Recipes: Steak Tartare

This weekend I did so much I don't know where to begin. I think I'll skip it all and go straight to the real highlight - food.

Yesterday I made Sunday lunch for everyone here and for my brother and his fiance. He gifted me with a delicious book with all the traditional French recipes you could ever hope to have so I started working my way through it this weekend. All the dishes served were from the book except one. Our starter was steak tartare with toast, the main course was pan fried flounder with a buerre blanc caper sauce, potatoes au gratin and snow peas. Dessert was a capuccino mousse served in tea cups and saucers with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon and a chocolate stick. Trés chic.


I have eaten steak tartare many times before and have always liked it, but nothing compared to the one I made yesterday. It is beyond crave-worthy and the type of dish that will keep you up at night dreaming. Even my teenage son who is not in the least an adventurous eater loved it. It's very clean, fresh and delicate.

The recipe I ended up making is adapted from Saveur magazine. I couldn't find one recipe that had all the elements I needed, so I made the necessary changes

2 egg yolks
1 1/2 tbs dijon mustard
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
5 dashes of tabasco sauce
3-4 tbs fresh lemon juice
Olive oil (about 3 tbs)
Salt and pepper to taste
450 gr. filet mignon
1 heaping tbs very finely chopped chives (just the white part)
4 small cornichons chopped finely (small pickles)
3 tsp chopped capers
1 tbs chopped parsley

1. Whisk egg yolks, ketchup, mustard, lemon juice, worcestershire, and Tabasco in a large bowl until smooth. Gradually whisk in oil to create a mayonaise that is smooth and not too thick. Salt and pepper to taste. - I ended up only using half of my "mayonaise" so you could easily cut my quantities in half.

2. Slice beef into thin pieces with a very sharp knife and then chop again, and again, and again. If you want you can use 2 knives and work it Asian style. The pieces have to be crazy small, but they cannot ever be ground - must be chopped by hand. It's the rule.

3. Add the onions, cornichons, capers, and parsley, and mix gently until everything is incorporated. Add more salt if you need, or anything else you think may be missing. Put into 2 ramekins, turn over on to a plate, granish and serve. It's traditionally served with french fries or toast, my fave is toast.

- It seems odd to me that there should be anything lacking in the mix, and that if there is the solution should be a raw yolk, but very often steak tartare is served with a raw egg yolk on top. I find it unnecessary and not particularly pleasing to my refined and respected palate.

- Next time I may try using soy sauce intead of worcestershire, although I'm not sure yet. We'll see.

A Taste of Provence - Fresh Tomato Soufflé

I've been totally obssesed with the flavors of Provence and the simplicity and quality of the food from there, from Sardinia, and the likes, that I have made a few inspired dishes. Today for example I baked potatoes with rosemary, thyme, garlic, onions, olive oil salt and pepper and it was heaven.

On the weekend I had my bother and sister over with their respective partners and we had that risotto I blogged about a while back (apricots and brie). It was wonderful, but the starter was the real star of the show. Inspired by the provence episode of No Reservations where Tony has lunch with a wealthy vineyard owners. Their meal was so chic in its simplicity. They had tomato soufflé with bread and a leafy freen (prolly arougula), whole baked bass with potatoes, cheese platter, and lots and lots of wine. I went online and researched for tomato soufflé recipes and finally found one I thought was similar and would represent. I adapted the flavors a bit (not quantities so much) so as to match what I had in mind it would taste like. I got the recipe from here, and these are the changes I made (flavor-wise only):

-I used Italian tomatoes (instead of 2 med size, I used 5 relatively small Italian tomatoes)
-I cooked the tomatoes with thyme (a bunch tied together), 2 whole cloves of garlic smashed with my knife, but not chopped, rosemary tied to the bunch of thyme, 1 star anise (so good), 1/4 tsp vanilla (trust me on this)
-After everything was thoroughly cooked I took out the rosemary/thyme bundle as well as the star anise and garlic.
-I blended everything in the blender
-chopped a handful of fresh basil and about 150 gr sundried tomatoes (in olive oil preserve).
I did all of this before adding the bechamel, etc.

The recipe came out perfect. I would have liked to cook it in individual ramekins, but I don't have them so I baked it in glass pie dish. It looked beautiful, the flavours were intense and crave-worthy, the consistency was airy but still velvety and a little dense - kind of. It was great. Everyone loved it, and it has won a coveted place in my recipe box.

Please check out the link and try out the recipe for yourself. It's easy, tastes and looks super chic, and is guaranteed to impress anyone you serve this to.

