8 oz cooked pasta (I like to use a short pasta like penne, rotini, spirale or the no yolks- like the picture)

1/2 lb ham (cut into squares)

1/2 lb cheese (either mozzarella, white cheddar, swiss or a combination)

2-3 T of mayo ($1/1  Hellman’s Mayonnaise)

1 t oregano

1/2 t basil

2 tomatoes (diced)

olives (optional)

broccoli (optional)

Mix the cooked pasta with the rest of the ingredients and put in a casserole dish. You can sprinkle the top with more cheese if you would like.  My family is a cheese-a-holic, so the more the merrier here at the house! Bake at 350 until all the cheese has melted, about 15 minutes.  Most the the time the mayo and the cheese is enough to make a nice creamy sauce if not add the pasta is too dry. I usually add a couple splashes of cream or milk.

Homemade bread is one of my comfort foods. I love the smell, the texture and especially the taste.  This Wednesday is homemade bread day!  Why not make your favorite homemade recipe to celebrate this wonderful day?  I have been playing with a potato bread recipe and I thought this would be great to share in case you want to try it. In Brasil, it is very common to find Pao de Batata recheado com Catupiry (potato bread filled with catupiry-my favorite cheese from Brasil).  We were lucky to find catupiry cheese in Florida and I just had to make some potato bread to go with it! Enjoy!

4-5 medium size Potatoes

1 cup Milk

1/3 cup Butter

3 T  Honey

4-5 cups Flour (start with 4)

2 T instant dry Yeast

1 1/2 t Salt

1/4 cup Sugar

2 Eggs

1/2 cup Water (if needed)

First you want to peel and boil your potatoes. (make sure you salt the water)  Once the potatoes are soft, mash them either using a ricer, fork or food processor.

Add the mashed potatoes, milk, butter and honey into your mixer (with the bread attachment). You could mix this bread by hand as well. I used my kitchen aid mixer (also known as FRED).  Mix it for about 1 minute.  Add 4 cups of flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Mix for a little bit then add the eggs (one at a time).  Mix for about 4 minutes and check the consistency. Here is where you will use either the rest of the flour (if dough is too sticky) or some of the 1/2 cup of water (if dough too dry).  I usually end up adding about another 1/4 cup of so of flour and 1 T of water.  The consistency will be wet, soft but not too sticky.  Let it mix for about 5-10 minutes. If doing it by hand, kneed it until soft.

Transfer the dough to a bowl drizzled with oil. Cover and let it rest until it doubles it size. It will take about 1 hour.

Punch the dough and transfer it to a floured surface.  Shape your bread and let is rise until double size. It will take about 30-40 minutes.  I like to make rolls filled with my favorite cheese, catupiry!  I also make loaves and hot dogs and hamburger buns.  Just let your imagination go wild! 😀

Bake for about 25-30 minutes at 350. If you like a more gold-ish brown color, use 1 egg (beaten) and coat the top of the bread before putting it in the oven.

This recipe will make either 2 loafs, or 1 loaf, 6 dinner rolls and 4 hot dog buns.

Here are the hot dog buns:

Here are the dinner rolls:

And the best for last, filled with catupiry:

YUM!

I used to eat Okra a lot in Brasil.  It is difficult for me to find it fresh in the markets around where I live, but you can easily find it cut and frozen at the frozen isle of the supermarket.  My mom couldn’t believe that you could buy pre-cut Okra here in the US.  Okra can be a bit slimy when you start to cut it. So, if you can get that step done for you, even better.  One of my favorite dishes to eat with Okra is the famous Quiabo (okra) com (with) carne moida (ground beef).  It is a common lunch option in Brasil. Hope you like it!

For the Okra:

8-10 fresh medium sized okra (or use a 10-12 oz bag)

1/4 cup chopped onions

2 T olive oil

1/2 fresh lime (juiced)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Sautee the onions with the oil.  Add the cut Okra and sautee them for about 5 minutes.  Season with the salt and pepper.  You may notice that it might become a little slimy.  Just don’t worry about it!  After the Okra is soften and has a nice color, squeeze the lime juice on top of them and give it a quick mix.

