Cooking in the Kitchen

I don't know what I will use for a photo in this entry but maybe I'll be inspired by the time I get to the end.   Coming up in April 2010 I will have been in Brazil for 7 years.  Can you believe it?   In a movie we were watching a couple nights ago the main character, a prisoner in prison for a crime he didn't commit ( of course) said, 'each day seems to drag by then you realized 15 years have passed.' I understood exactly what he was saying. Time in the moment moves slow, time over time zaps by leaving me flabbergasted at what I haven't done, about how did my body get so old.

Boy did I get off topic....   So I have been here 7 years. It is hard for a person who has always lived in the same town, the same State, or even the same Country to know how different just the day to day things are when you live in a new Country. Just an example - here powdered cinnamon is 'Canela oa China em pó' and basil is manjericão, and those are the easy things.

 

I have been striving (finally) to expand the type of meal I cook here. Tired of chicken and, well, chicken and fish. I had Camillo take me to a butcher shop and we decided on several different meat types. Meat here is very lean, and the names of the cuts not recognizable. First I did leg of lamb. Camillo thought it great but hated the mess I made in the kitchen. No pan with rack so I cooked it on the oven's rack with a drip pan underneath.....(when I cook he cleans up, when he cooks I clean up). Even with the mess it was so good we went back for more. (meats)

I came away with what they called (translated) an American roast. Not all stories can be a success. This ended up being a very thin piece of dry meat wrapped around a SAUSAGE! Camillo great and supportive husband that he is, ate it with gusto.... but was pretty bad.

 

Lesson learned:  never buy what they call TIPO (type) Americano or Italiano.….anything. is not what you expect.  It is something someone imagines to be American or Italian but I suspect they have never been further than their mother's back door.

 

I have done Salmon with honey mustard marinade - Salmon is good here, and this was delicious and now am trying pork chops, which tend to be dry, very dry with no marbling of fat, using the same marinate. In just a few minutes I will put it in the oven and bake them. Am going to add a side of risotto with fresh mushrooms......

 

I am willing to listen to any and all suggestions. Remember that recipes that call for specifics, like cream by your local Farmer or like sour cream which I have never found here, might be difficult for me to find equivalents and I do not have fancy pans and can not get them without waiting for a trip to the USA. But give me your ideas or what you have learned - and we will see.

Addendum - apple butter

it has been tested on fresh bread and approved by both Camillo and Spritzer - try the recipe you will like it.

Saturday job well done

 

Well I hope it is well done. I can’t be sure the apple butter I made today is really good until Camillo likes it.  If he doesn’t, I will have to eat it all myself or give it away.

While in the USA in October last year, I made apple butter for my daughter’s family and I thought I would try it for Camillo. Of course, we all know that apple butter is the best on whole wheat bread (store bought) with peanut butter and here we will eat it on Brazil's version, Pão Integral, which is not the same at all and forget the peanut butter which here taste like oily wax.   We will work with what we have.

It has been quite a process to replicate this recipe but after nearly 4 months and the use of some ‘jetinho’,  I think I have had some success (I won’t know till I get Camillo’s approval). Lets assume he will love it – here is the recipe.

So-Easy Apple Butter (given to me by my sister Candy – taken from her Midwest Living Magazine.)

• Prep time is 30 minutes (if your fast at pealing apples) Cooking time 5 hours – cool time 1 hour
• 4 pounds cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced (12 cups)   ( I used 2 kilos granny smiths)
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 TBS cider vinegar (I used Vinagre de Maçã  /  Maçã = apples, cider is made from apples – close enough?)
• 2 Tsp. ground cinnamon (Canela da china em Pó)
• 1/4 tsp. Cloves (here it got sort of tricky – I could not find ground clove only Cravo da Índia (whole), I needed it em Pó or ground - I looked everywhere then decided to grind it in my coffee grinder – well we will see. By the way don’t do this - it left some type of residue in the grinder that may effect the taste of my coffee forever) ***have since found ground cloves here in Zona Sul
• 1/8 tsp. ground allspice  (defined as Allspice, also called Jamaica pepper, pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta,^[1] or newspice, is a spice that is the dried unripe fruit ("berries") of Pimenta dioica)  I brought mine from the states.
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg (Noz-Moscada)

