Battle of the Cookbooks - Pete Evans - Family Food

We only did three meals from this cookbook, so will probably return to it later on as well.  Dave spent the week in Queensland, at the annual Microsoft Conference, so it was just me and the girls. 

This is one of Pete Evans Paleo cookbooks. I used his base recipes, but did substitute some of his "Paleo" ingredients for their more carb infested equivalents.

So, here were some of the dishes we tried:


Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
Score: 7

Comments - I substituted the kelp noodles for normal singapore noodles, and added some corn as well. I also left out the mushrooms as Jassy isn't a huge fan of cooked mushrroms.

Joy Burger
Score: 8.25

Comments- I used hamburger buns instead of huge portabello mushrooms. Always nice to have a great burger with everything on it. We did add the pineapple which wasn't in his recipe. The burger patty was delicious included some mustard, chilli, parsley, oregano and hamalayan sea salt, so very tasty. It was a job to fit it in our mouths though!

Pad Thai
Score: 6

Comments - we found it a little sweet, the recipe included kelp noodles which we once again substitutes for pad thai noodles instead. Would have liked it a little more saucier as well.















Overall Score for this cookbook: 7.08


We also had a BBQ on Sunday to catch up with friends. Amazingly these little babies were on special this week:

So I bought three punnets and made this Raspberry Ripple Semi-Freddo:

Highly recommend this recipe which was from Donna Hays "Seasons" cookbook - the summer section. I would probably give it a 10/10. Absolutely fabulous, and not very difficult to make!

I also tried one of Matt Preston's salads out of his "Cook Book" cookbook, it was a potato salad. Very tasty as well. The bacon is crisped up and maple syrup added to it to make it sticky. The corn kernels also give it a nice sweet flavour and texture.

See you next time!

Di :-)

Battle of the Cookbooks - Donna Hay - The New Classics

We are giving the international food a rest for a while. We still have some countries we haven't cooked as yet, but we will return to these at a later date.

I have a huge collection of cookbooks, which expands every year around Christmas and my birthday. I don't think you can ever have too many cookbooks! I don't just collect them, I do cook many of the recipes out of each of them. I thought it would be fun to put them all to good use, and cook recipes from each cookbook for a week, and get the family to rate the dishes. See which chef and which cookbooks come out on top.

Last week we started with Donna Hay's "the new classics".  We ranked each of the dishes out of 10, and then I averaged the scores for each dish. I will make a list of cook again dishes. I might have to remove Eliza's from the score though, as she eats part of the meal (the part that she likes) and rates it a 10 out of 10 LOL!

So here are the dishes for this week:

Chicken & Pork Larb
Score: 7.7
Comments:  Both the girls love Larb, so it always gets eaten, and there are normally no leftovers

Sticky Asian Ribs with Ginger Gai Larn and Rice
Score: 6.7
Comments: This was actually the first time I have ever cooked ribs. Mainly on account, that Dave told me he didn't think he would like them, because they would be too fatty. He actually loved them and so did I. Jasmin wasn't a fan though, otherwise the average would have been a lot higher. I will put this one on the list to make again as part of a BBQ or something like that.

Roasted Pumpkin and Garlic Soup with Leek and Cheese Mandelines.
Score: 6.3
Comments: The soup wasn't thick enough, so would reduce the fluid next time. The mandelines were quite delicious.

Slow Cooked Beef Ragu with Homemade Pasta
Score:  8.2
Comments: Definitely the winner for the week. Homemade pasta is always popular, and I'm getting a lot quicker at making it!

Sticky Honey and Lime Chicken with Brocollini and rice
Score: 6.3
Comments: Quite delicious.
















I also made homemade pizza's this week (I forgot to take a picture!). Made the pizza dough from scratch as well. I made the pizza suggested in the cookbook - salami, ricotta and basil pizza, as well as a prosciutto, anchovy and baby spinach pizza, as well as a ham and pineapple (with fresh pineapple of course) for Eliza.
Score: 7.7

So overall, a really good score of 7.15. 

Definitely adding the ribs and ragu to the cook again list.

See you next time.

A Catch UP

I'm not sure where the time has gone - but I have had none to spare. Since my last post we have eaten many different cuisines, had school holidays (which meant that Dave and I had a couple of meals out and saw some MA+ movies), started Term 3, and grieved for a loved one.

I don't like leaving it this long - as I want to remember what I have cooked, and from where. That way I can look back on my Blog posts and re-cook the recipes we really liked.

