makanandcomida

When we landed in Munich last night it started snowing – a real white x-mas feeling – wonderful! We are staying with friends and beside presents from Brazil for them such as bikinis, a large chunk of beef and fresh palm hearts we found the most original treat for their dog in a pet shop in Botafogo:

Yes – Panettone for dogs – Asha the Rodesian Richback clearly enjoyed the treat:

After going for a long walk in the snow, we visited the X-mas market at the shores of Tegernsee – pure winter wonderland setting with small stalls selling art and crafts, snacks and most importantly Glühwein – mulled wine. Here the recipe:

Glühwein for 4-6

• 1 bottle of red wine
• 50-100g of sugar
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• 2 cloves
• skin of 1/2 lemon very finely grated
• juice of half a lemon
• 100ml water

Slowly heat everything together in a pot on the stove making sure not to boil it. Serve in cups. Great together with roasted chestnuts.

Just before heading off to Germany, we met with our dear friend Patricia, whom we had not seen for ages. She is visiting her hometown Rio from Portugal and had a special treat for us in her luggage – Porco Preto Alentejano – an animal looking like that:

Obviously the treat she had in her suitcase rather looked like this:

and it supposed to be absolutely delicious though I have never tried it. Unfortunately the customs officer at Rio International Airport had either heard about the delicacy or was plain hungry and confiscated our culinary present. Shame but thanks a million Ralf and Particia for trying!

We net for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants Market Ipanema already mentioned in the blog from the 7th of December and had a lovely lunch catching up on the last years we hadn’t seen each other. One of the dishes was the Red Lentil salad which was delicious:

Red Lentil Salad for 4 as a starter or with some grilled fish, chicken or meat as a main course

• 150g of red lentils
• 500ml of vegetable stock
• 100g of button mushrooms sliced or halved depending on size
• 100g baby tomatoes halved
• handful of black olives pitted and halved
• 100g of sliced palm hearts or white asparagus
• 100g corn (optional)
• 2-3 spring onions finely diced
• 100g of cress
• olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper

Boil the lentil for about 10min in vegetable stock until not too soft. Drain and allow to cool. Mix with the remaining ingredients except the cress and dress with the dressing made of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Arrange on a nice serving plate on top of the cress.

This is what you would call a real win-win deal: Anybody willing to get rid of their firearms will be qualifying for reduced entry fares of R$46 around 18 Euros for the Worldcup 2014 in Brazil according to the newspaper O Globo from today. It did not say though whether this is only restricted to brazilian firearm holders or if you all could bring in your pistols, guns and other firearms to qualify for the really cheap tickets. Just imagine the world peace happening due to all firearms holders wanting to watch football life in Brazil! My daughter just commented she hopes the brazilian police forces will not turn their firearms in – I will keep you posted!

http://www.entreguesuaarmaagora.com.br is the website for those of you who want to know more

Recipe for green asparagus tortilla for 4

• 400g green asparagus cut into 2cm pieces
• 800g potatoes diced
• 200g spring onions sliced
• 10 eggs
• 4tbs olive oil
• 1 red chili finely diced
• salt, pepper
• fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 250C. Boil the asparagus pieces in boiling water for 2-3minutes. Heat 2tbs of olive oil in a pan and fry the spring onions and potatoes for around 5minutes. Add asparagus and parsley. Mix the eggs with the chili, salt and pepper. In a greased baking tin mix the vegetables and egg mixture and bake in oven for 15minutes until set.

As a variation you can add some feta cheese to the egg mixture or some chorizo sausage while frying the potatoes and spring onions. Serving it with smoked salmon makes it a great easy lunch.

I just realized italian immigration has made so much more of an impact in Brazil than the tens of thousands of German migrants that have entered this country – and I must say most of the time I’m extremely thankful for that. This means we can buy excellent mozzarella di buffalo, ricotta, fresh pasta, pestos, Prosecco and other italian goodies everywhere but in the X-mas season it would be nice to not only have to rely on Panettone!

But there are no German X-mas specialities in sight – no Stollen, Lebkuchen, Marzipan or Zimtsterne anywehre to been found! Even as far as Malaysia and Uganda we where able to get those but here in German tradition rich Brazil nothing. Clearly a missed business opportunity for Bahlsen or any other brand who would want to enter this market. Luckily we are off to Germany in the next days so that everybody can get their intensive dose of X-mas sweets at the fountain of origin.

Here the recipe for the dinner we had yesterday:

Cashew encrusted ostrich filet with goats cheese salad for 2

• 2 ostrich filets around 150-200g each
• 100g of ground cashew nuts
• 150 g of rocket leaves or other salad greens
• 100g of dried tomatoes in oil
• 2-3 spring onions
• 1 avocado
• 100g of goats cheese
• balsamic vinegar
• olive oil
• butter
• salt and pepper

Season the ground cashew nuts with salt and pepper and firmly press the ostrich filets into the mixture to allow as much cashew nut as possible to stick to it. Fry the coated ostrich steaks in a very hot pan in 1tbs olive oil and 1tbs butter on all sides than allow to rest for some minutes. Mix the rocket, diced tomatoes, spring onions and avocado and divide on two large plates. Dress the salad with a mixture of the oil from the dried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. Pop the rounds of goats cheese under the hot grill for a couple of minutes and serve on top of the salad together with the ostrich steaks.

