own sauce, based on theirs, only that I use easy to find ingredients. You don't need to look for them in an Asian shop.

Although we can make our own dipping sauce, I strongly recommend using the condiments for the broth that can be bought in a Chinese supermarket. Here I will show some packages with the brands I found in the Chinese grocery shop closer to my place in Michigan.

Later I will give alternate recipes for the broth, in case you don't find the prepared packages in your local Asian shops.

Peanut Sauce:

Ingredients (2-4 people):

4 cloves garlic, minced
5 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup canola or other vegetable oil
2 tablespoons of sesame seed oil
1 teaspoon finely chopped capers

Preparation:

Mix everything in a bowl. Take to the table where the hot pot is to be eaten.

Meat, noodles and vegetables for the hot pot:

Vegetables (Choose one or more):

Napa cabbage, cut in 1" squares
Chinese cabbage (Bok choy)
Spinach
Bean sprouts
Mushrooms
Corn (on cob, cut into pieces)
Firm tofu, cut into cubes

Meat and other (choose one or more):

Kani Kama (fish sticks)
Thinly sliced Sirloin steak or lamb
Shrimp, peeled and headless (raw)
Fish fillets, raw
Chicken, cut into thin strips
Fish balls
Lobster balls

Noodles (best is the "transparent"ones) - Soak them in hot water for some minutes, until they are soft, then drain.

Preparation of the vegetables, meat and noodles:

Put the chosen ingredients in plates, then take to the fondue table and arrange them there.

Preparation of the broth:

After everything else is prepared and done (including the plates, saucers and cutlery or chopsticks), also when the guests are ready, prepare the broth:

Bring the fondue pot to the stove to start the cooking process. Add the package of seasonings, some garlic and ginger, 4 or 5 shallots (white part) and water to 2/3 of the pan. Bring to a boil. Carefully take the boiling pan to the table with the fondue "machine".
Help your guests put some of the vegetables, meat and noodles in the boiling pan, let it get to a boil again, "fish" the items with slotted spoons and chopsticks. Eat.

hot pot seasoning for the broth

noodles

Easy Grilled Indoors New York Strip Steak

I make these for my kids when it's winter and we cannot barbecue outside. They are quick and easy.
For them, you have to use a gas stove and a cast iron grill. The most important thing for this type of pan is that, everytime you wash it, dry and immediately season with oil or cooking spray.

Ingredients:

2 New York strip steaks
coarse salt

Preparation:

15 minutes before starting to cook the steaks, sprinkle them with the coarse salt on both sides. Let them rest.
Around 5 minutes before cooking the steaks, put the cast iron grill pan on the gas stove and, if possible, turn on the 2 burners below the pan, in medium-high heat. Let the grill pan get hot.
It's cook time: remove most of the coarse salt from the steaks by scraping them with a knife. Don't worry if some granules cannot be removed. Put them on the hot grill pan. Let them cook for some minutes. Turn them around, cook for some more minutes. Using a fork, put them both up on one side, let them cook for 1 minute. Turn to the other side, cook for one more minute or so, until they are browned on the 2 longest sides. If possible, do the same for the other 2 sides (shortest ones), by holding the meat for a while with the fork.
Then put each steak to cook with the flat sides down for 1 or 2 minutes on each of these sides, on a different position, so they get those nice crossings from the lines of the iron pan.

Be careful not to overcook the steaks. If you are not sure, get a sharp meat knife and cut a thin slice on one side. If it is a bit red but it doesn't look too raw, then they are done. They will be juicy inside, and when you transfer them to a plate to cut slices, they start to let some of these juices flow. You will want to use your finger on the plate and lick them....

Note: After seasoning the steaks with coarse salt, DO NOT let them rest for much more than the 15 minutes unless you come and scrape the most of the salt. Otherwise they will get too salty.

This is the way most Brazilians season their meat for barbecue. You can do the same way for barbecueing in a gas or charcoal barbecue grill, in Summer, or if you live in a good weather place (not like us, in Michigan, under all that cold and snow...)

We eat this with rice, potato salad and Brazilian style vinaigrette sauce (I will give the recipe in a later post).

Hot Mexican Fruit Punch

This wasn't originally part of the Mexican Cooking Workshop that took place some days ago, but it was a cold day, so my friend Lucia made this to warm us. Everybody loved and asked for the recipe, and here it is.

Ingredients:

10 guavas, cut in large pieces
6 tamarinds, peeled
15 sections of sugar cane, skin removed and cut in pieces
15 Hawthorn apples ("tejocote", in Spanish)
3 brown sugar cones
1 apple, cut in 4 pieces
1 cinnamom stick, cut in pieces
3 qt water

Preparation:

Put everything in a deep saucepan. Let it cook for a while. Serve the liquid, add some fruit pieces, if desired.

Sweet Fig Compote

I dedicate this post to the ladies at Beijing Haochi, my favorite Chinese food blog. They have published their own fig compote recipe.

This compote is a favorite of my family. We would fight for this at the Sunday lunches in my grandma's place when I was a kid. They were made by my aunt Alzira, she was a perfectionist. Now she can't cook any more, but fortunately my mother and I learned to make it. The challenge is getting the figs... Even here in Michigan, I only see them for sale in (our) Summer. And for a short period of time... 

  

Ingredients:

  

ripe figs (the skin is dark purple)

sugar (about 1 tablespoon for each fig used)

Preparation:

Soak the figs in cold water for 1 or 2 hours to help the removal of the skin. Cut the stalk. Remove the skin carefully, scraping or peeling with a small knife.

 

Also be careful not to smash them, if they are very ripe.

Place the figs and sugar in a deep pan and cook over medium heat. DO NOT STIR. The sugar will melt, and then it begins to boil. With enough care not to disturb the figs (they fall apart easily), remove the foam that is being formed on top, with a slotted spoon.
 

The compote will be ready when the figs turn brown and almost translucent and the syrup has thickened.

Allow to cool and store in glass jars with lids. Refrigerate and they last a long time. Freeze and they last forever...

 Serve with a bit of syrup on top or sprinkle grated cheese (Parmesan or another, if you prefer).

Notes:

After removing the skin, the figs are presented as shown below, a nearly white color.

  

The cooking time is quite high. For the 26 figs that I had here, it took over 1.5 hours. But it's totally worth it. Anyway, apart from the peeling procedure, there's basically not any work in this. You can peel them while watching TV (or listening to it). 

Optional: Place a clove in the pan with the figs and sugar before cooking. I personally don't like the taste with the clove.

Use the syrup leftovers with ice cream or pancakes.