The three cuisines we have cooked lately have been:
- Chinese
- French
- Spanish

I'll try to do a brief run down of each.

Chinese

I think everyone in Australia has eaten Chinese food. However, I think that the Chinese food that we get served in Chinese takeaways and restaurants is far different to what you would eat in China. It is "Westernised" - I think? This is my own opinion, and based on experiences from eating in Asian countries, and also browsing through the cookbooks of chefs such as Kylie Kwong and Neil Perry.

For the dishes I cooked during "Chinese" week, I decided to use recipes from Neil Perry's "balance & harmony" cookbook. A lovely linen covered cookbook, in a patterned linen case. Absolutely lovely to look at, I would recommend a copy!

So if you were to stock the cupboard for chinese cookery, I think this is what you would probably need as the basis:
- Variety of Noodles
- Oyster, hoisin, soy and fish sauces
- Sesame Oil
- Palm Sugar
- Dried Black Fungi, Shitake Mushrooms
- Saoxing
- Bamboo Shoots
- Black Vinegar
- Variety of Stocks

Otherwise as far as fresh ingredients go you would be needing the following in addition to any fresh seasonal vegetables and any meat required for the dishes:

- Herbs - coriander
- Garlic / Ginger
- Red and Green Chili
- Limes
- Shallots
- Tofu

Here is a run down of the dishes we ate during Chinese Week:

Black Bean Chicken Stew with Three Vegetables Steamed (I added a couple of extra veggies!):

Stir-fried Snapper with Asparagus, Snow Peas and Enoki Mushrooms and
Braised Soy Tofu:

Chicken, Asparagus and Rice Noodle Soup:

Fillet of Beef with Ginger and Spring Onion and
Stir-fried Zucchini

(No picture included - as it was too blurry to see what I had cooked!)

French

I think the things I most noticed about French Cuisine is the amount of alcohol included (which is just fine by me) as well as the addition of sauces to meals.

I guess when I think about French cuisine things such as souffles, French Onion Soup, Coq au Vin, Baguette, Beef bourguignon (not sure how to spell it!), Cheeses like Camembert, Mille- feuille, Eclairs, Macaroons, Creme Brulee, Mousse and Crepes immediately spring to mind.

For French week I sourced all the recipes from the Delicious cookbook - "Love to Eat".

Here is what I decided to make;

Salmon en Papillote with Honey Mustard Sauce (Beans and Rosemary Potatoes):

Beef Daube Style (with Paris Mash):

Carrot Soup Vichy with Herbed Bread (which were meant to be croutons!)

Truffled Chicken with Champagne Sauce

Crepes Suzette with a touch of Spice

Served with vanilla ice cream of course!

Spanish

Spanish food can be quite varied, this is a result of differences across the country geographically and culturally. Food is quite often enjoyed communally - the famous tapas are small dishes enjoyed as a prelude to a meal. I have had a number of Tapas style dinner parties - where the meal is the Tapas, I'm not sure how they could fit a meal in after eating Tapas! Some of my favourite Tapas dishes include garlic prawns, meatballs with romesco sauce, fried chorizo, and stuffed mushrooms. 

Spain is also home to many dishes that we have all probably heard of including: Tortilla, a potato omelette - often served as part of a tapas meal; Paella, a one pot rice dish loaded with seafood, and often chorizo and flavoured using Saffron; Gazpacho a summer tomato soup served chilled; Churros, spanish donuts shaped like cigars and coated in sugar (also normally served with Chocolate Sauce).

Spain is also home to one of my favourite drinks - Sangria. I make this one often in summer on both red and white wine, and filled with fresh fruit such as oranges or peaches. I add Cointreau to mine.

Here are the dishes I made:

Paella (the recipe was sourced from the Delicious cookbook "Love to Eat"):

A Spanish Pasta with Sausage and Greens - I sourced this recipe on Yummly http://www.yummly.com/recipe/external/Spanish-Pasta-With-Sausage-_-Greens-1201572

I decided one night to pull out some of my preserved plums which have been marinating in red wine, cinnamon and orange for a while.

