Well I am back .. with B-A-N-A-N-A-S  !!!! 

My friend and neighbor Laura, has about 5 banana trees in her yard.  In the past month all the banana stalks were ready at the same time.  

You can only imagine how many bananas that leaves us to eat up or use for cooking.   

HUNDREDS!!! 

So me being me, started cooking away.  I made banana bread with cashews, froze some for smoothies, ate some, used some in oatmeal, made banana pancakes, ate more, and then got fancy and made a banana cream pie. 

All I gotta say is .. YUMMMM !!  

It was delicious.

And since bananas are soo cheap here, I thought I would share this one with you to impress your friends  

Banana Cream Pie Recipe:

Ingredients: 

• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons of cornstarch { maizena, amido de milho}
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract {aroma de baunilha}
• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked {i made my own, recipe to follow beneath} 
• 4 bananas, sliced

Directions:

• In a saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add milk in gradually while stirring gently. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is bubbly. Keep stirring and cook for about 2 more minutes, and then remove from the burner.
• Stir a small quantity of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and immediately add egg yolk mixture to the rest of the hot mixture. Cook for 2 more minutes; remember to keep stirring. Remove the mixture from the stove, and add butter and vanilla. Stir until the whole thing has a smooth consistency.
• Slice bananas into the cooled baked pastry shell. Top with pudding mixture.
• Cool by an open window for 45 mins or so. 
• Chill in fridge for at least 3 hours, the longer the better.  If you can do it overnight, I highly recommend it.  
• I topped with whipped topping  {In Brazil you can purchase Chantilly Cream in a box, its basically their version of Cool Whip.  Its great.  You can either purchase it in a large box, or small.  Its a bit pricey, a large box is about R$10,00 and small being about R$4,00.  I bought the large to be sure I had enough, but a small one would’ve worked.  You can find this in the baking section of the store, on the shelf.  Upon returning home you must put it in the fridge for 8 hours or you can do it like me and put it in the freezer for 2-3 hours and then it will be ready to use.  Throw it into the blender, blend until thick and creamy, and smooth on top of your pie!}  

Chantilly Cream for topping

Directions for pie crust :

Ingredients: 

1 small package of Maziena cookies crumbled {shortbread cookies, you can either do vanilla or chocolate, I used vanilla}  

6 tablespoons of Butter melted 

1.5 teaspoon of Cinnamon {canela} 

Crumble your cookies first { I do this in a blender for a few secs.} Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  Then press into a pan or pyrex dish and bake on 200 Celsius for about 5-7 mins.  

On a side note:  this would be really nice with some melted chocolate drizzled inside the pie shell. I think I will do that next time  

Banana Cream Pie

*** Yeah I know the pie looks a bit messy in the pic, but well I was so anxious to eat it and didn’t chill it in the fridge for soo long, hence the fact it’s falling apart  But it didn’t affect the taste ONE BIT !! ***

So back to tapioca.  When I first came to Brazil and tried tapioca for the first time I didn’t like it, along with other things, but those I will save for a later post.  It came with time and trying it the “right way,” fresh, that I began to like it.  Soon after that, a good friend of mine who owns a tapioca snack stand taught me how to make it and since then I have made it at home, religiously every week.  Or at least try to, when time allows.    I would chalk up tapioca to being the “brazilian tortilla.”  Very versatile, and pretty bland in flavor.  The flavor comes from what you put in it.  It has a gummy texture and when served old {and by old, I mean just 10 mins after being made} can take on a rubbery feel…*yuck* !

It’s made from farinha de mandioca , yucca root flour.  Here in Brazil, it is a commonly used starch, and widely consumed on a daily basis.  {But I imagine it’s quite hard to find in other places around the world in the form of flour.  I am sure you can check your local latin food market or world section in your supermarket, they might carry it.  Or if you have a Brazilian food market in your area, they would be certain to carry it.}  Its  most common uses are as a pre-cooked flour to make farofa, that is sprinkled on top of food here, as a thickener to make soups and sauce {arrowroot}, or as a fermented starch used to make pao de queijo, cheese bread.  But here in the Northeast it is commonly used to make tapioca.  They usually serve this with breakfast or as a mid day snack.  The fillings you can put in them are endless, all you need is a creative mind.  It doesn’t have much of nutritional value, so be sure to add healthy things to it, but it is a gluten free food which is fabulous for people who have gluten allergies/sensitivities. 

The recipe is as follows .. its super easy to make, and also very cheap.  One bag of flour is R$2,50 {which is about $1.50) and will make a ton of tapiocas.

 {Keep in mind when I took these pictures I only had cheese on hand  .. but I will make a list of possible fillings at the end of the post.} 

• A bag, or half bag {depending on how many you want to make, also depending on the size you make} of farinha de mandioca .  Please keep in mind in Brazil ,this is always found in the refrigerated section .  Also if you do not consume the whole bag, you must store the rest in the fridge to maintain its freshness.

