Brazil reminds me to get my servings of fruit!

Still fantasizing about beautiful, warm weather, and that brings me to Brazil.  The food was incredible all 'round (well, except maybe for that weird room temperature, unseasoned broccoli at every meal), but what really stuck with me was the wide variety of fruits and fruit juices served all day long. I drank cashew juice (you really have to get that one sweetened, however), ate amazing berries and melons I couldn't pronounce, and perhaps most amazingly, I learned to like bananas.  This is no small feat for me, as for most of my life I have grown queasy at the mere smell of them. But in Brazil there were so many varieties, textures, and flavors of banana and plantain (as well as many people insisting I try each one), that I finally got over it.  So, in appreciation to Brazil and its citizens for opening my world, I bring you what I hope is a responsible rendition of some simple baked bananas I had there.  They are surprisingly good with a grilled cheese sandwich, or just alongside black beans and rice.

Brazilian Baked Bananas

Serves 4 as a side

4 large, ripe bananas or sweet plantains
butter
cinnamon

Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat a baking sheet with a thin layer of butter.

Peel the bananas/plantains and cut on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices. Arrange in single layer and sprinkle with a little cinnamon. Bake, turning occasionally, for 10-15 minutes, until bananas are golden brown and very tender.

Drunken Pintos

I like pinto beans.  They're tasty, and they're cheap and plentiful.  I had these recently in tacos topped with roasted sweet potato, onion, and spinach (pictured), but I have also done all of the other suggestions listed at the end of this recipe and I fully endorse them.  This recipe serves as a good base for my version of  Brazilian Pinto Soup, as well.

Drunken Pintos

2 cups dry pinto beans
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons salt
½  teaspoon cayenne
12 oz. beer
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, finely diced

Place beans, tomato paste, cumin, salt, and cayenne in a stock pot or pressure cooker and add water to cover 1 inch above beans.  Cook 1.5 hours at a low simmer or according to pressure cooker directions (generally 20-25 minutes) or until beans are tender.  Drain off some of the cooking liquid if it seems like too much and pour in the beer.  Stir in the garlic and jalapeno and heat through.  Serve as a soup (you can blend up to 2/3 of it for a thicker, creamier texture), over rice, or drain and serve in tortillas topped with chopped tomatoes, sour cream, and red onion as tacos.

Another homage to Brazil

The last night I was in Brazil, I was entreated to a night at the local Samba bar, which I was assured was a "very Brazilian experience".  The band was very loud and people were boisterous, not so different from a good bar at home.  But Samba music is for carnival, which would be sort of like partying in New Orleans, and interestingly, although the dance floor was a reasonable size, many people chose to merely stand up behind their chairs and dance, thereby maintaining conversation with their table mates. I can't universalize this experience since it was the only Samba bar I visited, but I describe it to you because it effected the atmosphere; dancing was not cordoned off to an appropriate place, it was everywhere!  And therefore the dance floor sort of came to us, whether we were standing or sitting.

Buckets of that weak, weak beer were kept full at all times throughout the bar, and at some point a large sizzling platter (think fajitas) arrived on the table filled with meat, veggies, and cheese, with a little crusty garlic bread on the side.  Everyone took nibbles between sweat-inducing dances and still felt full of energy at 2am when we left! I tried out this recreation on my meat-loving family when they visited last week and it was a hit.  We probably could have stood some exercise afterward, though...

Brazilian Sizzling Plate

Serves 6

For the meat:
2.5-3 lb. flank steak or similar cut
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon mustard
2 shallots, finely minced
other ingredients:
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 small butternut squash, peeled, cubed, and boiled until al dente
4 white potatoes, peeled, cubed, and boiled until al dente
3 bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch strips
4 oz. white mushrooms, sliced
salt to taste
8 oz. shredded or thinly sliced cheese of your choice (I used Irish cheddar), optional

Grill the meat outside: The night before you make this, combine steak and all marinade ingredients thoroughly in a gallon zip-top bag.  Refrigerate overnight and turn occasionally.  Grill over hot coals 3-4 inches from the heat; cook 4 minutes on each side for mid-rare or longer if you want the meat more done (it will cook a little more on the grill pan). Cover in foil to keep warm while you...

Toss the veggies with a little bit of olive oil and salt.  On a well-oiled grill pan inside, cook everything until it chars (if you have to do it in shifts, just keep what's been cooked on a baking sheet in the oven at 250 F so it stays warm).  Slice the grilled meat into thin strips and toss with all of the veggies on the grill pan (add anything that's been sitting in the oven).  Sprinkle cheese on top and cover with a large heat-proof bowl; cook just until cheese is melted.

Plop the grill pan on the table, serve with crusty white bread, hot sauces, and forks.  Plates optional.

Brazilian drinks

The beer is terrible in Brazil (think Budweiser, but with a few different names), and the beer on tap, or Chopp, is the weakest of the bunch.  If you want to drink all night and never get drunk, this is the way to go. I have noticed this--the hotter the climate, the weaker the beer.  And always German-style lagers.  You can read into that whatever you want.