Spanish Chickpea and Chorizo Soup, also sourced from Yummly: http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Spanish-Chickpea-_-Chorizo-Soup-1186581?columns=5&position=1%2F13

Our final Spanish meal was a Tapas meal, based on one of Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals (btw - it took a lot longer than 30 minutes to make!). Included were: Spanish Salami, Melon wrapped in Prosciutto, Marinated Olives, Stuffed Capsicums, Tortilla, Bread with Oils/Vinegars, and Glazed Chorizo. The tortilla, stuffed capscium and glazed Chorizo recipes can be found here (as well as in Jamie's 30 Minute Meals cookbook):  http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pork-recipes/tapas-feast-tortilla-glazed-chorizo-manchego-cheese-cured-meats-honey-stuffed-peppers-rolled-anchovies/#OBAFtpiZAzsyHtec.97

At the moment we are in German Week, last week was Singapore week, and next week will be Mexican week. See you later.

Di :-)

Hawaiian Deliciousness

Eliza put all the countries she had traveled to into the tub, so that of course included Hawaii - which isn't technically a country, but a State of the United States of America. The great thing about Hawaiian cuisine, is that although it is influenced my American Cuisine, it also has it's own identity- often referred to as Pacific Rim Cuisine, or Hawaiian Fusion. It is an interesting mix of tropical Pacific Islands cuisine, with an Asian/Japanese influence.

I have one Hawaiian cookbook, which I purchased on my first trip to Hawaii back in 2004. After flicking through it, I decided to actually make up some of my own dishes based on our memories of eating in Hawaii.  It wasn't that I didn't like the cookbook, but there was a lot of food that my family wouldn't eat - including raw fish.

Some of the memories of food in Hawaiian include:

• Fresh fish and chips - usually Mahi Mahi or Ono ( I specifically remember buying this the several times we have stayed near the Coconut Marketplace on Kauai - there is a great little fish and chip shop in the centre of the marketplace);
• Luau food - the absolute favourite was Kahlua Pig;
• Loco Moco from a local takeaway on Maui (It wasn't that good - but you just have to have one when you are in Hawaii!);
• Pizza at the Californian Pizza Kitchen;
• Fresh Tropical Fruit especially pineapple;
• Lots of Steak and Chips;
• Huge meals at the Cheesecake Factory in Waikiki (we eventually learned to just order appetizers, or share mains!);
• Lots of Beer on Tap at the Yardhouse (I believe something like 130 different varieties);
• Pretty bad coffee - except when we discovered the coffee shop at the bottom of the Sheraton Hotel;
• Great Pacific Rim/ Fusion Cuisine we had at Roy's Restaurants on both the Big Island and Oahu. This is definitely where you have to book a table to get in. We had our anniversary dinner at Roy's one year in Waikiki.

Needless to say - we can't wait to go back for our fourth visit - perhaps next year?

Here is what I ended up making:

Loco Moco

I decided to do my own version of Loco Moco, and give it a little Asian twist. You may be asking what Loco Moco is? Well, it's normally purchased from a take-away shop, served in a Styrofoam container. It includes basically a hamburger patty, a fried egg, rice and some normally very ordinary gravy. Dave wasn't particularly a fan of the one we purchased on the island of Maui, so I decided to see if I could do a slightly more upmarket version of one.

Here is what I ended up making:

Now - it still looks like Loco Moco, but the burger patty had some extra flavourings in it. Here is what I added to my burger patty:

• 500g beef mince
• 1 cup of fresh breadcrumbs (I just blitz bread in a hand-held blender)
• A handful of finely chopped coriander leaves
• 1-2cm of grated ginger
• 1 clove garlic
• 1-2 Tablespoons of Teriyaki Sauce
• 1 egg

I just combined all of these and formed them into 4 patties.

I also made a macaroni salad. For this I combined:

• Half a bag of macaroni cooked
• 1/2 finely chopped red capsicum
• Finely sliced stick of celery
• 1/2 Finely chopped red onion
• Handful of parsley finely chopped

I then combined 1/2 cup of pre-bought mayonnaise with 1/2 cup of cream and 1 teaspoon of sugar, and mixed this through.

For the gravy I made a marsala sauce - which I got from here:  Make ahead Marsala Gravy 

Pineapple and Apple Crumble

We really wanted a comfort food type dessert with a tropical twist. So Eliza and I decided to make a Pineapple and Apple crumble - Mainly on account that we had a couple of nice fresh pineapples which only cost a couple of dollars each, and quite a few granny smith apples.

Here is how we made it:

• Peeled, sliced and cored 4 Granny Smith Apples (we cheated and used our curly apple machine!)
• 1 Pineapple peeled, cut into quarters length-wise and cored. Then we thinly sliced it in the food processor using the slicing blade.