• a pinch of salt 
• desired fillings {see below for a list of various fillings, but anything goes}
• a sifter
• nonstick frying pan 

1.)  First you must sift the flour through a sifter into a bowl.  This is the  most time consuming part.  I use a spoon to help it through and so it goes a bit faster.   

sifting the flour

2.)   After you have all your flour sifted, you want to add a pinch of salt, or two, to the flour to add a bit of flavor.  Lightly blend in. 

add salt to sifted flour

 3.)  Next, you want to get your nonstick frying pan good and hot.  Put it on high and wait until its hot.  {Any size pan will work for this.  Tapioca can be made in any size you like.  As well as thickness, but I think the thinner it is, the better, its less chewy.  I also prefer to make mine a bit bigger.}

When your pan is hot {with no oil, butter ect.} Put a thin layer of the flour on the pan with a spoon, in a sprinkling way, to your desired size. How much flour you use depends on how thick you would like it.  {I have also seen here in Brazil people put a metal round form {like a cookie cutter} on the pan, usually on the smaller side and make it like this, to insure the sides are neat.  But this usually results in a thick, chewy tapioca, and I don’t care for it.}

sprinkle flour onto hot pan

4.)  Then you want to wait until the flour starts sticking to itself a bit and begin smoothing out the flour into the shape of a circle. {when you start to smooth it and it is breaking/separating and creating cracks/holes, it is not ready to be smoothed.  Wait a bit longer}  Don’t worry about the edges, they will be messy and rough, it’s almost impossible without a form to make them neat.  Then gently press down to flatten it.  Between this step, the previous, and the next, there is not much time .. you want to work fast to insure it doesn’t burn or get too hard.  

smooth flour into a circle

5.)  Then you want to add your filling. {see below}  Make sure you have it ready to go at your side before you are at this step.  Remember you want to work fast now.  {Here I used cream cheese and grated mozzarella cheese.}

add filling

add more filling if you would like

filling-don't add too much or you won't be able to close it!

6.)  After you have added all your fillings you want, quickly fold it in half and press down with your spatula.  Be careful not to burn your hands.  A variation to this is add a layer of flour on top, instead of folding it in half, and flip it over to cook the other side… although I have never done it this way and I imagine without a metal, round form this would be difficult.  When using a form you put a layer of flour on the bottom, your fillings next, and then a layer on top and just let it sit and cook for a bit until it becomes formed.   My least favorite way.  Just a note, this makes for a very thick tapioca.

Fold it and press, hold it for a minute

Remove from pan

Ready to eat! Yummmmmm

***Suggested Fillings***

• any type of cheese or a combination of cheeses 
• cheese, tomato, oregano or basil or both
• cheese, banana and honey on the side to dip it in {my favorite} 
• guava and cheese
• ham and cheese 
• ham, cheese, tomato
• beef (ground or shredded) and cheese 
• avocado and cheese
• chicken and cheese 
• chicken and pumpkin
• chocolate or nutella with or w/o banana
• pear and gorgonzola cheese
• plain with butter (these are only good if FRESH.  I like mine with eggs in the morning) 
• sausage and eggs
• sausage and cheese 

The choices are endless .. make up your own!  Put whatever you have on hand in them.  Make up new ones that I didn’t list here.  Have fun with it !

I have a lot to say about our vacation in Rio, but as promised it’s Friday so I will stick to food today and be back this weekend with tales from Rio.

WHEN ASIA MEETS BRAZIL …….

I have a soft spot in my heart for Asian food, I really do.  I know what you must be thinking..”Why the hell is she writing about Asian food, and she has a blog about Brazil?”  I miss GOOD Asian food, and I wanted to share my improvisations with others here.  I have learned to make things out of nothing.  So today I dedicate this post to expats in Brazil that are craving something new in the kitchen (*ahem* cheaply) or just the random vacationer that has no clue what to make for dinner tonight.  

After spending almost a year here and not discovering this candy, I simply don’t know how-I-made-it-through. I LOVE peanut butter.  And this candy resembles it to a T, in my opinion.  And we all know what marvelous things we can make with peanut butter.   So as soon as I made my new candy discovery (about 2 years ago) the wheels started turning in my head.  {{what wonderful things can I whip up in the kitchen, with this magic candy}}  So what’s the secret … its’s called  ”Pacoquita”  For those of you not familiar,  Pacoquita is a little rolled candy ball, made up of ground peanuts and sugar.  It tastes EXACTLY like peanut butter .. just a little drier.  Peanut butter is one thing I MISS the most .. {{ hint, hint ..if you are in the US and just so happen to be visiting Brazil any time soon, and would like to bring your good ol’ bloggie friend Tanya some PB .. please feel free to do so.   All donations accepted. *wink* }} 

OK back to cooking .. so here is where Asia comes in.  I have always loved chicken satay or beef, basically grilled meat on a skewer with peanut sauce.  So….. I improvised .. and did a damn good job… if I say so myself.  *pats self on back*   