Sorry I have no pictures....I'm such a terrible blogger. I will post a picture update next time I make it - which will be super soon!

Dried Apricot, Brie and Bacon Risotto

Check out these awesome pics of the most amazing risotto!! It's a dried apricot, brie, chili (dedo de moça), chives, and bacon risotto. It came out perfect, amazingly delish.


It was creamy and luscious. Really worth taking note so it can be made over and over again. The way I cook savory foods is the famous pinch of this, handful of that, so it's difficult to write everything down in a recipe. Plus, this kind of food is really not a measure, mathematical, robotic thing - it's supposed to flow naturally. But in case you're wondering, it just a basic risotto recipe (minus the celery) with a very mild veggie stock. The dried apricots were thrown in halfway through cooking time, and the other ingredients only after the rice was cooked and turned off. I stirred it all together, put the lid on, and 10 min later......risotto perfection!

We had brownies with ice cream and chocolate sauce, and peaches and cream for dessert. What were we celebrating? Good friends, good eats, and that it was Sunday and still many hours before we would had to go back to work.

I'll post pics of the amazing party we all (James, Greti, HRH and I) went to Saturday night. I made up 6 people and hope to get the pics from Greti (hint, hint) to post here.

Spicy Thai Green Mango Salad - my new favorite!

Yesterday I went to the market and saw a pile of delicious mangoes - only they weren't ripe yet. I grabbed a few and thought maybe I could ripen them myself when all of a sudden I had a pifany! Spicy Thai Green Mango Salad - of course! I got some delish red chillis and headed home with the ingredients needed for a decadent and sinful brie and camembert risotto, and of course my green mango salad.

I didn't have fish sauce at home (will get some this week and let you know if it's that much better in the salad than soy sauce) so I used soy sauce. The dressing was simple, tons of finely chopped chives, white and green parts, finely sliced chillis without seeds, sugar, soy sauce and lime. The dressing may have been simple, but the salad tasted anything but. It was fresh, light, perfectly balanced flavors and beautiful!

I used a mandolin to finely slice the mango and then took a really sharp santoku knife to julienne like a pro. I already had toasted chopped cashews at home so I threw them in and tossed everything together. Heaven. Pure heaven.

I'm planning on making this on the weekend, maybe grill some shrimp to serve with it? Yes, I think so.


Ingredients:

2 unripe mangoes crazy finely julienned
3-4 spring onions finely chopped on a diagonal because it's prettier that way
2 med chilis sans seeds, pls - julienned
3 tbs soy sauce (or fish sauce - I think fish sauce is more authentic, I like to use both - yummy!)
3 tbs lime juice (more if needed)
2 tbs sugar (or more to taste)
a handful of chopped toasted cashews
fresh basil (I like basil and cilantro)
fresh bean sprouts (I didn't have them, but next time I'll try it with)

Toss and Enjoy!

Recipe: Broccoli Cole Slaw

On Sunday I made a nice lunch for us that included roasted garlic mashed potatoes and pork chops, but the real star of the show was my broccoli cole slaw. I started adding a bunch of vegetables and different ingredients together - et voila - a masterpiece was born. As my magnanimousness is never ending I am sharing this recipe with you here today.


Broccoli Cole Slaw

Ingredients:

1 head raw broccoli finely sliced and cut to the same size as the other ingredients (I use the stem and everything - just be sure to slice first, then soak for 30m in vinager water and strain for another 30m)
1 cup finely shredded cabbage
1 small finely julienned carrot
2 seeded and finely julienned chillis
1 large celery stick finely julienned
1 apple finely julienned
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 lime (to squeeze over the apples so they don't brown)

Dressing:
1/2 cup light mayo
2/3 cup light cream or yogurt (I would maybe do half and half, but don't substitute the mayo)
1 tbs ginger grated and squeezed - use only the juice (or powdered ginger)
pepper
1 large tbs dijon mustard

How To:

Veggies: toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl

Dressing: whisk everything together and mix into the veggies with a fork (you can make more dressing if you want, it's up to you.)

You're welcome!

In Which We Console Ourselves With Cheesecake

Adam Lambert - you will always be my Idol!!

