Brazilian Stuffed Bread

In Brazil, when you have visitors over, it's pretty much tradition to sit down and "tomar um lanche", which is literally translated to "take a lunch", but it's a way to say eat a snack, or have some tea (if you're from Europe).

And this bread is just perfect for that. I would say, in a typical Brazilian home, you would have as an afternoon snack: some bread (from french bread to cheese bread), cake, and Coca-Cola (okay, maybe Guaraná). Just kidding, but it is very common.



This recipe is so easy, the hardest part really is just waiting patiently for the dough to rise. AND you may just have all the ingredients in your pantry.

Ingredients:

- 3 to 3 1/2 C Flour (Start with 3 and keep adding until it doesn't stick to your fingers anymore)

- 4 tbsp. Oil (I think I used canola)

- 2 tbsp. Sugar

- 2 Eggs

- 1 tsp. Salt

- 1 C water

- 1 tbsp. Yeast

- Mayo

- Shredded Parmesan Cheese

You can use anything to put inside the bread, here are some suggestions:

- Muzzarella chesse, diced tomatoes, and basil

- Pepperoni and cheese

- Just Cheese

- Ham, cheese, tomato, onions, and oregano (I made this one and it turned out delish, except I used some left-over salsa fresca since I didn't have any more onions and it turned out pretty good)

You can also use any kind of meat like salami, turkey, hot dogs (this would need to be chopped)...Just use your imagination!

Put all of the ingredients in a large bowl, except for the water and yeast. In a small bowl, add water and yeast and let it sit for a few minutes (while you mix everything else in the large bowl).
Add the water and yeast to the large bowl and mix it all up with your hands.
Flour a flat surface and knead the dough for a few minutes.
Cover and let it rise for at least 30 minutes (I would do about 45 minutes).
While the dough rises, you can prepare your toppings. Make sure to chop everything up, except the cheese, if it's already grated.
Separate the dough into two equal pieces. Open one in a rectangle, spread the mayo, add chesse and other toppings. Roll it up lengthwise. It doesn't need to be rolled up super well, I usually only do it a couple times. Spread some more mayo on top of the bread and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. You can also add parsley on top to make it look prettier, or, in my case, to differentiate from the other bread, which had a different topping. Make sure you pinch the ends so the cheese doesn't run out. Repeat everything with the other piece of dough and put it in a floured (spread butter first, and then the flour) cookie sheet.

Bake for aproximately 40 minutes at 350 F.

Brazilian "peteleco" chocolate cake

Okay, this is a Brazilian recipe so I don't know if it will work in the USA. It is pretty simple to make though so it's worth the try. Before you do the topping be sure to put tin foil over it for an hour or so to keep the humidity and it will get really soft and moist.

Here it goes:


Batter:
3 C (not heaping, just enough) flour
2 C sugar
2 C boiling water
1 C cocoa powder
1 C oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. bakind soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix in a large bowl the flour, sugar, cocoa, oil, eggs, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add the boiling water and mix again.

Put it in a regular cake pan (make sure to grease it first) on 350 F preheated oven for about 30-40 minutes.

Chocolate sauce:
250 grams (about 8-9 oz) Sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
2 tbsp. butter or margarine
3 tbsp. water

Mix everything in a pan on the stove top and pour it over the cake while it's still hot (the sauce that is). It should get a little hard after it cools down.

I made this without the sauce and it was still pretty good. It was even better the next day because it got really moist. We ate it with Häagan Dazs ice cream and it was pretty dang good!

Brazilian chicken stroganoff (Estrogonofe de frango)

Here' my secret recipe for chicken stroganoff. Well, I guess it's not so secret anymore!

Ingredients:

- 4-5 large boneless/skinless chicken breast, chopped
- 1 cup chopped onions
- 1 cup mushrooms (optional)
- 4 tbsp. butter
- 1 tbsp. paprika
- 1 can cream of chicken
- 2 tbsp. ketchup
- 3-4 cups (or one large container) tomato sauce
- 1 small can of table cream (found in latin section at grocery store)
- salt and pepper

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Melt butter and add chopped onions. Sautee the onions and add chicken. Keep stirring for about 3 minutes and add the mushrooms. Let cook in medium heat until mushrooms are soft. Add paprika and ketchup. Stir everything and add tomato sauce and cream of chicken. Simmer in low heat for about 10 minutes and add table cream. Season with salt and/or garlic salt and serve over rice.