Moqueca de Camarão - Prawns Stew Bahia Style

Ingredients

1 kg Medium Prawns Clean

1 Large RED Capsicum

1 Large GREEN Capsicum

1 Large YELLOW Capsicum

1 Large RED ONION

2 Tomatoes

1 ½ BULB of Garlic chopped or minced

1 Large Lime or Lemon

1 teaspoon Black Pepper

1 tablespoon Sea Salt, (optional)

1 tablespoon Dried shrimp or Shrimp paste.

140 grams Tomato Paste

100 milliliters DENDÊ Oil* (Orange Palm Oil), *See Notes

100 milliliters Olive Oil

400 milliliters Coconut Cream (NOT Milk), 1 CAN

2 Bunches Coriander with roots FRESH, Thicker roots are better

Red chillies, (optional) To Your Taste

Servings: 6

Source: Beto Boton

Method

1. Marinade Prawns 

Squeeze the lime/lemon on prawns.

Add 1/3 of the minced garlic

Add black pepper.

Stems and roots of coriander minced or finely chopped

Hand mix it gently and leave it resting for an hour in the fridge.

2. Slice and Chop 

Chop(or slicer) Onion and Capsicum, I prefer to do this on the slicer from my food processor that gives me a very uniform slice without destroying the texture of the capsicum or onion and set aside. (as shown)

Chop roughly Coriander leaves and slice your Chillies, set aside.

3. Cooking Time ! 

On a large pot put All Olive Oil and HALF Palm Oil (Dendê).

Add all minced garlic left and Sauté until very soft not browned, use lower temperature if it starts to caramelise.

Personally, I add my chillies WITH the onion ad garlic so it gives me a good overall heat and punch to the dish. (I love chillies)

4. The other ingredients

Add chopped Tomatoes.

Add Tomato paste.

Add Dried Shrimp

Add Salt (you can totally omit the use of salt since dried shrimp is salty)  

Mix well.

Add all Capsicum and stir to mix well and release it's juices. Do not let the Capsicum collapses and/or dissolve, it has to continue to be a bit firm.

5. Prawns

Add all Dendê Oil left 

Immediately add your Prawns and gently turn all the mixture together with care not to brake the Prawns

Prawn will cook very quickly, please be careful not to overcook them. 

6. TIP

I usually pay attention to the cut used to devein the prawn to check if it is cooked there, then it is OK since it will continue to cook in the mixture.

7. Final Touches

Add Coconut milk and stir it gently.

As soon as it come back to boiling point, turn off the gas.

Add chopped Coriander leaves and it is ready to serve. 

8. The End Result

Serve with white Rice.

Enjoy it.

NOTE: DENDÊ Oil

It is an Orange colour Palm Oil available on Asian, African and Brazilian food stores.

Nothing really “replaces” Dendê oil, but in case you can’t find it I suggest the following mixture:

2 Tablespoons of Turmeric

1 Teaspoon of Paprika sweet

1 Teaspoon of Imitation Saffron

All mixed on a 100 Ml of Olive Oil.

IF you are in AUSTRALIA you can buy it from here:

http://www.brazilianstylefoods.com.au/Brands/dendeOil.html

Turkey Legs with Potatoes & Broccoli

Well, here is a simple Sunday roast that will give you more time to rest and less cooking.

Here in Australia, Turkey legs ar inexpensive and available on the supermarket at an average Aus $5.80 per Kg (April 2014) so I believe it will cost more for the Broccoli than the Turkey itself...

Rub a lot of THYME (fresh preferably, if you have a herb garden) with mashed Garlic and Salt on the Turkey, Use a bit of Olive Oil and Salt & Black Pepper to complete your "marinate".
Cover with glad wrap and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight if you like.

Désirée potatoes are a good choice to to cut in quarters and you can sprinkle a bit of Thyme on them and add some Olive oil to place it all in the oven at 210º.

For how long?
It will depend on the weight of the Turkey!
The easy way is this: Use a bamboo stick to check the Turkey leg, if it goes through easily, It is DONE!

Broccoli - I personally like "Broccollini". Broccolini is a green vegetable similar to broccoli but with smaller florets and longer, thin stalks.

Place the Broccolini on a steamer and cook gently, I prefer it with a bite (not soft)

On a small pan with Olive Oil, put some chopped Garlic and slowly heat it until brown, just before serving,

Pour the Garlic Olive Oil on top of your Broccolini.

Enjoy it with a Merlot wine.

Bacala Spanish Revolution - Bacalhau à Revolução Espanhola

Bacala Spanish Revolution - Bacalhau à Revolução Espanhola

It is a tradition in Brazil that "good Friday" (Friday before Easter) is a day of eating Bacalhau. I have no idea where it started bit as far as I understand it is a fantastic excuse to cook Bacalhau!