Gula Gula (funnily meaning sugar sugar in Malay) restaurants are an extremely popular chain of restaurants that started from one little place in Leblon expanding to today 12 locations in and around Rio. They serve a fresh and varying menu with lots of great traditional and special salads and a choice of grilled meat and fish that you can choose your sides with. I visited today the one in São Conrado.

I found their recipe for this mushroom soup in one of the cooking journals  – absolutely delicious.

Mushroom Soup for 4

• 2 onions diced
• 2 cloves of garlic pressed
• knob of butter
• 250g button mushrooms diced
• 100g Shiitake mushrooms (or Porcini)
• 100g Shimeji mushrooms (or Oyster or Chanterelles)
• 100ml white wine
• 600ml vegetable stock
• 600ml cream
• salt, pepper, fresh parsley

Fry the onion and garlic in butter. Add the button mushrooms and fry for 4minutes. Add the remaining mushrooms and fry for another 4minutes. Add wine and allow to evaporate before adding vegetable stock. Simmer for 10minutes, than add the cream and simmer on very low heat for 20minutes. Blend liquid with half of the mushrooms. Add remaining mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and serve garnished with fresh parsley.

Yesterday we spent a lovely lunch and afternoon in Urca, the Rio neighborhood lying beautifully at the bottom of Pão de Açucar and the Guanabara bay. Beautifully restored old houses and churches, tiny squares and small beaches nestled between the slopes of sugarloaf mountain and the sea – very much small town mediterranean kind of feeling.

We had lunch in the Garota de Urca – named after the Garota de Ipanema (Girl from Ipanema) – a typical brazilian restaurant serving anything from fried and grilled fish and seafood, to meats and fries as well as Rice and Pasta dishes.

But the best is the X-mas decoration – following the maritime theme!

The holy family diving without any gear – amazing.

We had a grilled fish with a lovely sauce that got me the idea for the following recipe:

Salmon parcels with mushroom, prawn, caper sauce (for 4)

• 4 pieces of salmon steak around 200g each
• 100g of small prawns, peeled  (frozen, tinned and cooked is fine)
• 1 can of button mushrooms sliced
• 2tbs of capers
• 2tbs of olive oil or salted butter whatever you prefer
• juice of 2 limes or 1 lemon
• dash of white wine
• fresh dill, salt and pepper
• foil for the parcels

Preheat the oven to 220C. Take four 50cm pieces of tin foil and place some mushrooms, capers and small prawns in the middle of each. Drizzle with some of the olive oil and lemon juice or with a small quantity of butter and lemon. Season the salmon filets on both sides with salt and pepper and place them each on top of the vegetables. Top with remaining olive oil or butter, lemon juice, dash of white wine and dill and seal the parcels by folding them on top. Place the 4 parcels on a baking tray in the pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes depending on the thickness of the salmon filets. Serve with crusty bread to soak up the juices or some lemon risotto.

Today we finally made it to the small saturday market in Laranjeiras that our brazilian friends Vanessa and Erich had wanted to take us too since ages. The market is a real neighborhood affair, with old ladies buying their fruit, vegetable, flower and fish supply for the week, local artists selling anything from hippy art craft to clothes and the best of all food stalls selling freshly prepared snacks and drinks.

After strolling through the market and tasting some of the unknown fruits, we met up with Vanessa and Erich at the small square Praça Jardim Laranjeiras for some Pasteis – fried dough pockets filled with meat, ham and/or cheese, palm hearts among others

and some Bolinhos de Bacalhau. This stall has made it to carioca (people of Rio) fame and is featured in a book about favorite street vendor food!

I must say they were absolutely delicious and went very well down with the excellent Orange/Ginger Caipirinha we tried – another novelty so I watched carefully to be able to recreate next time at home!

Orange/Ginger Caipirinha

• 1 orange skin on cut into small pieces
• 1tsp of very finely cut ginger
• 1tbs of sugar
• 50ml of cachaça
• crushed or cubed ice

In the serving class crush the orange, sugar and ginger with a pestle or wooden spoon to dissolve the  juices in the sugar. Top with cachaça and crushed or cubed ice. Refreshing with a hint of heat from the ginger.

But the stall serving this had some more caipirinha with a twist recipes such as strawberry, pineapple/mint or pineapple/ginger and a mango one – so lots of reasons to go back to the market one of the next saturdays apart from listening and dancing to the live band playing there that unfortunately was canceled today due to rain.

Feijoada must be the most known brazilian dish – very much like the caipirinha is the most known drink. Feijoada not only is a delicious bean and meat stew but more an entire meal in lots of restaurants served for lunch on Fridays or Saturdays and shared with a large group of colleagues, family or friends.

There are different stories about the origins, but the version shared most is that the slaves used the pig leftovers given to them such as ears, feet, tail, tongue and other nowadays not so frequently used parts and mixed them with black beans, seasoning it with african originating spices for a meaty stew. The smells of this stew woke the interest of the people living in the casa grande – the manor and they adopted the stew by using better cuts of meat.