Even stronger alcoholic drinks don't pack as much of a punch in Brazil, but they highlight delicious fresh fruit and locally made, cane-based products, so I think they're the way to go.  The national cocktail seems to be caipirinha, made with Cachaça, sugar, and limes.  Caipiroskas are similar (but made with vodka) and often come in a variety of different fruits at bars.  Cachaça is available in the States at larger liquor stores (here in NoCo, Wilbur's in Fort Collins carries one that works just fine for mixed drinks), and Brazilians assure me that top-shelf is not necessary--or even desired--for making caipirinhas.

Standard Caipirinha--as dictated to me by Thiago, a very talented bartender who may have a drinking problem, in Goiania.

Serves 1

Cachaça
limes
sugar
ice (we don't measure these things)

In a short old-fashioned glass or other tumbler, place 1 thin-skinned lime, quartered, and muddle until the juice has been released.  Pour in approximately 2 tablespoons sugar, a generous handful of cracked ice (be sure the pieces are not too big or they'll suddenly water down the drink), and fill with cachaça .  Stir with a long spoon and drink sloooooowly.


Strawberry Caipiroska (I can't claim authenticity in procedure here--this is just my replica of what I had at a samba bar in Goiania)

Serves 1

6 strawberries*, washed and quartered
1 tablespoon sugar
2 oz. vodka
cracked ice

Place the strawberries and sugar in an old fashioned glass and allow to sit about 5 minutes, or until strawberries start to give off juice.  (This can also be done ahead of time, in larger quantities, in a container kept in the refrigerator until it's cocktail time.)  Stir strawberry-sugar mixture, add vodka, stir again, and top with ice.

*Can also use chunked pineapple, limes, lemons, mangoes, or passion fruit.

Guava Bread Pudding, because I miss Brazil

Brazil is home to many, many amazing fruits, and it shows in their recipes.  Many of these fruits are not available in the States (did you know that the cashew fruit makes an amazing juice when sugar is added?  Yeah, you're not going to find that in Colorado.), but we do what we can.  The typical fresh pineapple juice with muddled mint is an easy enough thing to replicate here at home, for instance, and guava paste can be found in many Latin/ Mexican sections of larger grocery stores now.  Thinly sliced guava paste and queso fresco stacked together makes a typically Brazilian snack or a great filling for dessert empanadas (use puff pastry to make it quicker).  I tried to combine guava paste with a sweet, spiced bread pudding (an homage to Brazil's obsession with white bread for breakfast), and here's what I got:

Guava Bread Pudding

Bread Pudding:

1 day old baguette cubed (~ 6 cups)

4 eggs

1 cup almond milk

3/4 cup coconut milk

1/3 cup guava nectar

1/3 cup butter, plus a little extra to butter the ramekins

zest from one orange

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar, plus sugar for sprinkling

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup guava paste--cut up into chunks

Guava Sauce:

1 cup guava paste--cut into chunks

juice from 1 orange (I used a blood orange)

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup guava nectar

pinch salt

Directions:

Melt the Earth Balance and toss with the cubed bread. Set aside. Whisk eggs, almond milk, coconut milk, orange zest, guava nectar, sugars, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, and cardamom. Toss in buttered, cubed bread. Stir to combine. Let the bread soak in the custard mixture for at least 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 4 large ramekins. Slice guava paste into 1/2 inch chunks. Heat 1 kettle of water until boiling. Turn down to medium low to keep warm.

Make the sauce: Heat all sauce ingredients in medium saucepan over medium low heat. Stir frequently until guava paste melts. Once guava paste is melted, cook additional 5 minutes. Keep warm on low heat.

Add 1 tablespoon of sauce to each ramekin. Split bread-custard mixture between the 4 prepared ramekins. Wedge guava paste into the custard mixture. Sprinkle the top of each ramekin lightly with sugar. Add each ramekin to a large baking dish. Fill the baking dish halfway with hot water to create a water bath. Bake in the center of the oven for 35-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the middle of bread pudding is set. Let the bread pudding cool slightly (~10-15 minutes) before serving. 

When in Brazil...

...you tend to drink a lot of cachaça, the national rum.  It is delicious in a Caipirinha with sugar and lime juice or on its own while engaged in deep conversations about the meaning of life and all the world's problems. But at some point, it becomes a good idea to refuel with some protein to avoid alcohol poisoning. Like coddle in Ireland  or eggs here in the States, Brazilians have a lovely tradition of making a big pot of bean soup to help shake off the hangover and regain your strength after a particularly important night of world problem-solving.  This recipe is my version, with more flavoring in it than what I have been served (and yes, the addition of beer was mine, not native). I think it works anytime you need some comfort and fortitude. 

Pinto Soup

Serves 4-6

2 cups dry pinto beans
½ cup cooked pasta
1 bay leaf
2 garlic cloves
½ onion
1 carrot, peeled
½ teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Teaspoon salt
6 oz. beer
Salt and pepper to taste
Pico de gallo and lime wedges, for serving

Soak beans overnight. Drain, rinse, and place beans along with bay leaf, garlic, onion, carrot, oregano, paprika, and 1 teaspoon salt into a pressure cooker or large pot.  Cover with water and cook for 20 minutes in pressure cooker or about 1 ½ hours over medium heat on the stove (until beans are tender).

Remove bay leaf and transfer cooked bean mixture to a blender; blend until smooth. Return to the pot and add the beer and salt and black pepper to taste.  Stir in pasta at the last minute and heat thoroughly.

Serve with pico de gallo and lime wedges.