For the Ground Beef:

1 lb ground beef

1/2 c chopped onions

3 clothes garlic (minced)

1 t salt

Pepper

2 T oil

2 T green onions

Sautee the 1/2 c of onion with the oil.  Add chopped garlic. Cook for about 1 minute, add the ground beef, salt and pepper. Cook until ground beef is done.  Taste for seasoning. If needed add more salt.  Top with the chopped green onions.

Now, you just need to mix the cooked Okra with the ground beef.   Serve it on top of rice!

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

One of the recipes we could choose from was a recipe called Bomboloni, which is a doughnut like dough but the shape is a circle.  This reminded me of sonhos.  A delicious Brasilian dessert. I remember coming out of classes and smelling sonhos being made at the school cafeteria.  This is exactly how my house smelled like when I make this recipe. It made me home sick.

Ingredients
1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon Lukewarm water
3 ¼ teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
1.5 Tablespoon Honey
3 cup All Purpose Flour
3 Tablespoon Milk
6 Egg Yolk
1/3 cup White Granulated Sugar + more for rolling
2 teaspoon Salt
Tablespoon Butter, Unsalted
3 cup Canola Oil (for frying)
Jam, preserves, or jelly (I used doce de leite, goiabada and cream)

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, mix the water, yeast, honey and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (160 gm) of the flour. (Alternatively, whisk the ingredients by hand.) Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until foamy, about 1 hour.

Return the bowl to the mixer, fitted with a dough hook. Add the remaining 1 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons (260 gm) of flour, along with the milk, egg yolks, 1/3 cup of granulated sugar and the salt. Mix at low speed until blended, then add the butter and knead at medium speed until silky but sticky, about 5 minutes; the dough will not pull away from the side of the bowl.

Using an oiled spatula, scrape the dough into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

In a large saucepan, heat the canola oil to 360°F/180°C. Line a rack with paper towels. Fill a shallow bowl with 1/2 inch of granulated sugar. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough a scant 1/2 inch (12 mm) thick. Using a 2-inch (50 mm) round biscuit cutter, stamp out rounds. The original recipe said to not re-roll the dough, but I did and found it to be fine.

Fry the rounds, 4 to 5 at a time, until they are browned, about 4 minutes (mine only took about a minute each – try to go more by sight). Be sure to keep the oil between 360°F and 375°F (180°C and 190°C). Drain the bomboloni on paper towels.

Roll them in the granulated sugar.

Fit a pastry bag with a plain donut tip (or a 1/4-inch (6 mm) tip) and fill with the preserves (you can also use a squeeze bottle). Poke the tip three-fourths of the way into the bomboloni and squeeze in the preserves, pulling the tip out slightly as you squeeze to fill them as much as possible.

Serve warm.

In celebration of World Pasta Day I decided to make homemade pasta.  If you haven’t tried to make pasta from scratch, give it a try. I remember spending the whole afternoon making pasta with my mom in Brasil.  We would make the dough, roll it open, cut it into noodles and dry the pasta for Sunday’s dinner.  At the end of this project, the kitchen would be covered in flour!  However, it was a fun time together. Since I am not cooking for massive amounts of people anymore, I now use a much simpler recipe.  This will give you 1 lb of fresh pasta. Also, it is not too messy to cook in smaller amounts 😀

2 c flour (you can use white or whole wheat)

1/8 t salt

2 eggs

1 T olive oil

1/3 c cold water

You could use  a food processor to mix the dough, or just do it by hand.  Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the eggs and oil in the middle of the bowl and start mixing in with the flour. I like to use a fork.

Add the water slowly until the flour mixture comes together in a ball. Turn onto a lightly floured surface, shape it into a dish and cover with a wet cloth.  Let it rest for about 15 minutes. Divide the dough into 4 pieces.

Work with one piece at a time. Leave the other pieces covered with the wet towel. You can use a pasta machine to open your flat sheets of pasta and then cut them to shape desired.  Alternatively, you could take this opportunity to exercise your upper body 😀  and open the pasta by hand. It really isn’t that hard! I use a rolling pin and start to flatten the dough into a disk until it is very thin.  You want to turn the dough while you are opening it to prevent it from sticking to the counter and also to be able to open it very thin.  You may need to dust it with flour.

