BRAZILISH FOOD is the pleasure of my life translated in my favourite recipes, from UK (the home I chose), Brazil (my home) or from any other place that the food makes me feel at home.
BRAZILISH FOOD é o prazer da minha vida traduzido em minhas receitas favoritas, do Reino Unido (a casa que eu escolhi), Brasil (minha casa) ou de qualquer outro lugar em que a comida faz com que eu me sinta em casa.
There are many different recipes for pancakes and, obviously, my favourite is my mum's one!
As I've said before on the "Food and I" post, my mum is a chef and one of the best I've ever known, and her recipes always work for me! Even though sometimes I adapt them to my taste.
The pancake recipe can be used for sweet and savoury fillings. Here is the ingredients list:
250g of plain flour 100g of corn flour 2 cups of milk 2 eggs 1/2 tsp of salt A pinch of baking powder Butter - to grease the frying pan
Beat all the ingredients in a blender and leave it to rest for, at least, 30 minutes, meanwhile it is a good idea to prepare the fillings and sauces you want to have with your pancake.
Here I've done chicken, spinach and mozzarella filling with bechamel sauce for main course as well as nutella and double cream for desert. But I would also recommend a ham, cheese, tomato (all finely chopped) with oregano filling and tomato sauce. Delicious!!!
I am posting the video of how I cook the pancakes, but if you're not as confident with flipping them in the air, just do it with the help of a fork.
I am not "listing" the fillings ingredients, as I believe you will do as you like, but I will describe what I've done anyway...
For the filling: Fry 2 chicken breast chopped in 1 tbsp of butter and 1 of olive oil. Mixture 1 tsp of garlic paste and fry until the chicken pieces are golden brown. Add one medium onion finely chopped and fry all until onion goes soft. Turn the heat off and add about 100g of spinach and 1 ball of mozzarella, both chopped.
For my bechamel sauce: Fry 1 finely chopped onion in 2/3 tbsp of butter and 1/2 of olive oil. Add a clove, a pinch of nutmeg and a full tbsp of garlic paste and fry until golden. Add 3 cups of milk and in another cup of milk dissolve 1 and 1/2 tbsp of corn flour. Season to taste. Remove the clove, blend the sauce and sieve it, if you prefer your bechamel nice and soft (I don't mind the texture of the onion, but if you're doing for other people I would recommend you to do so).
Fill the pancakes with your mixture.
Fold the sides.
And place them in a baking tray.
Cover with cheddar cheese.
Put the bechamel over the pancakes and sprinkle Parmesan cheese and some black pepper.
Bake in a preheated oven on 180 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes.
Serve hot. The picture below does not look so appetising but I can guarantee it was delicious!
For the desert one I spread 2 tsp of nutella on the pancake, folded and served with a tbsp of double cream (could have been ice cream if I have had any on my freezer)! Yummy!
Well, I am calling it "not really" because it did not taste like the round-the-corner Chinese satay sauce (which is great, even coming from a take away - and yes, sometimes I go for a take away). But having said that, the taste was still beautiful!!! - Modest, me??? ;-)))
And as always, it will be up to you to try it, improve it and comment...
For my satay sauce I used: 2 tbsp of smooth peanut butter - I would rather have used the crunchy one 1 tbsp of soy sauce 1 tbsp of honey 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar 1 tsp of garlic paste 1 tsp of sesame oil 1/2 tsp of mixed spices 1/2 tsp of turmeric 1/3 tsp of grated ginger 1/2 a red chilli - to your taste, I like it mild Juice of 1 lemon 1 small onion - I forgot this ingredient on my one, but I bet it will taste just as great if not better.
Put all the ingredients together in a mixer and it'll be ready!
For my chicken: 2 chicken breasts - cleaned and sliced in strips 1/2 tsp of garlic paste 1/2 tsp of salt 1 spoon of olive oil Black pepper to taste
Grill the strips for about 2 minutes each side, put the heat down, grill each side for another 3 minutes, heat up again to finish it and give it some colour.
Put the chicken in a bowl and mix with the sauce - you can serve it separately if you prefer - and it is ready to serve. With white rice and some salad was just delicious!
My white rice recipe: 2 1/2 tbsp of vegetable oil 2 ramekins of basmati rice 1 tsp very full of garlic paste Salt to taste About 750 ml to a litre of water
Fry the garlic paste in the oil, when well fried (refer to picture below) add the rice.
When the rice gets opaque, add the water about 5 cm above the rice line, season to taste (try the water to check if it has enough salt for you), put the lid on the pan, heat down and leave it for about 20 minutes. Again, do not mix the rice at all until it is ready. Everyone in UK that have tried my rice loves it, so, give it a go!
* Jon (my ex English teacher) has challenged me to cook the Brazilian Moqueca with English fish. So, NEXT PLANNED RECIPE: English Fish Brazilian Moqueca
