*Cream of Arraracha - His and Hers*

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Ah, vacation! After the stress of the semester's finals, I can finally kick back and enjoy my kitchen once again.
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In all truth, I first made this cream exactly one month ago. I was fighting off the sniffles, needing something nourishing and filling while I studied, and had some arraracha (known as mandioquinha in Brazil) begging to be used. Arraracha is the Mister's thing, not mine, but I decided to give it a try. A girly, frilly, healthy try.

Cream of Arracacha – One for the ladies
250 gr. Arracacha
2 cups chicken stock (homemade is better)
½ cup sliced leeks
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsp silken tofu or soy cream
½ large red onion
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté the leeks and garlic.
Peel and chop the arracacha. Add to the pot with the leeks and garlic, and cover with the chicken stock. Cook for 20 minutes.
Blend with tofu and adjust spice.
Garnish with thinly sliced red onion or shallots and freshly ground pepper.
Makes 2 servings.
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This week I bought the tubers thinking of this cream. It's been cold down here, and awfully gray and rainy. Nothing like comfort food in such weather, eh?

Or as I told the Mister when he got home, dinner was gonna rock his socks off...

Block Rockin’ Cream of Arracacha
500 gr. arracacha
3 ½ cups water
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp butter
1 cup roughly chopped old Dutch master or other hard cheese
½ cup milk cream
1 tsp nutmeg
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
4 or 5 sprigs of green onions
½ cup Paris mushrooms

Mince the garlic finely. In a deep pot, sauté the garlic till golden.
Cut the arracacha in small pieces. Add to pot, salt and cover with 2 cups of water. Let boil for at least 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a separate pan, sauté the mushrooms with 1 tbsp of butter. Thinly slice the green onions. Reserve.
When the arracacha is done, add the remaining butter, water, the nutmeg and milk cream. With an immersion blender or food processor, blend until the mixture has become a smooth cream. Add cheese and blend. Not incorporating the old master completely gives the cream an interesting texture. You could use grated cheese instead, and skip the blending.
Taste and adjust spice.
Serve and garnish with mushrooms, green onions and black pepper.
Makes 4 servings.
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Sure, potatoes would do too... but arraracha has a distinctive strong flavor of its own, definitely worth giving it a try.
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Once again I'm tortured by all the photos of burgers and hot dogs and the description of warm picnic/grilling weather online. So even if the weather ain't right, I'll be making myself a cheeseburger and enjoying the spirit of the day.
Happy 4th of July!
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*Beware of Shark!*

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I mean it! And don't let the Chinese-market-bought platter fool you, there is nothing Asian about this dish. Mid-Eastern? Maybe, this one time, let's not classify flavors.


I finally bought fish at the Farmers Market this week and wanted to make something special for the Mister, as the official Fish-Eater in the house. Unfortunately, a quick griddle did not do the trick for him, as it did for me. He prefers his shark deep-fried. I prefer mine with a mint bite, soft and tender and just a bit edgy. Shark steaks have a firm flesh when raw, but become flaky quite quick over high heat.
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This is the recipe I used for the fish. I changed it a bit as for proportions, but only because I have the biggest loveliest mint bunch from the market right now. As for the sides, I cooked and then sautéed some potatoes with paris mushrooms, and fixed my staple salad of romaine and iceberg lettuce, roma tomato, raw onions and black olives. The dressing, going with the mint theme, was a concoction of chanclich (which I am guessing must be Jibneh Arabieh, but with zatar), mayo, salt, pepper, shredded mint and lime juice. Refrigerated, its now one of my favorite salad dressings of all times. Hell, I'd even eat that pure.
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Maybe the whole meal was too light and refreshing for the cold days we have been having. But its something I would definitely make again. And sorry, but I DO NOT deep-fry.
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In all honesty, cooking lunch is a big deal for me, something I rarely do, specially if I am alone. Usually, I'll just fix myself something like this:

Do you like? Thats organic peanut-butter, made with brown sugar, honey and banana on slightly toasted whole-wheat bread. Good enough to even chase away the rainy clouds. As long as you don't have to go outside, obviously.
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As for tonight, I decided to cook just for myself, as the Mister is not around. Something quick, with the mushrooms I have been craving for days. So what if its Ramen? Its ramen with sautéed shimeji and shitake mushrooms, a grilled chicken sausage, some garlic, lots of red pepper and some cheese. Oh yeah, and a beer, just because its Friday night.
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*typically...*

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Municipal Market - Joinville - SC - Brazil. Last Saturday.
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The region suffers influence of German, Italian, Portuguese, Swiss and Norwegian colonization. And it all shines through in the local cuisine.
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That probably was the tastiest pork sausage I have ever eaten in my whole life. The combination of spices was simply perfect.
Smoked local pork sausage with spices, Pirão'd'água (cassava flour cooked with broth or water until it acquires the consistency of porridge), egg fried in pork fat with bacon, and a vinaigrette with "cavalo" beans.
The pirão is the perfect creamy base for the otherwise fatty dish. What could have been overwhelming (in a bad way) becomes refreshing and filling. Something one could definitely consider comfort food.
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The local beers, strangely, all have a lightly fruity taste to them. Quite nice on a warm Saturday afternoon, to the sound of Chorinho. Now I have to go back to eat their sausage sandwich or fish dishes. Hmmm...


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*homecooking*

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Simple and straightforward. Topside stew, with carrots and potatoes; whole grain rice, cooked with chicken gizzard, and beans; sautéed chard. And a plate full of beautifully coloured produce: lettuce, cabbage, raw beet stalks and carrots.


It was my first time eating raw beet stalks. Maybe its just that they're really fresh, but they were sweet and crunchy.
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Delicious, served with a side of food talk with mom. Not getting a second serving takes a whole lot of self-control.
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*that old flame*

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At the mall, after walking around for a bit, we finally found a table. I was hungry, yet clueless about what it was that I truly craved. After pondering all the possible options, I decided on coming home and cooking something myself. Why? Why not just enjoy the practicality of ready-to-go food just as I enjoy the ease of pret-a-porter?
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I couldn't. There is something haunting me, pleading to be made. Something I probably haven't made in 3 or more years, and that was one of the first recipes that aroused in me a hunger for something more than food. A hunger for cooking.
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So here I am. Sitting amidst a mess of old recipes from my big ol' folder, staring at a 6 year old sheet of paper. Has it really been that long?
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For how long have you loved food? All your life? And for how long have you loved cooking? When and why did you pick up that very first recipe, or stared blankly into a refrigerator/pantry and decided to create magic? Was it the need or the lust, hunger or a looming desire?
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I have always loved food. Its in my genes, along with the passion for good, hearty meals and for sharing them . But I had never really thought that much about it until it became my fiend. So I read. And started to really think about how the ingredients went together and how the flavors could be more interesting. All of a sudden I was looking to photos of ingredients I had never tried, things that sounded interesting but had never been a part of my life. Yes, that was my first fix of food porn: Diet magazines.
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There were a few experiments those days. When my parents were out and it was my responsibility to fix dinner, I would play now and then with what I had at hand. I remember the first time I tried to bake... a chocolate cake that looked like rubber and a honey cake that puffed up, out of control, into a odd looking foam. Then there were oriental dishes. Slowly, I learned a little here and there.
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But there wasn't a passion just then. Not the overwhelming passion that makes us turn off our TV's and computers and head into the kitchen. Not until I was introduced to Jamie. Certainly, I blame Mr. Oliver for being the first of many to make me see how fun a kitchen could be and how easy it is to translate feeling into food.
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It was not forgotten. It just wasn't so important. Not until I felt like eating a truly heart-warming , comforting and easy dish of pasta. This was the reminder. The original dish, Tagliarini with bacon in olive oil, has been adapted to the occasion and different ingredients so many times, the description of "Pasta Cacio e Pepe" rang a bell. I knew that. I had once made something as pleasing as it.
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And after all, that's what it will be tonight. A simple and hearty Pasta dish. It will probably be some farfalle, a tablespoon of butter and a few tablespoons of the Parmesan I grated last night. I crave something filling - so in go the my favorite miniature sausages (pork free), sliced and fried in a little olive oil. Pepper to taste, rosemary, and a glass of wine, and boy oh boy, am I a happy gal.
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Cooking, and enjoying food (not just gobbling it down) mean the world to me nowadays. So tell me, what dish is it that makes your heart beat faster and your world go round?
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And just in case you are curious, here is that 6 year old recipe for Tagliarini with Bacon:

Cook the tagliarini. In enough olive oil, fry thin slices of bacon (turkey, if you must) and add rosemary, chopped up garlic and thinly sliced parsnip. Add the pasta and fry for one minute. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and sprinkle with grated parmesan. Serve warm.
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from an old episode of The Naked Chef
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*mother knows best... and chicken soup for the soul*

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Oh boy, mothers always know best.
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Chatting to my mother this morning and while nagging about how poorly I felt, she told me to chew on some papaya seeds. Well, I had eaten some papaya with yogurt because that is supposed to be really healthy and good on the stomach but the seeds are so bitter they are something I usually just swallow or don't eat at all.
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So I ate a spoonful a couple hours ago. And I'm feeling a little better already.

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Or was it the soup?
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Because every time I'm feeling sick or down all I need is a nice bowl of Chicken Soup and then things start looking up.

Chicken Soup for the Soul

150 grs chicken breast
2 medium carrots - minced
2 medium potatoes - minced
2 medium onions - minced
4 roma tomatoes - chopped
2 cloves garlic - chopped (or more if you prefer)
oregano to taste
salt to taste
a pinch of sugar (to break down the acid in the tomatoes)
1 cube of chicken stock
a couple handfuls of alphabet noodles

Chop the chicken breast into small bite pieces. Sauté with a little olive oil and the garlic and onions. Add the chicken stock (I grew up to the cube type so I prefer to use it), and cover with a little more than a liter of water. Let it boil for about 30 minutes, then add the other vegetables and wait another 20 minutes. Add the noodles in the final 6 minutes of boiling. Spice to taste and serve with a twist of lime.

Makes 4 medium servings or 6 small ones.


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When I make the soup to treat colds or fevers I usually add pepper to taste or/and ginger. Since my stomach is ill I decided to go lighter on the flavor, so it's just pure comfort.
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Also, its my soup so there MUST be alphabet pasta. Sounds silly, but I just love the child-like feel it gives and how much it makes my soup look like my moms. Comforting.
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Anyway, soon enough I'll be back to cooking lots of interesting and spicy foods. Yay!
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*Comfort me Carbs*

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For about a week every month, the blessing of being a woman seems to turn into a curse. And what a curse!!! Bodies ache, bloat, and seem to betray us ladies. Not to mention those mood swings, and the unstoppable, unfightable craving for... Carbs.

Ok. Chocolate and carbohydrates. What could be better to gobble down in our most comfortable pajamas and granny undies while sipping a nice warm drink and listening to the cheesiest of music? It is raining outside, and I am alone. The laundry is in the tumbler and it was a full day. Sure, it could be worse. I could be watching Bridget Jones and eating a gallon of ice cream. Or bitchin' non-stop (which is my female god-given right during this week and this week only) about how You never give me enough attention. Oh, it could be worse...

So I promise to be a good girl at any other time. Then I will happily eat all of my spinach, count my calories, keep off the food porn and have an apple a day. For this time being, let me be. Turn over the covers and hand me that plate. Warm bread with butter, muffins and jam, mac and cheese, creamy soup with toast, chocolate cookies and ginger tea... My favorite comfort me carbs.

Double chocolate chip muffins with Nutella
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