1. Place apple slices in a 3 1/2-4 quart slow cooker   {This is the part that took two months. When in the USA and I got this bright idea I didn’t buy the slow cooker – thought I’d seen them here – also needed 220v not 110v. After much searching in Rio and Friburgo, I couldn’t find one here so I ordered from the internet, a special site with 220 small appliances, and had Camillo bring it back from Houston on his trip in Feb. – then the plug didn’t fit our plug – so it took another trip to Rio to a specialty store in centro – finally I was ready to go.}
2. Stir in sugar, water, vinegar, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg.
3. Cover, cook on high setting for 5-6 hours. Stir, cool at least 1 hour or cover and chill overnight. Ladle apple butter into half-pint storage or freezer containers, (I use sterile used jars and store in the refrig.), leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Seal and label. Store 3 weeks in the refrigerator or for 1 year in the freezer. Makes 4 – 1/2 pint containers.
4. Great on toast – fresh biscuits – gram crackers or as a sandwich with peanut butter.

more marmalade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday we walked about the property to see what is happening in the 'deep' of winter.   The caqui trees are in hibernation but have red tips on the end of the branches ready for some warm sun and moisture.

 

The kumquat that I started in the greenhouse last year is almost 3 feet tall this year. One of the orchid in my little greenhouse is blooming and there was a tangerine tree laden with fruit.

 

I haven't seen this before,. The fruit has gone uneaten in other years because it was sparse and SO tart. But now that I am a marmalade connoisseur, I thought I should try to use the fruit. So on Saturday I picked tangerines and oranges from the garden, started the 'soak' and last night I added the sugar (1.5 kilo) and today we had fresh marmalade on bread. Geez it is fantastic - even if I must say so myself.

 

GingerV

bits of this and that

wow! 3 comments. I should ask for what I need more often. I wanted to add a bit of information about the marmalade and jellies I make. This is something new to me. I made bread and Cinnamon rolls, biscuits and cookies, and sometimes pies when my children were small but bread, biscuits and cookies have been sacrificed to control of mid-life spread. Homemade jam and jellies seem to be something I can make and eat here without breaking my own rules. I use only fruits from Brazil when in season so the price per kilo is under R$2.00 (except red plums that we can get here in the January/February from Argentina cheaper than the Brazilian plums sell for.) Using Brazilian fruit limits me to grape, plum and Jabuticaba jelly, strawberry preserves and citrus fruit marmalade. I make a batch only when the last one is gone. I keep in the refrigerator so I don't have to worry about spoilage. I remember my grandmother's and mother's jams and have some memory of seeing them being made, but got my recipes from the Internet (Thank god for Internet)

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2003/12/03/FDGH23BJPU1.DTL

or http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/004317seville_orange_marmalade.php

our local oranges are sweet so I use about half the sugar in her recipe and I can never find jelly bags or cheese cloth so I use a new knee high nylon stockings for soaking the orange peel over night. My efforts are not (ever) perfect but I enjoy very much knowing the results are mine. They always taste better than you can buy any where. GingerV