Layer the fruit in a casserole dish or over-proof dish - apple, pineapple, apple, pineapple.

Make the crumble by blending in the food processor the following ingredients until it resembles coarse sand:

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• half block of unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Spread the crumble mixture over the top of the fruit and then pop in the oven on about 175 degrees Celsius until lightly browned.

Aloha Burger

This one I found a recipe for on the sbs.com.au web-site here - Aloha Burger.

I was meant to use fresh pineapple - but we had either used or eaten the two pineapples, and I had forgotten to purchase another one - so we pulled out a tin of trusty Dole Plantation pineapple slices (canned in Hawaii).  What makes the burger Hawaiian is not just the pineapple, but the teriyaki sauce and mayonnaise.

Kahlua Pork and Sweet Slaw Tortillas

You might be asking how I pulled off Kahlua Pork - considering it's normally cooked in an Imu in the ground, where it is slow smoked for a day. I found a recipe which used a slow cooker. I managed to source some Liquid Hickory Smoke from an Australian Website called Smoked and Cured. I couldn't source any Pink Hawaiian Sea Salt (must purchase some in Hawaii next time we go), so I substituted Pink Himalayan Sea Salt. This is basically all you need to do a slow cooker version of Kahlua Pork.

To cook it:

1. Purchase a Pork Shoulder or Pork Rolled Roast (I removed the layer of fat).

2. Put it in a slow cooker, and prick it all over with a fork.

3. Spread 1 Tablespoon of Liquid Smoke for each kilo of pork, over the pork.

4. Liberally grind the sea salt over the pork.

5. Turn on the slow cooker and cook for 9-12 hours (depending on the cut and size of the meat - just check after 9 hours).

It turned out wonderfully, I think I might add a tablespoon of brown sugar to the mix next time round to sweeten a little. I served the pork with tortillas and a sweet slaw. Made the recipe for the sweet slaw up as well by combining:

1/2 shredded wombok

1/2 shredded red onion

1/2 pineapple shredded

I used the food processor with the shredding blade, and then changed to the grating blade and added 1 carrot. I then changed to the fine slicing blade and added two sticks of celery. 

Then I added the slaw dressing, using the same mix as the macaroni salad:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup of cream

1 teaspoon sugar

This one is definitely going on our re-cook list!

Coconut and Lime Panna Cotta with a Toffee Pistachio Crumble

I made up this recipe myself as well, using a basic Panna Cotta recipe as a base. Here is how I made it:

Ingredients - Panna Cotta

3 sheets of gelatine
300ml milk
300ml cream
30ml Malibu
Zest of 1 lime

Method - Panna Cotta

1. Soak the gelatine sheets in cold water for about 10-15 minutes
2. Put milk and cream in a saucepan and heat gently until almost boiling, then squeeze the water out of the gelatine and add to the milk mix. Stir until dissolved.
3. Add in the zest and malibu and stir to combine.
4. Remove from the heat.
5. Lightly grease some little panna cotta tins (or you could use small ramekins). I just spray a tiny bit of canola oil in the tins.
6. Pour the panna cotta mixture into 6-8 small tins (less if you are using ramekins I should imagine).
7. Put in the refrigerator overnight to set (or for a full day).

Ingredients - Lime and Coconut Syrup

1/2 cup of lime juice
1/4 cup of sugar
1 Tablespoon of Malibu

Method - Syrup

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan on medium heat, and stir until sugar dissolves.
2. Cool.

Ingredients - Toffee and Pistachio Crumble

1 cup sugar
1 small bag of Pistachios kernels (I think it was 150g)

Method - Toffee and Pistachio Crumble.

1. Spread the pistachio nuts on to a over tray covered with baking paper.
2. In a saucepan on Medium heat add the sugar.
3. Keep swirling the sugar in the saucepan (don't stir), until it melts and caramelises. It took quite a while for mine to completely caramelise.
4. Remove from the heat, and pour over the nuts.
5. Leave to set.
6. When ready to serve, blitz part of the brittle in a hand held blender.

To serve:
1. Unmould the panna cottas. I find the best way is to dip a knife into boiling water and run it around the edges of the tin. Holding the panna cotta in one hand, place the serving plate upside down on top of the panna cotta, and then flip over.
2. Pour over the syrup, and then sprinkle over the toffee crumble.