Cut the dough into shapes desired.  For this one I rolled it lightly and cut them medium thick.

I then layer them in a cookie sheet dusted with flour while I work on the other disks of dough.

Now you just need to cook it.  Make sure to salt the water and when the water comes to a boil, drop your pasta by hand fulls. It cooks very fast, since it is fresh.  This way you don’t need to cook all 1 lb at once, or it may all glue together.  I cooked them in 3 batches.  It will take may be 3-5 minutes to cook your pasta. You will know it is ready when it floats to the top.

Add the cooked pasta to your favorite pasta sauce and enjoy!

This sauce is a red white shrimp and lobster sauce! Yum

According to holiday insights calendar today is National Dessert Day. When I think of dessert from Brasil, I always think sweetened condensed milk, which then brings memories of Brigadeiro. This dessert was created in the 1940s and is still popular today. This truffle like goodness is served at pretty much every type of party in Brasil: weddings, birthdays, get togethers or just a sweet tooth desire. They are easy to make and delicious!

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 T butter
3-4 T Nestlé Nesquik (you could use cocoa powder for a stronger taste, or melted chocolate)

Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan. Choose one that has a thick bottom, this way you will be less likely to burn your candy.

Mix it constantly. Don’t stop mixing it.  It will take about 10 minutes on medium high heat.  It will start to thicken, lower the heat to medium low and continue mixing it (in a figure 8 pattern).  Do this until the mixture is thick and comes out of the bottom of the pan, like the picture bellow. I usually twist the pan to one side a little bit and if it looks like the picture it is ready!

Pour the mixture on a plate and let it cool.  When cooled, roll it into little ball shapes and dip them into chocolate sprinkles.

You can also use this to fill or top cakes.  Just make sure to take the brigadeiro off of the heat just before it thickens too much.  Pour this heavenly chocolate gooey deliciousness on top of your cake and voila!

When I was young, my family had a tradition of making pasta for Sunday lunches.  We would get home from church and my mom would start her delicious sauces while my sisters would start cooking the pasta and setting the table. Kids would play around while waiting for lunch. The smells in the kitchen were just amazing!

Here is one of the sauce recipes I really enjoy making it.  I like it because it tastes fresh and light.  It is also very versatile. You can use on top of spaghetti, as a sauce for a meat roast, top chicken cutlets or even to make risotto.

You will need:

2 T Oil

1/4 c diced Onion

3 clothes Garlic

2-3 cups Chopped Tomatoes (if you have the time, remove the skins and seeds)

3 cups Tomatoes blended (sauce)

2 t Salt

1 t Pepper

Pinch Sugar

1 t Chicken bouillon

Dash Red Pepper Flakes

1/4 cup Carbenet Sauvignon (optional)

Oregano (to taste)

Fresh Basil (if you don’t have fresh you can use dried basil as well)

First blend about 5 or 6 medium size tomatoes to create the 3 cups of blended tomato sauce. Set aside.

In a large sauce pan, heat the oil and cook the onions until translucent. Add chopped garlic. Sautee for a couple minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes. (it might take 3-5 tomatoes to make 2-3 cups of chopped tomatoes).  Let it cook for a couple of minutes.

Slowly add about 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce you set aside. Let it cook, when you see the liquid is evaporating, start adding more of the tomato sauce.  Add the salt, pepper, sugar, bouillon, red pepper flakes.  Let it simmer for another 15 minutes or so. Then come back and add a little more of the tomato sauce.  You will want to keep adding the sauce until it is all gone.  Add it slowly.  Taste it for seasoning. Adjust salt as needed. Add the oregano and basil. (Only add it here if you’re using dried basil and oregano. If you use fresh oregano and basil, add it to the sauce pan at the end of the cooking time.) If you choose to use red wine, add it now and then cover the sauce. Turn the heat to medium low. Let it cook for about 1 hour. You want the consistency to be thick. The more you cook it, the thicker it will start to get.  For my preferred consistency, I let it cook for about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

This will make about 2 cups of tomato sauce. I love to top this sauce with fresh basil chiffonade. YUM

1 c rice

2 c water

4 c milk

1 1/2 – 2 c sugar

Cinnamon to taste

2-3 T sweetened condensed milk

In a sauce pan, add milk and sugar. (Add the 1 and ½ c sugar to the milk and taste the milk. If it is not sweet add more sugar.) Bring it to boil, turn heat to medium low and let it cook, stirring it occasionally.  This will thicken over time. (I do this then I start cooking the rice, this way this mixture will have been cooking for about 30 minutes or so before you start adding it to the rice.)