Here comes a version  adapted to contemporary palates and ingredient availability!

Feijoada Recipe for 6

• 500g of black beans soaked overnight
• 500g of smoked ham or Kassler as we call it in German
• 200g of bacon
• 250 g of chorizo
• 200g pork ribs or for a leaner version beef rump steak
• 1 large onion diced
• 2 cloves of garlic pressed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1tsp cumin powder
• 3 spring onions diced
• buch of fresh parsley finely cut
• salt, pepper and olive oil
• 1 orange in slices
• 200g of kale (Grünkohl) or other cabbage if not available finely shredded
• to serve cooked white rice and farofa (toasted maniok flour) optional

Drain the beans from the soaking water and in a large pot bring them to boil in 1.5l of water with the bay leaves and simmer on medium heat for 1 to 2 hour. Cut the meat, chorizo and bacon into 3cm pieces and separate the ribs. Add the ribs or beef to the beans and simmer for 30 minutes, add the smoked ham and simmer for another 30 minutes, finally adding the chorizo. Allow to cook for another hour or until everything is tender.

In a pan fry the bacon pieces, onion, garlic, spring onions and parsley in olive oil. Season with cumin, salt and pepper. Add two large spoons full of cooked mashed beans to the frying pan and cook for a couple of minutes. Than add the frying-pan content back to the beans and meat to thicken the feijoada. Cook for another 10 minutes and season with salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaves and serve with white rice. Accompany with slices of orange, kale stir-fried in olive oil and farofa (optional).

Enjoy with a caipirinha!

Recipe adapted from Panelinha – receitas que funcionam, Rita Lobo

The other day we went to visit the MAC – Museu De Arte Contemporânea in Niterói. The museum was designed by Brazil’s most famous architect, Oskar Niemeyer, the architectonical brainchild of the capital Brasilia. He will be turning 104 years next week and still very active. The MAC has a stunning design combined with a beautiful location on a cliff overlooking the sea – breathtaking, a little bit like a flying saucer landed in this beautiful scenery.

Unfortunately there is no well worth exhibition on display but rather a combination of art pieces rather looking like primary school project work! But the building itself definitely a must and obviously I also checked out the coffee shop at the bottom of the building that features cool 60s design and furniture and serves brazilian food with a twist while you enjoy the great views.

Recipe for Arroz Carreteiro for 4

This is a typical dish from the gauchos in the south of Brazil – real macho food and a great winter warmer! Traditionally dried meat was used but today this is replaced by any kind of leftover meats form a barbecue or a roast. Sausages can also be used which is good to know for all the Germans out there.

• 2 onions finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic pressed
• 500g of meat or sausage shredded or diced
• 300g white rice
• 1 diced red and green pepper
• 100ml tomato juice
• around 1l beef stock
• salt, pepper
• fresh coriander and spring onion to garnish

Fry the onions and garlic in olive oil. Add the beef or sausage and fry for some minutes. Add the rice and peppers and fry for some minutes, stirring for the rice not to stick. Add tomato juice and part of the stock and simmer until liquid absorbed. Add more liquid until rice is cooked – around 15 minutes very much like an Italian risotto. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with fresh coriander and spring onion.

No I’m not eating all the time and I’m not off to eat in restaurants all the time either, but I am keen to find new and nice places that serve something a bit different from the brazilian daily staple of rice, black beans and meat.

The other day while strolling through Ipanema, I found a great place, hidden in a backyard away from the noise and buzz of the main shopping streat Rua Visconde de Pirajá. The restaurant is called Market Ipanema and serves a large variety of healthy fresh food, served with freshly baked buns ranging from lemon risotto with baked fish to salmon tartar or organic chicken on a bed of quinoa salad.

I think I had never tried quinoa before, a grain similar to be used as couscous or buckwheat in a salad or rice in a risotto, originating from the Andean region. Traditionally it has been widely incorporated in Peruvian and Colombian cooking. Today it is becoming increasingly popular  around the world due to its health benefits such as a high protein content, good source of dietary fiber and high iron and magnesium. Quinoa is also gluten-free and easy to digest and can be found in health stores around the world.

Quinoa Feta salad for 4

• 1.5 cups of Quinoa
• 3 cups of vegetable stock or water
• 200g Feta cheese crumbled
• 3-4 spring onions sliced
• handful of black olives pitted and halved
• 100g of baby tomatoes halved
• 1 small cucumber diced
• 1 red pepper diced
• bunch of fresh coriander and/or parsley
• olive oil
• juice of 2 lemons
• salt and pepper

Rinse the quinoa and bring to the boil in stock or water, cover and simmer for around 15 minutes until water absorbed. Ratio quinoa to liquid is always 1 to 2.

Place the quinoa into a large serving bowl and mix with the remaining ingredients. Dress with juice of lemon and olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Serve it as part of a barbecue, accompanied with a steak or grilled fish or as a vegetarian light lunch. It is becoming a regular in my family and adds variety to the usual rice, potato, pasta family of staples.