I can't tell you how disappointed I was that Adam didn't win. I had totally planned to celebrate and prance around letting my crazy hang out for the world to see. It was not meant to be because alas, in a ridiculous twist of fate and stupid fluke, Kris (with a K) the most non-Idol Idol won. As far as I'm concerned Adam won and he'll always be my Idol. All that to say that I had made a cheesecake to celebrate his win, but we used it to console ourselves in the end. Lua who usually strongly dislikes cheesecakes loved it. It was a major success and we all felt much better after mouthfuls of creamy, mousse-y, luscious, and rich cheesecake. There's nothing like good company and a good cheesecake to make you feel better. Here's the recipe:


Flor's No Bake Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 500 gr whipping cream
• 600gr softened cream cheese
• zest of 2 limes
• juice of 1 big lime
• 1 cup sugar (aprox. to taste - keep in mind that there will be sweet jam on top)
• vanilla

Pastry:

• 250gr maizena (or graham) cracker crumbs (processed to fine)
• 100gr melted unsalted butter

Jam:

I know I should say that I make my own, but I don't. My fave cheesecake jam topping is a good brand of store bought jam with a bit of flavored fruit brandy to thin it out a bit.

Directions:

Pastry

• Process the cookies really well so that they're nice and smooth
• Mix with melted butter. The "dough" should hold when pinched. Press it into your baking dish (I like a pretty round 10 inch spring form pan, but you can use whatever you want)
• Bake in medium heat until the edges start to brown
• Cool completely

Filling

• Beat the cream to stiff peaks and reserve
• Beat the cream cheese, sugar, zest, juice, and vanilla together until very smooth and light
• Carefully and thoroughly fold in the whipped cream (you can add a couple of tsp of gelatin if you feel it won't hold without it, depends on the cream)
  
• Pour into completely cooled pie crust and chill for at least 4-6 hours before serving
• Thin out the jam with brandy of your choice and spoon on top of the cheesecake and enjoy!

Weekend Update: Anna Olson's Country Apple Pie

During the week I kept our menu pretty frugal by making a number of different soups and they all came out amazing. I made an all veggie soup with a really delish roast chicken broth. I roasted a carcass as well as the head and feet of the chicken (nice), then boiled it, took out the bones and feet and stuff (not beautiful to look at but great in soup because of all the cartilage - natural thickener), added the veggies et voila, a really, really healthy and slurpalicious vegetable chicken soup. I also made a roast pumpkin soup with cayenne that was to die for, and then towards the end of the week fish chowder using the fins from cacao (baby shark that is cheap and easy to come by here in Rio).

On Sunday my brother Aaron and his girlfriend Patti came over for lunch. We had roast chicken thighs in gravy and prunes, rice with matchstick potatoes, and sauteed carrots in butter and sugar. For an appetizer we had small rice patties with sweet Thai chili dipping sauce (possibly my fave dipping sauce ever!). We all played Risk for hours and Aaron won. For dessert I made Anna Olson's Country Apple Pie. It's a super easy recipe and my pie came out exactly like hers. I was very pleased with myself. The real reason for this post is to share her recipe with you all. With winter upon us this is a perfect weekend treat. I hope you give it a go.


Anna Olson's Country Apple Pie
makes one 9 inch pie

Ingredients:

Pastry

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 6 tbsp to 10 tbsp cold water as needed

Filling

• 8 cups peeled and sliced tart apples, such as Spy or Spartan (I used Gala)
  
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 egg whisked with 2 tbsp cold water for brushing
• sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

Pastry

1. Combine flour with salt. Cut in butter and shortening until mixture is a roughly even crumbly texture.
2. Add lemon juice and water and blend just until dough comes together. Shape into a disc, wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Filling

1. Toss all ingredients except butter together and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 400 °F.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of dough to just under ¼-inch thick. Lightly dust bottom of a 9-inch pie pan with flour and line pan with dough. Fill pastry with apples and dot top with butter.
4. Roll out remaining half of dough and place over apples. Trim and cinch edges of pie and cut in holes in top layer of pastry to let steam escape. Brush top of pie with eggwash and sprinkle lightly with sugar.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 °F and bake about 40 minutes, until filling is bubbling. Cool pie for at least an hour before slicing. (Super important: make sure you put your pie dish to bake on top of another bigger oven tray in case there's any dripping. You don't want the drippings burning and smoking all over your brand new Brastemp oven you just bought and almost suffocate to death trying to clean it while the oven is still hot so you can bake your chicken - I learned this the hard way.)

Tata for now!

