This recipe is my weakness. I really have to watch myself when I make this one. It’s just that good!  I still remember the first time I had this at my aunts house in Brasil. (yep it is one of those for me, so good you never forget it).  I used to go eat lunch at my aunts house on Fridays. She lived close to my school and I only had time to go to her house before going back for school.  The first time she served this I looked at it and thought “oh no eggplant! I will just eat one to be polite”.  Yeah right! Needless to say she had to make those for me every week. To this day, every time we go back to visit Brasil she has a whole dish ready, waiting for me… yum!

Here it is. Enjoy!

Breaded Eggplant:

1/2 onion (shredded)

1 cup mayo

1 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 eggplant

How to make it:

You are going to shred the onion, just like you shred cheese.  There will be a lot of juice coming from the onion with the little pieces of onion, so make sure you do this on the plate you will use.  Then, mix with the onion the 1 cup of mayo. This will be the wet mixture for the breading part.

In another plate mix the bread crumbs and the parmesan cheese.

Slice the eggplant, quite thin.  I then soak them in water just a little bit.  Then I pat it dry with a paper towel and start the breading process.  First you dip it in the onion mix.

Then in the bread crumb mix…

Set them aside in a cookie sheet.

Bake them at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes. I will turn them half the way through so both sides get this golden brown color. Ohhh it is so good 😀

You can serve this as a side dish or here are some ideas that I like to do if there are leftovers:

Eggplant Lasagna:  Make your favorite lasagna recipe but use the eggplant instead of noodles.  Lasagna in Brasil is a bit different than the ones I have eaten in the US.  The most traditional type of lasagna uses layers of lasagna noodles, sliced ham, sliced cheese, bolognese sauce, and alfredo sauce.

Eggplant Parmesan:  Layer slices into a casserole dish, then top with a nice marinara sauce and shredded mozzarella. Keep layering until there is not more eggplant left.

1 (6 oz) log of President brie (click here for $3 off coupon)

1/2 c shredded cheese (cheddar, or parmesan)

1 t Italian Seasoning

8 thin slices of london broil (you can also use chicken)

4 slices of Prosciutto

Salt and Pepper

Oil to brown the beef

Microwave brie for about  1- 1 1/2 minutes. You just want to soften it a little bit. Add shredded cheese and Italian Seasoning. Set aside.

I like to put all the meat side by side, salt and pepper thin slices of beef.  Then top with half slice of Prosciutto and about 1 Tablespoon of cheese mixture.  Roll it tight and secure it with a tooth pick.

Fry the meat rolls in a frying pan with a little splash of oil   Since the beef is so thin it won’t require much time.   You just want to give a little color to the outside. I would say between 2 or 3 minutes per side.  Put meat rolls into a oven safe dish and bake for about 20 minutes at 250 degrees.

Don’t forget to take tooth pick out before you eat it 😀  Enjoy!

4 cloves of Garlic (sliced very thin)

1/2 Onion (diced)

1 T Olive Oil

1 T Sun Dried Tomato paste

4 Fillets of Cod

Salt and Pepper

1/4 cup Chardonnay (you can substitute chicken broth)

1 T Lemon Juice

1 (14.5 oz) can of diced Tomatoes

Basil (fresh or dried)

In a sauce pan,  sautee onions and garlic in olive oil. Add sun dried tomato paste.

Add wine and lemon juice to onions.  Salt and Pepper both sides of cod fillets.  Lay fish on top of  sautéed onions.   Cook fish about 5 minutes in one side.

Turn fish and  add diced tomatoes.  Cover and let it cook for another 5-8 minutes or until fish it flaky. 

Sprinkle with fresh Basil.  I like to serve this with Rice, or Quinoa.  The sauce is very good, but not very thick.  So you want something that will catch the sauce. (like rice, quinoa or bread).  You can always take fish out of pan and thicken the sauce with 1 T of cornstarch dissolved in about 2 T water.