Here is the recipe to follow.  I have put this improvised recipe up here for fellow expats or travelers in Brazil, but please feel free to replace the candy with the “real deal” peanut butter if it is available in your area.  I can say I have found peanut butter here, but it is much too expensive for my budget… ..( R$ 14,00 = $7.00 *ouch*)  

Chicken (or beef) Satay, crusted with sesame seeds with Asian Peanut Sauce :

• about 1 lb. of chicken breasts (or beef) cut into strips  (peito de frango or carne)
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds mix of black and white (gergelim preto e branco)

Sauce :

• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce ( molho shoyu) 
• 3 individual wrapped Pacoquita candies, any brand, I like the ones pictured below the best (if using real PB about 1/4 cup) 
• 1 clove of garlic (alho)
• 1/4 cup of coconut milk  ( leite de coco) 
• ginger, optional, a touch (gengibre)
• chili pepper, optional, a touch  (pimenta calabresa) 
• salt to flavor (sal)
• Chopped green onions to garnish (cebolinha)
• water if you would like to thin it 

Cut chicken (or beef)  in thin slices put on a skewer if using a bbq, otherwise no skewer.  Moisten chicken lightly and roll in mixed sesame seeds.  Set aside. 

 In a blender, add peanut candies, soy sauce, coconut milk, garlic, salt.   Ginger and red pepper to season, if using. ( I like a lot of pepper, but beware it gets spicy)  Blend until smooth in texture.  If you are serving with a salad or noodles you want your sauce to be a bit thinner, in this case add a bit of water until you achieve a thinner sauce (like a dressing) Season to taste.  If serving just with meat, as a dipping sauce you want your sauce to be thicker in consistency, therefor do not thin it. 

Add a bit of olive oil in a frying pan and pan sear chicken until cooked.  If you are using a grill,  lightly drizzle olive oil over chicken and grill until cooked, about 5-7 mins on each side. Thinly slice chicken into strips.  Serve on top of a fresh green salad and/or thin noodles. ( I put pineapple with mine, but any fruit would work) Can be served warm or cold. Drizzle peanut sauce on top.  Garnish with chopped green onions.

Enjoy !   or as we say here … Bom Aproveite !

{{ingredients in portuguese are to the right}}

Peanut Candy

Opening the wrapper of the peanut candy

Black Sesame Seeds in Brazil

My wonderful green tropical salad with grilled sesame chicken and asian peanut sauce

Passionfruit Mousse - Mousse de Maracuja

In Brazil we have an abundance of wonderful fruits, many that you can find around the world and many that are just found in Brazil.  I will go into the various types of fruits in a later post.  Today I wanted to share a wonderful recipe that I LOVE !   This recipe is SO easy, even the person not-so-skilled-in-the-kitchen, can make it.  And on top of being so easy to make, it is also melt-in-your-mouth-deliciousness.   

Passionfruit mousse or Mousse de Maracuja, is a very common dessert in Brazil. Here, you will find this on MANY menus and in many bakeries.  It is a Brazilian staple !  I am aware that fresh passionfruit is not readily available in non-tropical countries, to my knowledge.  So if that is the case, you can use Passionfruit juice concentrate.  It is always available in latin markets and/or some health food stores. Or you can check the latin foods section in your local supermarket.  It doesn’t change the flavor of the dish in any way.  It’s still just as wonderful.   Please take note .. if you are in Brazil, the ingredients are listed on the side in Portuguese, so you know what to look for in the market !  

Passionfruit Mousse :

• 1 cup (250 ml)  whipping cream ( 1 lata de creme de leite) 
• 1 cup (250 ml) evaporated, sweetened condensed milk (1 lata de leite condensada)
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) of canned or frozen passionfruit juice concentrate (1 cup of fresh maracuja juice) 
• Where available : One fresh Passion fruit, pulp with seeds, for garnish.

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend at low speed until it becomes light and fluffy. (a few minutes) Pour into individual dessert dishes or a small cake mold and place in the refrigerator and chill for 2 to 4 hours or until firm.  Before serving, if fresh passionfruit is available, garnish with pulp and seeds on top. (the seeds are edible, I love them)  

This is also really nice served as a Torte.  After making the mousse, put into either a pre-made or home made graham cracker or cookie crust.  To make your own graham cracker crust finely grind graham crackers to make 1 1/2 cups  (if you are in Brazil you can use Maizena cookies, as there are no graham crackers to be found here, you can find these cookies in all supermarkets and it comes out just as delicious) add 1/3 cup of sugar and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional), and 6 tablespoons of melted butter.  Mix until well blended.  Press mixture into pie plate and bake for 7 minutes at 375 degrees F  (190 degrees C ) Let cool, then place your prepared mousse into shell.  Place into fridge and chill until firm, about 2-4 hours.  

Enjoy ! … or as we say in Brazil …  Aproveite !