Life's a Beach w/ Treats!

If you want to live like a true carioca (native of Rio), you gotta know Rio beach food. Rio de Janiero has one of the most beautiful beaches in the world- soft sand, beautiful warm water, and of course great food!

What could make any beautiful beach day better? BBQ!!!



Food on a Stick: Beach vendors go around w/ with hand held charcoal grills in one hand (above) and a cooler filled with either meat, cheese or shrimp on a stick and grill your food right there on the spot-- Ahhh, the life!!!
Shrimp on a stick served w/ fresh limes:
2 sticks for R$5 ($2.50 US)



Mate Gelado:
Nick being the Baltimorian that he is was overjoyed to discover the matte man. A guy walks up and down the beaches with 2 ice cold kegs- one filled with iced tea (or matte) and the other filled with lemonade. For R$2 (or US $1), he lets you fill up whatever proportion of half-and-half (or Arnold Palmer) you prefer.

Other great beach and/or street vendors:
- Corn on the cobb with as much buttery goodness as you can brush on
- Tapiocas: crepes made on the spot and filled with anything from cheese to coconut
- Roasted Nuts
- Fresh coconut water
- Caipirinha-- a national favorite drink
(more on the latter 2 in future posts)

...and of course beer (SKOL!)

Bom-dia Brazil!!!

I just spent an amazing week in Rio de Janeiro- Brazil and want to share some of my cultural and culinary adventures with you all!

A little background on Brazilian food--
Brazilian cuisine is a unique combination of three main cultures: Native Indians (aboriginals), Portugese (colonizers), and the Africans (slaves). The ingredients and cooking techniques of these people are all integrated into the food that is Brazil.

While Brazil has a very diverse immigrant community, including the largest Japanese population outside of Japan (Sao Paulo in secific), most of these other cultures have retained their own culinary identity and are not as integral to Brazilian cuisine.

Over the next few weeks I'll be blogging about all things Brazil and sharing with you the deliciousness of Rio de Janeiro!

Fried Turkey & Cabbage Wontons

Most traditional recipes call for ground pork but I happen to have ground turkey at home plus this is a leaner/ healthier alternative... without sacrificing taste!

Ingredients:

1/2 small cabbage (about 8 oz)

1/2 tsp salt + 1/4 tsp

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp ginger, grated

3 scallions, chopped

1/2 lb ground turkey

1/4 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 Tb soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

Directions:

1) Toss cabbage w/ 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Let it stand for 15 minutes (this draws the moisure out) & squeeze out any access liquid

2) Combine turkey, garlic, ginger, scallions, soy sauce, salt, sesame oil w/ cabbage until well mixed

3) Place a bit of the mixture in the middle of a wonton wrapper & fold according to the directions below & seal w/ egg mixture

4) Deep fry until golden brown & cooked. Serve w/ soy dipping sauce (below)

Folding Wonton Dumplings:

- Place the wonton on a flat surface in a diamond position

- Add a small spoonful of the mixture to the center of the wonton (be careful not to over stuff)

- Brush the edges w/ egg

- Fold the wonton in half so that the bottom corner of the wonton fold over the top corner to form a triangle & seal

- Fold the right and left corners together and seal w/ egg


Soy dipping sauce:

soy sauce, rice vinegar, salt-- combine ingredients to taste

Strawberry Basil Sorbet

This Strawberry Basil Sorbet recipe only calls for 5 ingredients (strawberries, sugar, basil, lemon juice & salt) and is all natural. Its a great way to treat yourself to a healthy dessert for the New Year!

Ingredients:

3 cups strawberries (cut in half, stemless)

2/3 cup sugar-- I used all natural cane sugar

1/4 cup basil, coarsely chopped

2 tea fresh lemon juice

pinch of salt

Directions:

1) Combine the strawberries, sugar & basil and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes-- you'll know they're ready when a thin glossy syrup coats the strawberries


2) Add everything (mixture, lemon juice & salt) to a blender or food processor and let 'er rip

3) Cover & refrigerate the mixture (2 hours or more)

4) Pour the cold puree into the ice cream maker and churn

5) Place in freezer safe container and sit in freezer for at least 2 hours.

And thats it- you've got fresh all natural sorbet at home!

**update: I redid this same recipe w/ fresh mint instead of basil and it turned out just as great!**

Fried Tofu with a Soy-Lime Dipping Sauce

Tofu is normally not on my regular shopping list but i decided to pick some up to experiment with. After playing around with a few ideas, this fried tofu recipe ended up being one of my favorites.

I coat the cubes of tofu with cornstarch which gives it a really light airy crunch. Pair that with my fresh soy-lime dipping sauce and its a great snack.

Fried Tofu with soy lime dipping sauce

Ingredients:

Tofu

Cornstarch

Soy-lime dipping sauce:

Soy sauce

Lime juice

Rice Vinegar

Salt

Directions:

1) Drain all the juice from tofu and pat dry with a paper towel.

2) Cut the tofu into one inch cubes and coat liberally with cornstarch

3) Deep Fry until golden and crisp

4) While the tofu is deep frying, combine all the ingredients to make the dipping sauce. I didn't put measurements so you can make the sauce to taste. I typically put larger quantities of soy sauce and lime juice. If you want your sauce a little sweeter, try adding some honey to the mixture.

(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

Crispy Wasabi- Basil Tuna Rolls

This tuna recipe is the 'effin' best- No Drake. Plus, its super easy to make!

Ingredients:

• Tuna Steaks-- the real stuff, non of that canned chicken from the sea ish
• Wasabi paste
• Basil
• Spring roll wrappers
• Salt-N-Pepa
• Oil- for deef frying

1) Season fresh tuna steak w/ salt, pepper & wasabi paste

2) Arrange the spring roll wrappers so that the corner is facing you and the seasoned tuna steak is horizontal at the bottom of the paper


3) Put some fresh basil on the tuna


4) Wrap the tuna- tightly rolling up, fold right & left corners in to the center, continue to roll to the top; seal w/ beaten egg

*see my spring roll video for tips on how to roll


5) Deep fry 'em to your preferance- I like my tuna rare/ medium-rare