Macadamia Nut Encrusted Chicken with Tropical Salsa

For this one, I butterflied 2 chicken breasts and then cut them into tenderloin sized slices. I crumbed them just like schnitzel pieces by first coating in plain flour, then lightly beaten eggs, then in a mix of blitzed macadamia nuts (a small packet) mixed with about 1-2 cups of fresh breadcrumbs.

For the salsa I simply diced thinly - 2 tomatoes, 1 avocado, 1/2 red onion, 1/2 large telegraph cucumber, 1/4 pineapple. Add a couple of tablespoons of chopped coriander and splash over some red wine vinegar (I actually used guava flavoured vinegar).

Serve on a bed of potato mash.

Well - that's it for Hawaiian week. We have just completed Chinese Week, so I will probably post our experiences next week some time!

Di :-)

Afghan Food Week

I always find it interesting cooking food from countries that I have never considered before. I really had no idea what Afghan people ate prior to this year's exercise in eating food from a different country each week.

From previous experience with other Middle Eastern countries, I guessed that the food would include some sort of rice/grains, breads are almost always present (just cooked in different ways with slightly different mixes of ingredients), grilled meats, as well as any vegetables that can be grown in the region. So what do Afghan people really eat?

Firstly, Coriander is their most commonly used herb/spice. Not something I would of known previously (I had always assumed coriander was more an Asian ingredient).

Garlic, onions, mint (including dried mint) and chilis provide the other flavourings, as well as spices such as garam masala, cinnamon, cumin and cardamon.

As far as fruit and veggies go - eggplants, capsicums, tomatoes, spinach, leeks, carrots, lemons and limes seem to be the most commonly used.

They also serve rice, flat breads and yoghurt with a lot of their meals. Dried split peas and kidney beans also seemed to be quite regularly used.

Meat such as Beef, Lamb and Chicken seems to be preferred, and quite often minced meats are used in recipes.

Nuts such as pistachios, almonds and walnuts feature heavily in their desserts.

All in all - you can find all the ingredients in the regular supermarket. If you make some Afghan desserts, you may also need to source some Rose Water - I found a really nice one (and some orange blossom water at Grandma's Bakery - on the highway between Canberra and Goulburn. They have a wonderful little shop that sells these things as well as packaged lentils, wheats, bottled and flavoured oils and vinegars etc. Worth a stop in, if you are driving past.

All the recipes for this experience were sourced from "The Complete Middle Eastern Cookbook" by Tess Mallos.

On to what we ate during our Afghan experience:

Bean and Meatball Soup
Maushawa

Comments: Interesting, certainly different to any other soups I have made.  Included red kidney beans, split peas and rice - which added a creaminess to the soup. The meatballs were made from beef mince flavoured with cinnamon and chili. The Soup itself was tomato based, with some yoghurt added at the end. Not sure I would make it again. I liked it, as did Dave, I don't think the girls did.

Roast Chicken with Eggplant and Yoghurt Sauce
Kabab-e-Murgh & Bouranee Baunjaun

I really enjoyed this meal - my favourite bit was the eggplant dish, it was so tasty that I would make it again (and I'm not a fan of eggplant). The combination of flavours really worked well. The dish included eggplants (of course), onions, green capsicums, tomatoes and a little chili powder, served on a bed of yoghurt which had garlic mixed through it.  Yummo!

The Chicken was also delish, having been roasted and basted with a tomato mixture. Its served with boiled eggs, which I also rather enjoyed!

Noodles with pulses, meat and yoghurt
Aush

And yes, I made the noodles from scratch:

The dough for the noodles is made by hand - simply 300g plain flour, salt and water, rolled out until it is really thin - rolled up and then cut into ribbons.

The sauce for the noodles included a pulse mixture of yellow split peas and kidney beans, a meat suace of mince meat, onion and tomato passata, and a yoghurt mixture of yoghurt, mint, chili and coriander.

It was kind of like an Afghan version of spaghetti bolognese!

Meat Sauce
Korma
Served with:
Steamed Rice and Coriander Chutney
Chalau & Chatni Gashmeez

Loved the Coriander Chutney, had a nice herby flavour with a vinegar bite to it. I didn't make the flat breads (not enough time sometimes on a weeknight to do this!). The meat sauce was a lamb sauce - similar to an Indian Korma, which I'm not sure has yellow split peas in it like this one. Although the korma had chili and cumin in it, I think I prefer a much spicier Indian version. I would probably make the Coriander Chutney again though - a nice accompaniment  to a meal, it was a blend of coriander, walnuts, green chili, garlic, vinegar and salt.