This is a favorite at our house. It is so easy to make and it looks like you spent hours making it.  😉

1.5 lb sliced ham (ask them to slice it thin)
1 lb sliced cheese (I like Swiss, but any cheese will work)
1 box angel hair pasta (cooked al dente)
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 c shredded cheddar or parmesan
Spaghetti Sauce
Alfredo Sauce

Cook angel hair pasta as directed on the package.  Just make sure cook it al dente. Drain the pasta and add the olive oil , salt, pepper and the 1/2 c shredded cheese.
Take one slice of ham, top with one slice of cheese and  a little of the pasta.

Roll it tight and cut the roll in half.  Stand them cut side up and put them into a casserole dish that has been lined with a little bit of the spaghetti sauce (only 2 or 3 tablespoons)

Keep making rolls until you fill your dish.  Top with Spaghetti sauce and Alfredo sauce. Bake at 350 until it is nice and bubbly. About 30-45 minutes.

I usually have some ham and cheese left over.  It all depends how thin the store will slice them for you. I ask them to slice it thin (both the ham and the cheese). They need to be thin enough to be able to roll well, but not too thin that they won’t hold the pasta inside.

This is a traditional bread we make in Brazil. We use Polvilho to make it.  Polvilho is basically tapioca flour/starch. You can  purchase tapioca flour at the health food store in bulk. You can also find small bags at the grocery store in the health food aisle.  Now all I have to do is try with different cheeses. This bread is very good warm.  It is also yummy to cut it in half and make sandwiches or even add a little bit of butter! YUM 🙂 Enjoy!

1 cup whole milk
½ cup water
4 T. butter
1/4 cup oil
1 t salt
2 ¼ c tapioca flour
2 eggs
1 ½ cup shredded cheese*
¼ cup Parmesan

Boil milk, water, butter, oil and salt.  Take off heat and add flour.  Mix well. It will be clumped together.

Add eggs (one at a time) Mixing well after each egg.  Add the 1 1/2 cups of cheese and the Parmesan cheese.

Let mixture cool a little bit. Roll into balls.

Spray a cookie sheet with oil or butter, and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until golden on top.

*I used a white cheese called queso panela (pan cheese)- I bought it at Sams. It will also taste very good with a Cheddar, Colby  or even all Parmesan. I do like to mix the cheeses.  I also used a Spanish cheese called Cotija, instead of the queso panela. It was good.

Another thing I noticed is that depending on the tapioca flour you use, you may need to add a lot more flour to get to the correct consistency.  I have a reader say they added an extra 1 cup of flour. I bet this has to do with the temperature, altitude and flour consistency.  Let me know if you have questions.

I thought this would be a fun treat for Easter. Just in case there are some of you that don’t eat chocolate… This is what you will need:

1 can of Pineapple (you can use it fresh, however if you use coupons like me you should have a storage of canned pineapple that you got for very cheap and/or FREE with coupons!)

1/2 C Sugar

1 1/2 C shredded Coconut

Poured Fondant Frosting (recipe to follow)

Open pineapple can and drain at least half of the liquid.  Quickly blend the pineapple. I used my magic bullet ! A very quick pulse, you still want to have a little bit of pineapple chunks. 

In a sauce pan, add pineapple and sugar.  Bring it to a boil, stir consistently and let it cook until most of the water has evaporated.  (About 5-7 minutes)

Then add the coconut. 

Cook, stirring well for about 8-10 minutes or until the mixture starts to come together.

Transfer it to a plate and make your shapes (I usually make little balls, but since it is Easter I made more of an egg looking shape)

Now let them stay there for a while until they cool and hold their shape.  You can freeze them if you would like.

Transfer them to a non stick cooling rack.  Make sure to use wax paper or some other type of paper under the rack to catch all the frosting.  Cover the candies with the following mixture:

Poured Fondant Frosting: (make one recipe for each color you want to use)

1/2 c Powder Sugar

1T water

Food coloring

Mix well. It will be runny.  You can add more sugar or more water to come to your desired consistency.