 Bacalhau is a revolutionary invention. To travel long distances on a ship during the "discoveries period" Bacalhau was known as the "loyal friend". Dried Salted Cod fish, could be transported for long periods of time before the advent of refrigeration. It is preserved by the high content of salt and dehydration...

The first step of cooking it is to remove the salt and re-hydrate the fish. This process is better done in a period of 48 hours before cooking it.

The fish is divided in 9 or 12 rectangular parts thoroughly washed and then placed on a bowl, preferably stainless steel, and placed submerged in water to remove the salt.

This water is changed as frequently as every 6 or 8 hour, and the fish washed again every water change. It is important to know the content of "salted water" in the stainless steel bowl reaches lower temperatures than the ambient temperature of your fridge and this helps not "cooking" the fish in the water, just removing the salt.

Finally I cover my stainless steel bowl with glad-wrap (pvc) so it doesn't let my fridge smells fish, and if it does a place a bit of wood charcoal inside the fridge that will most certainly remove the fish odour.

Here in Tennant Creek, Central Australia, the temperatures are around 37º C to 42º C during this time of the year so. Before we started the cooking itself we prepared a good batch of watermelon juice (while you cook drink). It is just a lot of watermelon placed on a blender, nothing else., but really refreshing.

A trip to the backyard rendered a good bunch of Basil (Genovese) and the same amount of Coriander.

 

Also a few red chillies, I'll use only 2 or 3 of these long ones. 

 

Using a V slicer, we prepare two lots of 1 capsicum each. 1 Red Capsicum and 1 Green Capsicum. (or 2 if they are small!)    A couple of good size onions are also sliced very thinly with the V slicer !

 

Basil and Coriander are chopped coarsely and a few tomatoes (5) were diced to add to the mix.

I used 1 1/2 full head of whole garlic and add it to the pan without chopping! (Well...I love garlic!)

On a large pan fill it 70% with plain water and put it to boil.
Place 2 or 3 pieces of Bacalhau at the time to boil for 3 minutes and set it aside.

After finishing with the fish, remove all external bones from the already cooked fish and place it back in the pan, specially the tail.

We are using "red potatoes", 5 of them. Cook them in the same water until you can "hook them" with a fork. NOT too soft !

Assembling it!

On a "rechaud" style pan with lid or on a large and deep stainless steel baking tray, create a "bed" of tomatoes, onion, capsicum, green and red a couple of large whole chilies and sprinkle it with OREGANO (dried). I use ½ of the amount I previously prepared.

Break the potatoes in 8 and arrange the roughly on top of this bed.

Now place all the side parts of the fish in order to create a well covered layer of fish.

Use now ½ of the Coriander/Basil mix on top of the fish.

Place some calamata olives on top of the fish and 200ml of the water of the calamata olives jar. I'll end up using all the olives in this jar(image) and all water in it.

On top of this first layer of fish, create another layer of :
½ of What Is Left of your  Coriander/Basil mix
½ of What Is Left of onions
½ of What Is Left of Capsicum Red/Green

Arrange all the central parts of the Bacalhau re-assembling the central spine of the fish on top of this layer.

Add what is left of:

Coriander/Basil mix
Onions
Capsicum Red/Green
Olives
Water from the olives jar

On top of it use ½ litre of Extra Virgin Olive oil.
My preference is Carbonell, but this is a personal choice. It must be fruity, full bodied and green, very green.

Lid on or covered with foil place in the oven 200º C for an hour.
Ready!

Serve with rice and a good wine!

 

 I hope you enjoy it.

Viva el Bacalao!

Viva la revolucion!

 

Beto Boton

Paella - Irresistible

My friend Maurice Jacoel, posted me a photo of a very beautiful paella in Brasilia, Brazil.

Suddenly, I realised I had never posted my paella on this blog! 

This is interesting, since it is one of the dishes I've been cooking, and changing its recipe, constantly and for the last 20 years. 

I'll publish photos here from several different occasions (dates) and stages of cooking paella. So bear in mind there are variations!

The choice of RICE:

Here is the interesting part. I started cooking paella with "long grain" rice. I did experiment with medium grain, basmati, thai jasmine, and finally with Italian arborio rice. 

The verdict is this: The crowd I cook for, PREFERS a more "wet" paella rice, so I've been choosing the arborio rice to achieve this consistency, but sometimes, I go back to the traditional long grain, which produces a "dryer" end result.

Honestly, I got to know this "parboiled" (partially boiled) rice, and it is my opinion it is "rubbish", horrible and taste nothing besides it is a serious risk to get stuck on your throat. If you like it go for it, but I specifically believe its quality is unacceptable and should be avoided at all cost. 

Finally, if you can find it try "flor de calasparra" a special Spanish paella rice.

To Wash or not to Wash, that is the question.