Recipe: Dark Chocolate Truffles

Everyone gather 'round, because I'm going to share with you a most secret recipe which has been passed down from generation to generation of chocolate lovers. This is a recipe that when followed carefully will bring on insane delight and everlasting cravings. It is said to be used in natural medicine as a way to bring people out of depression. It is also said that - and I'm not inventing or saying this lightly - you can never make too many of them. They are bitter and sweet, creamy and firm, rich, decadent, fruity, buttery, powdery and the ultimate ruin of any diabetic. It is sinfully delicious. This recipe has been banned from temples and places of worship. It is also considered taboo by many religious zealots.

A word of caution before I give you the recipe: if you give this to your friends and/or family, they will always want you to make it.

Now, on to the recipe. I came across this jewel one rainy afternoon when I went to the market and decided to indulge in a bittersweet chocolate craving. When I opened the wrapper I saw a recipe there for Nestle Dark Chocolate Truffles. The next day I went back to the market and bought more chocolate, then set out to make my very first batch. This was March of 2003, a good year all around. This recipe calls for whiskey but I chose to use a fruity liquor, cassis to be exact. It's perfect. Since then I have tried it with rum, whiskey, but I always go back to cassis or cherry liquor.

Nestle Dark Chocolate Truffles

500 gr bittersweet chocolate
1/2 can heavy cream (200 ml)
100 gr butter (room temperature)
2 tbs whiskey
cocoa powder for coating

• Melt chocolate in bain marie
• Add cream and let cool to room temperature
• Add butter and whiskey and stir to mix well
• Refrigerate for 24 hours in sealed plastic container
• Form into balls using a melon baller or round measuring spoon, whatever's handy
• Coat in cocoa powder and refrigerate for at least 2 more hours before serving

Optional: You can melt another 500 gr of chocolate and coat the truffles, let them cool, then roll in cocoa powder. Make sure to refrigerate for 2 hours before coating in melted chocolate. I don't usually do the whole second coating of chocolate. I have in the past, but it was way time consuming. It's a nice variation though.

Cinnamon Rolls

There are certain things, I believe, that help make a house a home and in my personal opinion baking is one of them. I think home cooking is too, but there's something about baking that brings everyone together. Maybe it's the smell of fresh bread or cake in the oven, maybe it's the fact that it warms up the house (not a plus in my book, but perhaps for those fortunate enough to live in cold climates, it is), or maybe it's the fact that someone in the home took the time to make something for everyone that brings everyone together. Whatever the case may be, it's the picture of an ideal comfy, cozy, rustic, warm home.

We have several faves here such as pigs in a blanket, muffins, pao de queijo (fresh made) and scones, just to name a few. One of the all-time never-go-wrong yummies we make are cinnamon rolls. There are as many ways to make them as there are stars in the sky. In fact, a lot of times I use the leftover dough from the pigs in a blanket or pizza to make the rolls. They come out great, but never as good as when you make the dough specifically for the rolls. Now, I have searched high and low and have finally found a perfect recipe that never fails. It's easy, tasty, and super duper fluffy. The things about rolls is that they need to be fluffy and consistent at the same time in order to work them properly, these ones are just that.

Last weekend I made these and I doubled the recipe because I knew we'd be having company over the following day, and I wanted to make enough so everyone could eat whenever they wanted. I made them on Friday and on Saturday they were still just as fluffy and delish as they were the day before. I wasn't able to test and see how many days it would be good for because they were devoured. Truth is, these are so good, they'll never last long enough to test.

Cinnamon Rolls
from Bon Appetit

Dough:

• 1 c whole milk
• 3 tbs unsalted butter
• 3 1/2 c flour (or more if needed)
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/4 tsp dry yeast (1 envelope)
• 1 tsp salt

Filling:

• 3/4 c packed brown sugar
• 2 tbs ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg (optional)
  
• 2 tsp ground dry ginger (optional)
• 1/4 c unsalted butter at room temperature

Combine milk and butter in glass measuring cup. Microwave on high until butter melts and mixture is just warmed to 120°F to 130°F, 30 to 45 seconds (I heated it up on the stove top). Pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add 21/2 cups flour. Beat on low until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky, scraping down sides of bowl. If dough is very sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form ball and pulls away from sides of bowl. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes. Form into ball. (I have a beautiful stand mixer - Kitchen Aid. I know it doesn't help you much, but I just wanted to say that)

Lightly oil large bowl. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

Filling: Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl.

Punch down dough. Transfer to floured work surface. Roll out to 15×11-inch rectangle. Spread butter over dough, leaving 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over butter. Starting at 1 long side, roll dough into log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. With seam side down, cut dough crosswise with thin sharp knife into 18 equal slices (each about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide).