Let them sit and dry!  Enjoy 😀

1 medium size Cabbage (take out the hard part in the middle)

In a big sauce pan, boil some water and then put the whole cabbage inside. This will help the cabbage to start opening. As it starts to cook, take the leaves off.  You can do this in one of two ways:

1. Take leaves off inside the pan as the cabbage starts to cook. It might get hot 😉

2. Take whole cabbage out of the pan (using a fork) then with your fingers pull the leaves that are cooked. Keep putting cabbage in the hot water until all the leaves are out.

You want the leaves to be nice and pliable.

In a mixing bowl, mix the following: (tip, it is easier to mix if you use your hands)
1 lb ground beef or ground lamb (for this one I used lamb)
1 c rice (not cooked)
1/2 onion (cut)
2 t garlic (chopped)
Salt
Pepper
1 can tomato (cut into small squares) or you can use 2-3 fresh tomatoes
Green onions
1 T chicken bouillon
1 T olive oil

Now you will get one of the cabbage leaf and put some of the rice mixture in the middle (if the leaf has a little bit of the steam left, make sure you cut that off)

Then roll it tight.(just like a taco)

Make sure you tuck in the corners. Do this until all the leaves are used.

In a large sauce pan, sautee 1/4 c onions ,1 T garlic in 1 T of oil.  Arrange the cabbage rolls very closely together.  Open side down.  Cover with water and add another tablespoon of chicken bouillon. Since I used a can of tomatoes I also added the tomato liquid inside the can.   I used a small plate on top of the rolls. This will prevent them from unrolling.

If you have any rice mix left over, make small balls and add on top. Same if you have cabbage, just add leaves on top. (you can see some of that in the bottom of the above picture.)Put a lid on, and let it cook until there is no more water. About 30 minutes or so.

I grew up inside of an ice cream factory… and by that I mean our family business was making ice cream! My parents have been making ice cream in Brazil for about 30 years now.  We had this “pie” that we used to make called “Torta de Sorvete” this one is similar to that, but I added a slice of pound cake hence the name Ice Cream Cake 😀  I hope you love it as much as I do!

Ingredients:

2 to 4 flavors of your favorite Ice Cream and/or Sherbet.  (I like using at least one flavor that is not as sweet, like pineapple or lime)

1 small Pound Cake (sliced thin)

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

2 T. Powder Sugar

Nuts (as you like it)

Candies (as you like it)

Ice cream Syrup

Fudge

The way you make is very open to changes and to your imagination. You do want to follow these basic steps:

First you layer one of the ice cream flavors on your dish. If you let your ice creams melt a little it will be a lot easier to spread it on your pan.

Next Layer it will be your syrup (any flavor) and/or fudge

Next you sprinkle some candies or nuts: I like to use MMs, chopped pecans, marshmallows, oreo cookies, pretty much anything you like

Then you have a choice you can either repeat this one more time, ice cream, syrup, candy or you can skip and add your thin sliced cake. I will see how tall my pan is and see if it will be tall enough to hold more layers or not.  You want the cake to be on the middle of your layers. So it will end up being 2 ice cream layers, cake, 2 ice cream layers OR 1 ice cream layer, cake, 1 ice cream layer.  Keep doing  your layers  until you get to the top of your dish.

Decorate with whipped cream. (in your mixer, mix 1 cup of heavy whipped cream and 2 T powder sugar until nice and fluffy) Put the pie/cake  in the freezer.

Before serving you might want to take it out of the freezer for about 10 minutes to it is easier to slice.  Enjoy 😀

Make sure to go here: Blue Bunny Coupon to get $1 off blue bunny ice cream 😀

Ingredients:

One nice piece Salmon (cut into slices of 3-4 fingers big)

1/4 cup Butter

Salt and Pepper

1 T Olive Oil

2 cloves of Garlic

2 lime (juice)

2-3 T Capers

Use 1 T of butter and melt it in a frying pan. Add the fish and cook on both sides until it gets a nice color.  Make sure to salt and pepper both sides of the fish.  Set it aside.

In the same pan, add olive oil and smashed garlic. Cook for about 1 minute.  Add the rest of the butter let it melt and come together.  Add lime juice and then capers.  You might not need to add salt, since capers are a little salty.  Just make sure to try the sauce for seasonings.

Pour sauce on top of fish and serve!