If the rice is clean on the pack, don't wash it since a lot can be lost by prematurely inflating the rice with water. BUT if the rice contains talc and other substance "to look good" on the packaging, my suggestion is to rinse and dry it quickly (cloth or hair dryer doesn't matter how).

I start cooking, by placing a good amount of rich saffron stems on a stainless steel jar with hot water and set it aside for latter. I use 2 boxes of 1 gram of saffron each for 1 litre of water. 

The pan.

I used many different ones, but I end up buying a stainless steel spanish made by "magefesa" paella pan with lid 45cm diameter. I understand it is a shortcut to practicality over the more traditional carbon steel option I used in the past, and honestly, it is more difficult to burn the rice in the bottom an a lot easier to clean up after!

A good start is to cook red onions (purple) very thinly sliced and well chopped garlic in a bed of olive oil at medium heat until the onions are soft. I personally use Carbonell Extra Virgin, and I cover completely the bottom of the 45cm pan (about 1/2 litre to 750ml).

At this stage you may like to add some red / green capsicum, it enriches the flavour and gives a very good visual to the dish.

Next add Spanish Chorizo, it is important that you don't fry too much the chorizo, but what we want is to extract some colour and melt the fat in the chorizo so it will help flavour the rice. Usually I use 4 chorizos

Add rice after that and keep stirring it around so it changes colour. This is the point the rice is "sealed" outside. For my pan 1 Kg of rice.

At this point I add 250ml of Dry white wine and 250ml of the saffron water we prepared before. Keep reducing the liquid until you have 1/2 of it evaporated. That should get rid of the alcohol !

Add your seafood mix now and again 250ml of Dry white wine and 250ml of the saffron water we prepared before.

The seafood mix I use contains:

White flesh fish

Salmon

Mussels

Squid

Baby Octopus

Prawns (medium, deveined no tail no head)

The quality of these ingredients will determine "how good" the end result is! 

For my standard Paella 2 Kg of seafood mix

Mix it well, let it reduce a bit more (I'm after a no alcohol smell).

Add another 250ml of Dry white wine and 250ml of the saffron water we prepared before.

Now it is the crucial point:

Quickly decorate the top with strips of Red capsicum and of course you can use, green and yellow too ! Who's going to stop you ! It is your paella !

The final ingredient is :

Prawns, Cray fish, Mussels, Lobster or what we use a lot here in Australia Moreton Bay Bugs ( Thenus Orientalis) Please don't be shy here! This is the size of the WOW you're going to get!

Please be generous!

Decorate the top with your choice or a combination of it!

Let the slow cooking of these ingredients determine when it is ready to serv. 

Keep an eye using a bamboo skewer that the liquid has evaporated to a dryer than risotto level!

Serve with a selection of extra virgin Olive Oil and a good assortment of different chillies!

Have fun!

Totally undecided Bacalhau - Bacalhau Totalmente Indeciso

Bacalhau com batatas ao murro cebolada e brocoli

Punched Potatoes, Broccolis and Onion Feast Bacalhau

Well this recipe could be called “Indecided Bacalhau”.

You know, when you cannot decide which recipe you will use and looking at the main ingredient for a while it is as indecisive as you are?
...and then comes the option of “what a hell, do them all!”.

The key point on this one is that the Bacalhau would be grilled in the oven!

First step was to hydrate and desalinate the Bacalhau as previously explained in another post.

Using bits and pieces of the fish ( pectoral, dorsal, pelvic and caudal fins) or in short skins with bones, boil them in a small saucepan. Here you can place them inside a a small cloth bag or by themselves.

We use this water to boil small sized round potatoes, and small size white onions (the ones used for pickled onions) until they are 50% ready. You can test them by sticking a fork into the potatoes so they get in but not totally through, and the onions they are soft so you can get them with the fork and they are still very intact.

When this is done, punch gently with your hands each potatoes so it opens / breaks skin BUT do not squash them.


On a good baking tray, cover the bottom with good quality extra virgin olive oil.


Place the alternating potatoes and onions in order to create a base for the Bacalhau
Place the Bacalhau on top.


Add some Bay leaves sparingly.





Steam your Broccolis, don’t overcook it, it has to be firm.

On a small saucepan put a bit of Olive oil and finely chopped garlic cooking it until the garlic starts to get dark.
Immediately pour HALF of this over the fish and the other half on top of the broccolis (in a separate serving dish)

Add Black Olives with a bit of the black olives water on top of the fish.
Put all in the oven at 200 C for about 30 minutes covered with foil and then remove the foil and allow another 30 min approximately to get a “firm skin” on the fish.

Using the grill on your stove you can finish it up until it is with a crisp skin look and feel.

Put the broccolis to heat up in the oven briefly.

And Serve it all with a good "Vinho Verde" or Rieseling.

Bom Apetite!

