Tuesday, December 25, 2007

*Christmas Supper*

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Even if you don't like Christmas, there is always the food. Christmas, at least in Brazil, is all about eating rich and tasty dishes, and Panetone.
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Yummy.
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Every family has their own Christmas tradition. So does mine. My mother insisted, and me and my brother traveled a good while to come spend it with our parents. Unfortunatelly, something came up, and my brother had to leave early today, so plans were changed. And it was different.
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Despite it being a habit in our country, we never have Supper. We usually do a big lunch together. But all of a sudden it was not possible, so at 10 pm we decided to cook.
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My mother prepped the Bird, and I did the sides. Well, as much as she let me do them... You know when someone keeps changing what you are trying to make because they don't like this and prefer that? Argh... Oh well, it's her kitchen.
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So at 3 am, me, mom, dad and bro enjoyed a late supper of roasted chester (which I think is a lot tastier than turkey). In the pan we also roasted potatoes, onions, sausages (I wouldn't have chosen those, but mother insisted), kabocha squash and garlic cloves. For side dishes, a warm german style potato salad (although I prefer it chunkier, it was something between a salad and mashed potatoes) with sautèed garlic and onions in butter with olives and mayo, and a big salad with differents types of lettuce, and tomatoes stuffed with a mixture of white cheese, milk cream, extra strong dijon mustard and lime juice. i also prepped a simple but tasty vinaigrette with two types of onions, fresh mint, parsley and colourful peppers with red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt.
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It was a simple and improvised Christmas supper, as my mother had been planning for a big lunch today, which ended up not happening. But it was nice, and we had chocolate to end a hearty meal while we exchanged gifts.
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Oh boy, i will definitely have to diet after all this eating. Mommy's house can really be fattening.
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Saturday, December 15, 2007

*"escondidinho"*

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So what do you do after you spend 3 hours in the kitchen to prepare dinner? You blog about it, of course.
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No, I did not prepare some super elaborate dinner. Actually, it was a one dish meal, with a side salad. Yeah, 3 hours.
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But they were worth it. And so was the mess the preparation involved.
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So by now you must be wondering "what the hell?". I had been wanting to try this recipe for months already, and just never got around to it. I had the cassava, and was in the mood to cook. So why not?
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Its called "escondindinho". You could also call it "Cassava Goo". It's super duper ultra gooey. But maybe its something to do with the cassava.
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Which I had NO idea took so long to cook. One hour, and the damn thing wasn't soft. So I decided to go for the food processor, because it was clearly cooked.
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So i mixed the cooked cassava with some milk cream, milk, salt and butter. When I finally had a puree (I'll never buy the cassava at that place again. It was strange, although it tasted fine), I put in a baking pan, and covered with a sautéed mixture of canned tuna, garlic, onion, paris mushrooms and peas. Traditionally this recipe is made with shredded beef jerky or some other meat, I used tuna because of the Mister. Covered those two layers with another layer of cream cheese and more milk cream, and finally mozzarella cheese. Sticked the thing into the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes and meanwhile, did the dishes.
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Served it with a side salad of iceberg lettuce, roma tomatoes, sliced onions and steam cooked chayotte, spiced with olive oil, lemon and dried parsley.
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Even the Girl, who is one of the pickiest eaters of all, liked it. But that was probably because I let her help me. Children...
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And to top it off, a super mega-caloric chocolate and strawberry mousse. Now... I wonder if I spent calories enough while preparing this meal to burn it off. Damn, I've been eating way too much candy.
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Suddenly, staying in and cooking on a Saturday night makes me feel... old.
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I baked a big batch of muffins these days, so I'll have a looooong post on its way sometime soon.
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