How to Cut a Pineapple

Brazilian Fish Stew-- BRL Version

While in Rio I had the most amazing Fish Stew ever. I bought some Brazilian ingredients and so that I could recreate it at home. Here's what I came up with:



Ingredients:
1 1/4 lb white fish- such as bass, halibut, or tilapia
4 cloves garlic
1-2 shallots (or 1 onion)
1 green onions/ scallions
1 inch piece ginger
4 Tb cilantro
1/2 lime
4 Tb dende oil
2 Tb Extra virgin olive oil
1 Tb tomato paste
1 cup seafood stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup coconut milk
hot peppers (optional to taste)
salt n' pepa
1-2 tomatoes

Directions:
1) Chop the garlic, ginger, scallions, shallots & cilantro
2) Place the fish in a plastic ziplock bag and build the marinade by adding the olive oil, 1/2 the dende oil and half of the garlic, ginger, scallions, shallots & cilantro. Let the marinade sit for about 2-3 hours
3)Heat the remaining dende oil in a pot and add the rest of shallots, green peppers, ginger, and garlic. Let this cook for a few minutes. Add the fish with remaining marinade and lime juice. Cook on both sides.
4) Add seafood stock, white wine & salt and pepper to taste and let simmer. Add tomato paste and stir until dissolved
5) Add coconut milk, tomatoes, hearts of palm & peppers
6) Serve w/ fresh cilantro and steamed rice

**A few notes**
- I changed the written recipe from the video so that everything is cooked in the same pot--- one less dish to wash!
- Although I used a filet for the video, I would reccomend using a fish steak as it will hold better in the stew
- Feel free to add other items such as hearts of palm (very Brazilian & you can get them canned of jarred at the market) or shrimp (MMMmmmm)
- The stew in the video is a little lighter in color than you might experience. I reccomend using less coconut milk than I did in the video. I adjusted the written recipe to reflect the correct amount.
- Dende oil is very strong and high in fat so try not to go overboard with it

(Better than) Carryout Orange Chicken

Ingredients:
(Serves 2)

• 1 chicken breast
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 Tb Peanut/Canola Oil ( for the wok-additional oil needed for deep frying)
• Flour (for coating chicken)
• 1 Orange (1/2 cup of the juice and zest from rind)
• 1/4 cup Chicken Broth
• 1 Tb of corn starch
• 2 Tb Soy Sauce
• 1 Tb Honey
• 1 inch Ginger Root- finely chopped
• 1 clove Garlic- finely chopped
• 1 Scallion- chopped
• 1 Chili Pepper- finely chopped
  

Directions:
Sauce-
1) Make Sauce: Combine orange juice, chicken broth, cornstarch, soy sauceinto a measuring cup and mix well--set to de side

Chicken-
2) Dice chicken into bite size chunks
3) Coat in egg batter, then flour. Repeat again
4) Fry coated chicken & degrease

Combine-
5) In a wok with the peanut oil, add: ginger, garlic, spring onions, hot pepper, & orange zest
6) Once flavors release, add the sauce mixture and simmer until bubbling and thickened
7) Add chicken with broccoli and coat until completely covered

Quick Tip: Peeling & Deveining a Shrimp

Shrimp Spring Rolls

The measurements for this recipe are estimates so feel free to play around with it. If you want to make this a vegetarian dish, simply omit the shrimp. Makes 12-15 rolls.

Ingredients:
· 3 oz Vermicelli Noodles
· 2 Tb Oil (Vegetable, Peanut or Canola)
· 1/3 lb Shrimp- peeled &deveined
· 2 inch Ginger Root- finely chopped
· 3 cloves Garlic- finely chopped
· 2 Scallions- chopped
· 2 Carrots- shredded
· 2 Bean Sprouts
· 5 oz Spinach
· Small bunch Cilantro
· Spring Roll Wrappers
· 2 Tb Soy Sauce
· 1 Egg
· Oil, for frying

Preparing Ingredients:
Soak the vermicelli noodles according to the directions on the package and once complete, cut them into smaller pieces. Finely chop the ginger, slice the scallions, shred the carrots and coarsely chop the spinach, cilantro and shrimp. I recommend having all of the ingredients ready before you heat up your wok because everything will cook very quickly.

Cooking the Mixture:
In a hot wok, add oil, ginger, garlic, and scallions. Let this cook until the flavors release. Next, add carrots, bean sprouts, spinach, cilantro, soy sauce and noodles. Mix this together well so that your get an even bite of all the in the filling. Let this cook for a few minutes and once its finished, set the mixture aside and let it cool. Beat the egg in a small bowl and set aside.

Wrapping the Spring Rolls:
Peel the wrappers apart and cover with a damp towel to keep them from drying. Lay one of the shells in front of you with one corner towards you (like the shape of a diamond) and the other corners facing your right, left, and up.

Once the mixture is cooled, add a spoonful of the filling to the bottom-center of the spring roll wrapper. (If the mixture is not cooled properly, it could burn through your wrapper). Roll the mixture in the wrapper tightly but be careful not to rip the wrapper. Once halfway up, fold each of the two sides to the center and continue rolling up. When you get about one inch from the top of the wrapper, rub a bit of the egg wash on the wrapper to seal the spring roll.

Cookin’ It up:
Heat your frying device (deep fryer, wok with a few inches of oil, etc). Once all of the spring rolls are assembled and your oil is hot, slowly place the spring rolls in the oil and cook until golden brown. Degrease the spring rolls by placing them on paper towel. Serve plain or with a dipping sauce. I like to use a sweet chili sauce.

Simple Veggie Flatbread Pizza

Ingredients:
· Pizza Dough (see flatbread pizza recipe below or use store bought dough)
· 3 Tbs Olive Oil
· 2 handfuls of Spinach
· ¼ Tomato
· ¼ Red Onion
· 4 Mushrooms
· ¼ Bell Pepper
· 4 oz Italian Blend Cheese
· 8 leaves of fresh Basil
· Italian Seasoning- for seasoning
· Crushed Red Peppers- for seasoning
· Ground Black Pepper- for seasoning

Grease a pizza pan with butter (I used a 12” air-bake pan). Stretch the dough to the edges of the pan and cover it with a towel. Let it rise for about 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While the dough is rising, prepare the topping for the pizza by slicing the tomato, onion, mushrooms and bell pepper into whatever size you prefer.

Once the dough has risen, make depressions in the dough with your fingers and form a crust. Brush the top of the pizza dough with 3 Tb of olive oil.

Now it’s time to form the pizza!!! Place the spinach, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers directly on the flatbread. Season the pizza with Italian seasoning, crushed red peppers, and black pepper. Add the shredded cheese on top and season the entire pizza again. Put the pizza in the oven and bake on 400 degrees for 13 minutes or until the bread is cooked.

Once the entire pizza is finished, top it off with fresh basil (either in thin slices or whole) & serve.


Here’s how I made the Flatbread Pizza Dough:

Ingredients:
· ¾ cup of water
· 2 Tb of olive of vegetable oil
· 2 cup bread flour
· 1 Tb sugar
· 1 tsp salt
· 1 ½ tsp bread machine or dry active yeast
· 3 Tb of olive

Place all of the ingredients into your bread machine (except the 3 Tb of olive oil) according to the directions on your machine. Most machines will have the wet ingredients first, dry ingredients on top and yeast last (so that it’s not touching the water).

Select the Dough/ Manual Cycle and start.

Remove the dough from the pan (lightly flour your hands to keep the dough from sticking to you). Cover and let it rest for 10 mins (your bread machine may already factor this rest time at the end of your dough cycle).