Bacalhau - Salted Dried Cod Fish

Bacalhau (sounds like : [bakalyaw] ba - like in bar; ca - like car, lhau - like lyaw)

Bacalhau is the name given to "dried salted cod fish" Portuguese. Also known as bacalao in Spanish and baccalà in Italian. This fish is known for more than 500 years and it is part of the gastronomy of may cultures and particularly of interest for me to the Portuguese and Brazilian cultures.

The type of cod usually (or originally) known as "bacalhau" is the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) from cold waters of the North Atlantic but some 60 other types of fish had been used to produce bacalhau like: Gadus macrocephalus , Gadus virens  Molva molva (also known as bacalhau Ling),  Brosmius brosme (also known as bacalhau Zarbo), note to the Arapaima Gigas (common name pirarucu) an Amazonian species also used to produce the dried and salted fish.

We will call it from now on just bacalhau.

Choosing a "good quality" bacalhau:


There are more techniques known to choose the best bacalhau then bacalhau in the North Atlantic!
I look for a fish that is:
    •    well covered with a lot of salt
    •    that is well dried (not too flexible), firm not rigid
    •    that has a wither than yellowish colour
    •    nice thickness when bought (dried)
    •    and a good size 2 to 3 Kg

Try to search the net for it there are very funny ways to choose the "best bacalhau".

The "Hydrating and Desalination" process:

The most important part of the process of cooking bacalhau is to re-hydrate and remove the salt from fish. In the past this process was done by submerging the fish in water and continuosly changing the water. Well it did not change in 500 years! The only difference is that today most people prefer to do this using cold water and maintaining the fish inside the fridge or cold room during this process.

Known in Portugal as "de-molhar" (deixar de molho) and in Brazil as de-salgar or de-salar (retirar o sal), is the desalination that is done usually in a period of 24 to 48 hours (preferably) where the fish is washed of the external salt, and submerged in water, and this water frequently (usually every 6 hours) changed with fresh water.

I personally prefer to place the fish inside stainless steel bowls and cover them with plastic film in order not to have the strong smell of fish spreading inside your fridge! Just in case your fridge starts to smell fish, place a bit of charcoal inside the fridge and this will help remove the strong odour.
During the hydrating and salt removing process the fish will expand due to the water absorption, so please allow enough room on your bowl(s) so this process is facilitated. The final thickness of the bacalhau also depends on this expanding proccess.

Some people in a hurry, boil the fish with potatoes to remove the salt, hydrate and at the same time cook potatoes that will "taste" bacalhau. I personally don't like this process but it is "the last resort" when at the end of the hydrating and desalinating process the fish is still with a very salty taste.

The cooking process:

Once again this is impossible to have "the right way" of cooking.
The fact is that bacalhau is so versatile as an ingredient that it can be present and an entrée, cold / warm salads and of course as main.

The most famous "accomplices" of bacalhau are:

• potatoes
• onions
• olives
• chickpeas
• brocoli
• spinash
• and many others

Bacalhau can be mainly:

• boiled
• grilled
• fried etc

There is always a "new and improved way" of creating the perfect dish with bacalhau, but please remember it is already "cooked" by the drying and salting proccess so, dont overdo it!

I'll publish a few recipes or methods I like to prepare bacalhau, I hope you will enjoy.

Back in business - GOOD FOOD business

Hello

NEVER EVER in my life I had a single impulse of growing food.
UNTIL the day we moved to the Australian Outback.

It started with the fact not even viagra would make the bunch of parsley stay up. It was old, refrigerated - de -refrigerated  etc.

The house we moved in had 2 ready made "planting areas"

One covered :

And one uncovered

it was too much of a temptation.

My wife and I got into the "lets try it" mood.

We first found an excellent, reliable seeds shop. Our choice was GreenHarvest, because we lived on he Sunshine Coast and the website was very easy to use . I make no money from them and I'm very happy to be just a well served customer. ( http://www.greenharvest.com.au/ )

We bought :

• Coriander
• Parsley
• Bok Choy
• Thai Basil
• and others AH ! almost forgot, as an old Astrologer I also bought a planting with the Moon guide, which I followed on my growing stuff venture.

Of course the 40º C temperature outside is not really inviting to work on the garden so w used the mornings an late afternoons to prepare the ground and seed it.

We decides to create another planting area with more shade (it gets the morning Sun up to 10:30 AM) and place the Thai Basil and Parsley there>

This is the Coriander and Bok Choy after 2 weeks:

And here is the Thai Basil and Parsley after 2 weeks

The "wet season" here in Tennant Creek, NT, Australia has just started a week ago, and everything has doubled the size on these pictures.

We had a pick on Coriander to cook "Bolinhos de Bacalhau" (Cod Fish Fritters)

and a Fresh Bok Choy SALAD.

What a pleasure to have fresh organically grown products from your own backyard!

More recipes, coming soon, including "Bolinhos de Bacalhau"!

Cheers