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Another recipe Dani's mother
Ingredients:
3 onions
1 clove of garlic
3 tablespoons toasted, ground peanuts
3 tablespoons toasted, grounded cashew nuts
1 small piece fresh ginger root; 3 or 4 centimeters (about an inch and a half)
100 grams (4 ounces) headless dried, salted shrimp (I'd try an oriental food market)
Fresh cilantro leaves to taste
In an absolute emergency only you might substitute the (coriander) seeds for fresh cilantro; but then I would crush them using a stone pistel and mortar and NOT use dried ground coriander because it will not have the pungent flavor from the leaves or oil.
Blend all ingredients in a blender.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil and a cup of dende oil in a pan. Add the blended sauce with the dried, salted headless shrimp. After 15 minutes add 200 ml (about 7 ounces) of coconut milk with a cup and a half of finely ground breadcrumbs or wheat flour. Salt to your preference, but only after adding the sauce with shrimps because they already have salt in them. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon to avoid "lumps". Add more coconut milk if necessary to avoid loss of moisture. When the consistency is such that you can see the bottom of the pan as you stir, then the vatapa is done.
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We have couscous: a different one from the Northeast. We use a more "powdery" form of couscous than you are used to - like a wheat flour. We mix a little manioc flour and water in a tureen, mixing until it's like a farofa (farofa is generally stove-top browned manioc flour). Then we place some water in a pan on the stove and above this, in a steamer, we put the farofa into a piece of fine cloth, like cheesecloth?
We lightly press farofa into small cakes and never allow water to touch it - only steam - this is very important. After cooking for some minutes we take the faorfa (couscous) cake from the cloth and serve it while still hot with butter or coconut milk, or with eggs fried in butter. We're used to eating this at breakfast or at dinner as farofa made of cork flour, manioc amido and a little water. This dish originated in native (Brazilian) Indian and Afro traditions.
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Couscous, like so much of the rest of Bahian cuisine and culture, originates in Africa. Couscous, the staple grain in North Africa, is made from coursely milled wheat, millet or rice producing granules of semolina starch. When properly prepared, it is light and fluffy with a lovely delicate and noticeably nutty flavor. Best of all, here in the US, couscous is so easy to make. Harva Hatche, author of "Kitchen Safari", notes that "instant couscous" is very easy to prepare without sacrificing any of the flavor. In fact all you have to do is adding the instant variety to boiling water with butter and salt, then cover and remove from the heat for 5 minutes. At the end of 5 minutes remove the pan lid, fluff the couscous with a fork and serve piping hot. It's fabulous! A wonderful contribution to our diets from North Africa!
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From Dani's mother in Salvador Bahia
Ingredients:
10 portions of "língua de vaca plant" (known in Brazil as "cow's tongue" plant)
500 grams (17 1/2 ounces) dried/salted headless shrimp
1 cup of coconut milk
2 minced onions
3 tablespoon toasted/ground peanuts
3 tablespoon toasted/ground cashew nuts
1 cup dendê oil
Cilandro leaves, salt and pepper and to taste
Remove the stalks of the língua de vaca and wash it's leaves
Cook the leaves in only water and salt.
Strain the leaves in a sieve; bamboo if possible (in Bahia made of taquara plant)
Cut the leaves in little pieces
Reserve.
Blend and fry all but 100 grams (3 1/2 ounces) of the shrimp with the onion, salt, peanuts and cashew nuts for about 15 minutes.
Add the cut língua de vaca and bring to a boil. Then add the coconut, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
When it's dry, remove from the pan and put it in a pot.
Serve with coconut rice.
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2 cups rice
4 cups fine coconut milk
salt
Wash the rice and let it drain in a sieve. Reserve. Put the coconut milk and salt in a pan.
Bring to a boil and add the rice. Cook until dry.
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Churrasco; the Brasilian barbecue, is different from what we're used to in the United States. The emphasis is not at all on the "sauce", or even A sauce. Preparation is the key. And the heritage of the Gauchos (South American "cowboys") is the reason why. As you will see from the recipes below, the Gaucho tradition of reliance on salt and simplicity is what churrasco is all about. But don't let the simplicity fool you because you will LOVE Brasilian churrasco.