The food is different

Riorose ask me to give you my recipes for potato salad and cole slaw that I made for the churrasco last week. That request creates a big problem for me and for you. I have been cooking since the summer I was 14 - a long, long, LONG time - and I don't use recipes. But let me see if I can give you enough information that you can try. This time the cole slaw was grated cabbage - about one half a head or 4 cups (please remember my disclaimer), one large stalk finely chopped celery, one finely chopped apple (either sweat or tart work) and +- a cup of raisins. I have been known to add if I have in the refrigerator walnuts, seedless grapes, chopped sweet onion, chopped tangerine or orange - just use the grated cabbage as a base and put in whatever flavor you feel like that day. (I personally would not put more than three additional ingredients cause then you can't taste any of them and the cabbage should be dominant.) I lightly salt all of this and set aside. Then I make the sauce in a separate bowl. 1/3 cup (light) mayo, 1/4 vinegar (I prefer apple), and about 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar. Now you have to be comfortable in the kitchen and do as I say - dip you little finger in the sauce and test it. It should have a sweet tart taste - add more vinegar or sugar to taste. Add to the cabbage mixture, cover and set in refrigerator to chill - serve soon, do not make it more that two hours in advance because the slaw will get an acid taste after 4 hours or so - best eaten when fresh and crisp. Sometimes I make the cabbage mixture without the salt in the morning and set covered in the refridg until I am ready to serve then add the salt and mayo mixture right before setting on the table.

The potato salad is well potato salad - but I don't put just mayo on it, I make a mixture of mayo, vinegar, sugar and mustard. Boil the potatoes in the skins in salted water until nice and soft, when cool, peal, dice into a large bowl, add (what you have available) chopped tomato, chopped cucumber, chopped onion and green pepper, and chopped celery, and hard boiled eggs. (six/seven medium potatoes to 9-12 eggs) I try to make the chopped and diced look about the same size but not too tiny [think about eating a fork full which should fit nicely in your mouth and the pieces are small enough to have some potato, some egg and a little celery and onion] and I feel the potatoes, egg, onion and celery are required. Enough of the mayo mixture should be added to make the potato mixture creamy and well held together and has somewhat a deviled egg taste - I love it.

Ginger V

... thoughts from the hammock...

All the guest for this weekend's Churrasco have gone home.  And today Camillo left with them for a quick trip to Bahia (Salvador).  Normally, when the house is once again quiet, Camillo will retire to the hammock for thought, reflection and his Sunday afternoon nap.  Today I thought I should try it for a change, seize the moment, take the opportunity to see for myself just what draws him to this time of idleness and reflection. Blue sky, filtered sun, the hammock swaying in the soft breeze ... birds singing ... an occasional dive bomb from the humming birds (which I never see, just can hear their buzz saw sound) ... and I was asleep.

 

This weekend was so nice. Rosemary and the Comandante came up on Friday night for a promised homemade Caldo Verde.  He was right at home in my kitchen and did a very good job of feeding us this wholesome soup.

 

On Saturday afternoon, starting at around one, friends began arriving. They ate and drank, laughed and talked, made fun of each other with great affection, drank (more!) wines from Camillo's secret stash and ATE EVEN MORE cheese and sweets, and drank a little coffee before with much hugging and kissing, all left for their respective pousadas to make a full recovery before, in most cases, driving back to RIO today. 

 

What a great weekend.  The Saturday afternoon Churrasco is the greatest cultural tradition of the Brasilians. Like in all cultures - good food and a gathering of GREAT friends leaves you rested and restored. If a whole weekend isn't possible string a hammock between two trees and take a nap in the open air.    Kisses All, GingerV

Exceptional weekend

Times goes by; most days, weeks, months pass without any markers, nothing that will help us remember later when things happen. So as an 'older' adult it seems as though our memory is failing, but it is just that we do not have sufficient memory markers to hold happenings in place. This weekend was one to remember, I am placing my own marker - the weekend of July 1, 2007. This weekend was exceptionally sweet; the sunrises bright, holding promise of a sky of soft pastel blue, with clear grey, non threatening clouds;

 the night sky bright with its full moon hanging over the valley,

 

and the homey smell of fresh made orange marmalade throughout the house. These are the sights, smells that I will tag for the memory of feeling of home

Exactly four years, three months of living in Brazil and

on this exceptional weekend. 

 

I finally felt at home.