I got _Tasting Brazil: Regional Recipes and Reminiscences_ in the mail
today, and browsed through it for dinner inspiration, then I went shopping.
Tonight's dinner was:
"Castanha-do-Pará" (Brazil Nuts): I shelled about two dozen Brazil nuts,
brushed them with olive oil, broiled them in my toaster oven until they got
fragrant, patted off the excess oil, and tossed them with coarse salt.
"Salada Mixta" (mixed salad), which consisted of Boston lettuce, romaine,
halved grape tomatoes, thinly sliced sweet onion (I used a Walla Walla
onion, and a mandoline to slice it), hearts of palm slices, avocado chunks,
and green bell pepper strips. The dressing was a basil vinaigrette. The
avocados were a local type called "bacon" avocados which I found at a local
farmer's market. The hearts of palm were canned. The recipe didn't call for
avocados, but I already had them, and they were a good addition to the
salad.
"Arroz de Viúva" (Widow's Rice), which is long-grain rice cooked in thin
coconut milk and salt, and is said to be a traditional accompaniment for
fish and seafood dishes. Running across this recipe was fortuitous, because
now I can use the thick coconut milk for the panang recipe I posted a few
days ago!
"Peixe Vermelho Escaldado" (Poached Red Snapper), a red snapper poached with
lemon juice, garlic, and cilantro. It's served with kiwi mayonnaise (yes, I
used homemade mayonnaise -- the farmer's market also had farm-fresh eggs. I
followed the Good Eats mayonnaise recipe given at
www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_16262,00.html,
although I used the champagne vineger he recommended on the show rather than
the plain white wine vinegar given on the web page). The recipe called for
the fish to be served cold, but I ignored that part.
The cookbok has a dessert chapter with recipes for over 40 desserts, but
also mentions that Brazilians generally just have fruit for dessert, so we
had a few chunks of pineapple and banana which I lightly sprinkled with
vanilla sugar.
I had a mango daiquiri with the nuts; my girlfriend had a drink which I
might have invented: It's a vodka and OJ with a shot of vanilla schnapps and
a dash of cinnamon schnapps added. We switched to passionfruit-flavored
iced tea for the rest of the meal.
Bob