Lightly oil your baking dish (glass preferred, but not mandatory). Divide rolls between baking dishes, arranging cut side up (there will be almost no space between rolls). Cover baking dishes with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, 40 to 45 minutes.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and invert immediately onto rack. Cool 10 minutes. Turn rolls right side up. (I skipped this last step and just let them cool in the dish - whatever)

The picture up top isn't perfect because I didn't have enough light and it was night so I couldn't take the pic out in the sunlight, but you get the general idea - perfection.

Americans like to put a cream cheese icing on their buns but I think it's redundant since you already have the cinnamon sugar goodness.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

'Tis the season to be jolly and what better way to make people jolly than fresh baked cookies. Oatmeal cookies are easy and nutritious. Thing 1 and Thing 2 don't eat any type of nuts unless it's in their cookies, oatmeal cookies to be precise. I usually make the regular raisin, cinnamon, almond variety, but decided to make chocolate oatmeal cookies this time around. They came out wonderful, I just had to tweak the recipe a bit as I thought the batter was a bit dry. It worked perfectly the first time around so I'm going to include the recipe here for all of you lovelies who want to try this at home.

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup flour
3 tbs cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla (I used powdered vanillin which you can get at Casa Pedro)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cup oats (not too fine, not too thick, regular oats)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (or raisins, I used raisins 'cause I didn't have choco chips at home)
1 1/2 eggs (I doubled the whole recipe and used 3 eggs - it was perfect)

• Cream butter and sugars together
• Add egg, vanilla
• Mix all dry ingredients together (except for the oats)
• Mix in all the dry ingredients
  
• Fold in oats and raisins or chips
• Bake in hot oven for about 8-10 min or until slightly brown on the sides
• Wait a couple of minutes before removing carefully from baking sheet and cooling on cookie rack
• Store in an air tight container, they keep for about 5 days, if they aren't eaten before then

Enjoy!

Recipe: Black Bean Casserole

What to do with leftover beans and rice? I know, make a casserole! This casserole is super easy and super yummy.

The cast of characters:

2 cups rice
2 cups beans
8 slices yellow cheese
1 large onion
flour
cayenne pepper
parsley
chives

Take your leftover beans and rice and mix them together. If your beans have thickened too much, add some water, the mixture should be creamy.

Put half of the bean and rice mix into a baking tray, cover with cheese, then spread the rest of the bean and rice dip on top. Put another layer of cheese.

Sprinkle with parsley and chives.

Slice the onions thickly.

Mix the cayenne with the flour and toss the onions in it and then fry.

Sprinkle the onions on top of the casserole and bake until melty and delish.

Bon Appetit!

Recipes - Muffins!

Apple Banana Muffins

5 med size bananas

1 apple

1/3 cup oil

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 ¼ tsp royal

1 ¼ tsp bicarb

1 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

1tsp salt

vanilla

zest of one orange

- Mash the frick out of the bananas and grate the apple

- Add in the oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and zest

- Sift in the flour, bicarb, royal and salt

- Fold in and DO NOT over mix or you will have muffins that look like the coneheads and are hard as rocks instead of glorious little cakes. This happens whenever you over mix a batter that contains bicarb. It doesn’t like to be mixed too much, mkay? Good.

- Spoon the batter into little tins lined with those cute paper cups, or use a silicone muffin tray (you can totally get it at Extra here and it’s not very expensive, like R$15). If you’re using the paper cups you don’t have to use any grease to line them. Just spoon the mix right on in. If you’re using silicone, I would suggest either a cooking spray or a paper towel with some oil on it, just lightly grease it, no need to get carried away. I like to spoon quite a bit of batter almost to the top. It make the muffins extra glorious.

- Cook on medium heat for about 30min depending on your oven. To check them insert a toothpick and it should come out clean. You know, basic test.

- Let them cook and then remove them from the muffin cups, trays, whatever.

- This whole recipe can be made using a fork, at most you’ll need a spatula to fold and scrape, but maybe not even that.

This is a perfect after school snack or for any time of the day, just don't overdo it 'cause they're really good and it's easy to eat too many. Now, when I'm feeling generous I add raisins and nuts. This recipe is really good with Brazil nuts, but use your imagination. I've also grated some carrots in as well and it was delish. Don't be shy, experiment and it'll be great. For a very easy variation, you can make this exact recipe but add 1/2 cup of cocoa powder and make chocolate banana muffins. Go crazy and add chocolate chips to that as well and you'll have a seriously decadent snack.

This one's for you, V. Love ya!

Enjoy!