In another sauce pan, add rice and water. Let it boil until rice is almost soft. It will take about 20 minutes.  Then start adding the milk mixture, little by little.  The milk mixture will keep cooking in the first sauce pan, making it thicker.  As you add each ladle of the milk mixture to the rice, it will sweeten the rice and it also will become thicker.

Add some sweetened condensed milk to taste.  I also like to add cinnamon.  Sometimes I will add a stick of cinnamon to the milk while it is cooking.  This will flavor the milk and add a gentle cinnamon taste to the pudding.

1 lb red snapper

Marinade:

1/ 4 cup lime juice

1 t salt

1 t pepper

1 T chopped cilantro

Marinade the fish  for about 1 hour

In a Sauce pan, sauté:

½ onion diced

3 garlic minced

1 T olive oil and ½ T oleo de dende

When onions are translucent add 1 can diced tomatoes

½ t cayenne pepper

Add in the marinated fish

Cover in medium low and cook for about 20 minutes

Add 2/3 c coconut milk

Cook for about 10-15 minutes

Serve with rice

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

She set the theme for the cookies as  “September”. We were inspired to bake any shape, size or color that means “September” for us.  Since I am from Brasil and September is Brasil’s independence month I thought of making something that had to do with Brasil!

Basic Sugar Cookies:
Makes Approximately 36x 10cm / 4″ Cookies

½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour
1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Directions
• Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavorings you’re using. Beat until just becoming
creamy in texture.
• Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms.
• Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.
• Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 0.2 inch
• Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins.
• Tip: Recipes commonly just wrap the whole ball of dough in clingwrap and then refrigerate it for an hour or overnight, but by rolling the dough between parchment, this shortens the chilling time and then it’s also been rolled out while still soft making it easier and quicker.
• Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.
• Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.
• Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour.
• Tip: It’s very important you chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking.

• Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.
• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies.
• Leave to cool on cooling racks.
• Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.
• Tip: If wrapped in tinfoil/cling wrap or kept in airtight containers in a cool place, un-decorated
cookies can last up to a month.

I used half of the recipe to cut my shapes. The other half I wrapped it in plastic wrap and frooze it for later use.  I also got a little bit of the dough and flavored with lemon, coconut and chocolate cherries to see how they turn out.

Royal Icing:

2½ – 3 cups Icing / Confectioner’s / Powdered Sugar, unsifted
2 Large Egg Whites
2 tsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp Almond Extract, optional

Directions:

• Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined.
• Tip: It’s important that the bowls/spoons/spatulas and beaters you use are thoroughly cleaned and grease free.
• Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites.
• Tip: I’ve listed 2 amounts of icing sugar, the lesser amount is good for a flooding consistency, and the larger amount is for outlining, but you can add even more for a much thicker consistency good for writing. If you add too much icing sugar or would like to make a thinner consistency, add very small amounts of water, a few drops at a time, until you reach the consistency you need.
• Beat on low until combined and smooth.
• Use immediately or keep in an airtight container.
• Tip: Royal Icing starts to harden as soon as it’s in contact with air so make sure to cover containers with plastic wrap while not in use.

Decorating Your Cookies:

I outlined the shape of the cookie with the royal icing.  Then you are going to use a technique called flooding.  All you need to do for this is to thin out the royal icing a little bit with water.  (Drag a knife through the surface of the Royal Icing and count to 10. If the surface becomes smooth between 5 & 10 seconds, the icing is at the correct consistency.) After you get your desired consistency just fill in the outlined areas.

You can also use this a toothpick to make some fun designs 😀