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10 to 15 pounds of fine quality cuts of meat (beef, lamb, veal, etc)
1/2 cup salt
6 cloves finely mashed garlic
3 cups hot water
Prepare the fire and be sure the coals are bright before putting on the meat. Spread the meat on the grill and avoid allowing the pieces to touch. When the meat begins to brown dissolve the salt in the hot water with the garlic and baste the meat with it. Keep basting until the meat is cooked and if you run out of the liquid before the meat is one prepare a little more. The meat must not be too close to the fire or it will burn on the outside before it is done. The fire should have died down by the time the meat is done so allow what meat you are not eating to remain over the coals.
An additional option is to prepare Banana Farofa (recipe below) which the meat may be dipped into.
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Requires 15 minutes:
6 bananas, cut into thick slices
5 tablespoons butter (use real butter for best result)
1 large onion cut into rings
3 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs (purchase the prepared dried breadcrumbs - it's convenient and they're exactly what you need).
Fry the bananas in the butter until golden brown then remove the bananas from the butter. Fry the onion rings in the same butter. Add the bananas back in, along with the breadcrumbs and brown. Don't let it get too dry. Add more butter if necessary. The crumbs should be coated with butter, but light and loose. Serve hot.
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Takes about an hour:
Young frying size chickens (1/2 chicken per person)
1 teaspoon salt per chicken
1/4 cup olive oil per chicken
1 clove minced garlic
Clean chickens, rub inside and out with salt and soak in the oil and garlic for 2 hours. While the chicken is soaking prepare the fire. Don't forget my suggestion about using the wood chips. I prefer mesquite to hickory. Place the chicken on the grill and roast slowly, basting with the oil during roasting.
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About 45 minutes to make 24 churrasquinhos:
1 pound beef tenderloin
1/8 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon minced onion
1/2 pound bacon
Cut the beef tenderloin into slices, then cubes about 3/4 inch square. Marinate in the oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and minced onion for at least 1/2 hour - more if convenient. Cut bacon in squares and put alternating bacon and beef squares on toothpicks until full. Grill until brown. Serve hot.
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1 hour for 4 to 6 servings
2 pounds of beef tenderloin
juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons salt
1 clove mashed garlic
Marinate the beef overnight in the lemon juice, salt and garlic. The next day, barbecue the meat, turning frequently.
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1 hour to serve 4 to 6
2 pounds beef tenderloin
3 teaspoons salt
juice of 2 lemons
1/4 teaspoon pepper
dash of dried hot pepper
1 large chopped onion
1/2 cup parsley (I prefer cilantro)
Marinate the beef overnight in the juice of 1 lemon, salt and garlic. The next day: barbecue the meat, turning frequently. Serve with a sauce made with the remaining lemon, the hot pepper, onion and parsley or cilantro. You may also serve it with Banana Farofa (see recipe elsewhere in this gallery).
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Cut meat in large pieces. Make a "salmoura" by mixing a third part of fine salt and two of water and put in a cup. Only spread gross salt on the meat at the time you are going to put on the fire. When the meat is almost done scrape off the salt and brush on the salmoura.
Before grilling the charcoal must be "white hot" (brasa). So you must prepare the fire 30 minutes before you put on the meat.
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Credit my mother in Indiana for providing this recipe. We used to make it all the time in the 1950s. I discovered in 2000 that it was still being made this way in Bahia when I stumbled onto it in a shopping mall there.
Ingredients:
2/3 cup Hershey cocoa
1/8tsp salt
1 /4 cup butter or margarine
3 cups sugar
1 and 1/2 cups of milk (may be skim, 2%, 1% or whatever)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Combine the cocoa, sugar and salt in a large sauce pan.
Add the very milk gradually and mix everything thoroughly, bring to a bubbly boil on high heat. Then reduce to medium heat, and continue to boil the mixture without stirring, until it reaches a temperature of 232 degrees, or until it forms a soft ball when dropped into cold water. Remove the mixture from heat, and add in the butter and vanilla. DO NOT STIR. Allow fudge to cool at room temperature until it reaches 110 degrees. Beat until the fudge thickens - THIS CAN HAPPEN VERY QUICKLY - and loses some of it's gloss. Very quickly pour the fudge mixture into a buttered pan usually a 8 inches by 8 inches by 2 inches. Makes 3 dozen. Enjoy!
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Last Updated January 20, 2003