Well - that's a wrap for Afghan Food Week.

After we finish all our countries (I think we have enough to get through the entire year), we will review everything we have cooked and pick out our favourites to permanently add to our collection of recipes to make over again.

Di :-)

Asian with a side of Brazilian

Someone pulled Asia from the container (I can't remember who now), so instead of picking a country from Asia, I decided to pull out my latest Donna Hay recipe book "Easy", and cook some Asian inspired recipes (and I added one of my own).

Here is what we decided to eat:

Thai Chicken Salad

Lovely and healthy (if you ignore all the coconut milk that is). Chicken breasts poached in coconut milk with kaffir lime, served with herbs, lettuce and bean sprouts and cucumber, a side of steamed rice and a dressing made from coconut milk, mint, coriander and lime.

Diane's San Chou Bau

These days I just make up my own recipe for San Chou Bau.

Here's how I make it:

Group 1 ingredients

1 onion or 4 spring onions chopped 

3 cloves of garlic

500g mince (can be pork, chicken, beef, veal and pork mince - whatever you like)

Lettuce (I used Baby Cos as they form nice little bowls to fill with the mince)

1/2 packet of vermicelli noodles

Group 2 Ingredients

Chopped tinned corn spears

finely chopped capsicum (red or yellow or green or combo - whatever you happen to have)

chopped celery

1 grated large carrot

Group 3 ingredients

2 Tb Oyster Sauce

1 Tb Soy Sauce

1 Tb Fish Sauce

Juice of half lime

Handful Coriander chopped

Serve with

2 limes - quartered (to squeeze over extra juice when eating)

Method

1. Put kettle on to boil.

2. Saute first 2 group 1 ingredients in wok in a little oil (vegetable, peanut or olive) until softened, add the mince and brown.

3. While mince is browning wash and drain lettuce.

4. Put Vermicelli in a large bowl and cover with the boiling water (soak for 4-5 minutes).

5. Add the group 2 ingredients to the mince and cook for approximately 4 minutes - we still want the veggies to have a little crunch.

6. Drain the Vermicelli and add to the mince mixture. Mix through.

7. Add all group 3 ingredients. Mix and then serve.

Everyone can just help themselves - spooning spoonfuls of the mixture into lettuce leaves a bit like a taco. Squeeze extra lime juice over for extra punch.

Simple Beef Noodle Soup

This one was also from Donna Hay's "Easy" cookbook (worth the investment).

I actually made it a self serve soup - serving the beef broth and then everyone could add what they wanted to the broth. I pimped it up a bit by adding some extra ingredients to add to the soup, including the asparagus (which was on sale) and some oyster mushrooms. The family could also add basil, mint, bean sprouts, chilli, beef sliced thinly and blanched in the beef broth, noodles, and lemon juice to their soup as they desired.

Crispy Thai Salmon Cakes with Chili Lime Mayonnaise

Delicious little salmon cakes. What I really liked about the flavour of these salmon cakes (the recipe was also from Donna Hay's "Easy" cookbook) was the taste of shredded coconut, lime zest and coriander.

Sticky Korean Pork with Apple and Cucumber Pickle

Also from the Donna Hay cookbook. Loved the little salad on the side - it was sweet and crunchy and only took a couple of minutes to cook. Also the Pork was quick to make, overall it took less than 30 minutes to make this meal.

A Side of Brazilian

We had the pleasure having our Brazilian friends over for dinner, and not long ago finishing a Brazilian food week, it gave me the opportunity to cook some Brazilian food and get some feedback.  I only remembered to photograph a couple of the dishes, but here is the menu:

Before Dinner:

Grilled Chili and Cinnamon Pineapple (I also did a lot without chili)

Fried Cheese Sticks (Queijo Coalho). 

Dinner:

Grilled Caipirinha Chicken Skewers (Frango com marinada caipirinha)

Mojo de Acaraje ( a prawn and chick pea dish)

Cheese Breads

Barreado (Beef Clay Pot Stew)

Brazilian Pumpkin and Black Bean Salad

Rice

Dessert:

Supplied by the delightful Luciana - Condensed Milk Pudding 

It was delicious and just perfect - I'll have to admit to eating all of the leftovers of this afterwards :-)

Here are a couple of pictures:

Well - that's it for Asian Week.

Di :-)